Is listening to the English CD and recording my English effective to improve my pronunciation?

Graduation Thesis

Presented to

the Faculty of the Department of

English Language and Literature

Notre Dame Seishin University

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirement for the Degree

Bachelor of Arts

by

Yuri Suzuki

2018

Contents Chapter 1 Background to Pronunciation

1.1 Introduction

1.2. Pronunciation

1.2.1 Phonemes- Consonants and vowels

1.2.3 Intonation

1.2.4 Pitch

1.2.5 Accent

1.2.6 Rhythm

1.2.7 Punctuation of syllable

1.3 Change of pronunciation

1.3.1 Linking

1.3.2 Elision

1.3.3 Assimilation

1.3.3.1 Voiced sound

1.3.3.2 Unvoiced sound

1.4 Improving pronunciation by reading aloud

1.4.1 Background

1.4.2 Advantages and disadvantages

1.4.3 Methods

1.4.3.1. Introduction

1.4.3.2 Shadowing

1.4.3.3 Overlapping

1.4.3.4 Repeating

ii

1.5 Previous research on the benefits of reading aloud on pronunciation

1.5.1 Kawai (2012)

1.6 Research Questions

1.7 Conclusion

Chapter 2: The Data

2.1 Introduction

2.2 The experiment / questionnaire

2.2.1 Introduction to the experiment

2.2.2 Method of experiment

2.2.3 Results of questionnaires

2.2.4 Results of experiment

2.3 Summary

Chapter 3: The Analysis

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Summary of the results

3.2 Discussion of the results

3.3 Research questions

3.4 Implications

3.5. Limitations of the Experiments

3.6. Further research

3.7 Conclusion

iii

iv

 AbstractThis thesis is about the way to improve English pronunciation

for Japanese English learners. It is researched the features of English pronunciation, ways to improve pronunciation like reading aloud.

The aim was to find out if listening to the English CDs and recording our English is effective for improving our pronunciation?

The thesis looked at how some people who practiced their pronunciation and the ways they recommend to record their voice and listen to it again and again so they can improve their pronunciation. They said this way was more effective for people to improve English pronunciation skill, because it can make us notice our weak point in English pronunciation. They said people can correct their incorrect English pronunciation by comparing it with their own English and the correct English they listen to.

The experiment showed that recording our own English and listening to it is effective as judged by other students who learn English. Also, this way is effective, because it makes us notice our weak point and become aware of the correct English pronunciation, and we can pay attention to it so we can move towards speaking like native speaker. It is important to imitate the intonation or speed like native speaker from English CD.

Therefore, listening to the English CDs and recording our own English is effective to improve my pronunciation.

v

Chapter 1 Background to Pronunciation

1.1 Introduction

Today, most Japanese students learn English as a second

language at school, because now the world is becoming more

internationalized and the need for communication with foreigners in

English is greater. However, people who have learned English can understand

that it is very difficult to communicate their thoughts in English.

Because of the insufficient training in pronunciation, Japanese people

often don’t make themselves understood and can’t continue the

conversation with foreigners.People generally have many opportunities to make contact

with English through radio, TV, and talking with native speakers, but

actually, people have little need to use English in their daily life in

Japan. So, English is mainly studied in a classroom and it is centered

on the textbook. Therefore, English study in Japan has more writing

than speaking.To understand spoken English and to communicate ideas in

English, naturally enough, people have to learn English

pronunciation and have to try to be close to the pronunciation of

English native speakers as much as possible.

1

When we consider pronunciation, there are vowel sounds,

consonants, sound connection, a sound change, rhythm, stress, and

intonation. It is thought that it is the most important to learn these

to master the pronunciation to be understood by native speakers. If

we acquire good pronunciation, we can communicate in English

smoothly. We can also understand the speaker’s feelings and true

meaning. So, does practicing pronunciation improve our ability?

1.2. Pronunciation What are the main features of pronunciation? There are

several aspects of pronunciation. In order to study how something

works it is often useful to break it down into its constituent parts.

The following diagram shows a breakdown of the main features of

pronunciation. In the next section we will look at each aspect in

detail.

VowelsConsonants

Phonemes

Sentence stressWord stress

Suprasegmental features

Intonation Stress

2

1.2.1 Phonemes- Consonants and vowels

Phonemes don’t have specific meanings, however, they are

the set of the smallest units of speech in a language that distinguish

one word from another. For example, the word pat has the

phonemes /pæt/. If we change the middle phoneme, we get /put/

put, a different word. If we pronounce /p/ in a slightly different way,

the word doesn’t change, and we still understand that we mean the

same thing. There are many more phonemes in English than in

Japanese. English has 20 vowel sounds and 24 consonants or 44

phonemes. ( /iː/, /ɪ/, /e/,

/æ/, /ʌ/, /ɑː/, /ɒ/, /ɔː/, /ʊ/, /uː/, /ɜː/, /ə/, /eɪ/, /aɪ/, /ɔɪ/, /əʊ/, /aʊ,

ɑʊ/, /ɪə/, /eə/, /ʊə/; /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /ʧ/, /ʤ/, /f/, /v/, /θ/, /ð/, /s/, /z/,

/ʃ/, /ʒ/, /h/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /l/, /r/, /w/, /j/) Compared with this, Japanese

has 5 vowel sounds, 16 consonants, and 3 special phonemes making

24 phonemes. (/a/, /i/, /u/, /e/, /o/; /j/, /w/; /k/, /s/, /c/, /t/, /n/, /h/,

/m/, /r/, /g/, /ŋ/, /z/, /d/, /b/, /p/; /N/, /T/, /R/) Therefore, many Japanese

people feel that it’s difficult to pronounce the English words. The set

of phonemes consists of two categories: vowel sounds and

3

consonants we are familiar with in the alphabet. We make sounds

with only vowel sounds or one consonants + one vowel.

1.2.3 Intonation

Japanese has a little intonation, so Japanese people can speak

flat, but English has a lot of intonation. The intonation of voice is a

fundamental element in pronunciation to communicate the meaning

of a sentence exactly and well. If we make a mistake how to use the

intonation, the meaning of sentence can change. In this way, the

intonation in sentences expresses the meaning or emotion of

sentence by changing sounds low and high in the middle or at the

end of the sentence. There are two kinds of intonation to raise the

pitch or lower the pitch. To raise the pitch is pronounced with higher

sounds at the end of a sentence, for example, interrogative sentence

like Do you have a pen? On the other hand, lower pitch is

pronounced flat without high sounds, for example, in a declarative

sentence like I have a pen.

 

1.2.4 Pitch

Pitch is relative loudness that is high and low in languages

sounds when people speak languages. Pitch is important to

represent the intonation of sentences like accent and stress. For

4

example, if people are surprised at anything, they raise their voice,

for example, “REALLY? I’m SO SURPRISED it,” with a shifting high

tone.

1.2.5 Accent

Accent is one way of emphasizing the stress in words. We

describe the point in a word or phrase where pitch changes, vowels

lengthen, and volume increase. The greater the pitch change, the

more English speakers have the strong accent. If one position is

heard more remarkably than another position, it is said to have a

stress, or an accent. For example, the word label has strong pitch on

the [ei]. Watanabe (2014) says that accent consists 3 elements,

which is pitch change, duration, and intensity in order of importance.

The position of the accent can represent the parts of speech

like verb, noun, and the meaning. The verb often has a stress in the

first syllable, for example, the verb increase is pronounced inCREase

[inkrí:s]. The noun has a stress in the second syllable and increase is

pronounced INcrease [ínkri:s].

1.2.6 Rhythm and stress timed-language

5

English also has rhythm. Rhythm is made from accent, regular

part, pitch, and speed of speaking. For example, the sentence “This

is the malt that lay in the house that Bob built” can be divided into

five as rhythm like “/ this is the / malt that / lay in the / house that /

Bob built /. People pronounce these five parts with the same rhythm.

This is called stress-timed pronunciation

1.2.7 Punctuation of syllable

The syllable is a unit of sound multiple with every syllable

having a single vowel sound. A syllable includes some consonants in

front and/or behind with only one vowel sound. The word silent has

two syllables si・lent. There are two ways to break the syllable, one

is historical origin break and the other one is pronunciation break.

Origin break is the way it is divided in syllables with a central

focus on the vowel which is pronounced where the syllable starts on

the new consonant sound. For example, the word animal is divided a

/ ni / mal.

Pronunciation break is the way to divide it inthe middle in the

case that there are more than two consonants which are

pronounced. For example, the word systematization is divided sys /

te / ma / ti / sa / tion.

6

1.3 Change of pronunciation

English has various changes when we pronounce sentences

which we call suprasegmental variations. English is pronounced by

counting the vowel sounds, but, it is pretty difficult to pronounce

accurately. Therefore, English pronunciation often changes due to

linking, elision, assimilation, and elimination.

1.3.1 Linking

Linking is the phenomenon that the end sound of one word

links to the first sound of the next word. Just a little is pronounced

Jus Ta little, where “t” in the word just is linking with “a”. When

consonants come after vowel sounds, two words are usually

pronounced together.

1.3.2 Elision

Elision is the phenomenon that the end consonants of one

word is not pronounced when the joint between the end consonants

of one word and the first sound of next word is the same or similar.

Get to is pronounced Ge to, as “t” is at the end of one word and the

beginning of the next. Sit down changes SI down, “t” and “d” are

similar.

1.3.3 Assimilation

7

Assimilation is a phenomenon when the end of word is a

voiced sound and the first sound of next word is an unvoiced sound,

the voiced sound often changes to the unvoiced sound. Of course

[əvkɔ'ɚs] is pronounced [əfkɔ'ɚs] or Used to [júːzd toː] changes to

[ju:stu]. Also when one word ends in unvoiced sound and next word

starts in voiced sound, it changes. For example, South by [sáuθ bái]

is pronounced [sáuð bái ].

1.3.3.1 Voiced sounds

Voiced sounds are pronounced with one’s voice shaking. It is

vowel sounds and voiced consonants.

All vowel sounds are usually voiced sounds and in the

consonant, friction sounds-[v] [z], plosives -[b] [d] [g], and others.

1.3.3.2 Unvoiced sound

Unvoiced sound is pronounced without one’s voice vibrating.

In the consonant, friction sounds-[p][t][ʈ,], plosive sounds-[ʃ][h]

[s], and others.

1.4 Improving pronunciation by reading aloud

8

1.4.1 Background

Reading aloud is said to be a basic effective practice method

to improve the pronunciation. Morisawa (2009) said that it’s very

important to pronounce English practically with motor system

training, in which we practically move our mouth and ear, then

pronounce English aloud. So, people should do training to use the

sounds which are a fundamental form of language to get the

practical skills of English.

1.4.2 Advantages and disadvantages

There are some advantages for reading aloud. First, we are

able to listen to the pronunciation, so we can notice at our weak

point of English pronounciation. Moreover, people can get used to

pronouncing English with English pronunciation features like linking.

It is thought that reading aloud is more effective than listening to the

English CD and learning the pronunciation of individual words.

However, on the contrary, reading aloud has some disadvantages

such as the potential for raised anxiety in making the correct English

pronunciation especially in front of others, which reduces the

effectiveness of reading aloud by half. Reading aloud with correct

English pronunciation, the intonation and accent of English is not

learned. This has an influence on listening skills. So, it is important to

be close to native speakers.

9

1.4.3 Methods

1.4.3.1. Introduction

There are a lot of methods in the motor system training like

reading or pronouncing aloud. We look at those three methods which

are picked up.

1.4.3.2 Shadowing

In this method students repeat all the same sound that they

heard immediately. Shadowing involves both input and output to

imitate the model sound. The difference from repeating, is that this

training is without some pause. This method is more effective to

improve English pronunciation and intonation like native speaker

than other methods like only reading a book or learning the correct

word pronunciation, by listening to the English CD on which the

native speaker is speaking and imitating their pronunciation because

we naturally learned the correct pronunciation, accent, and

intonation.

1.4.3.3 Overlapping

This is the method in which students read aloud all same

sound of model English as we speak the model pronunciation at

same time. It is more effective to improve the natural English speed

10

than other methods like repeating or shadowing. Because people

listen to the correct pronunciation or speed and people have to

imitate those pronunciation and speed.

1.4.3.4 Repeating

This is the method that listening to the model English

sentences or phrases and repeating same English literally. For

example, people pronounce one sentence or paragraph which they

listen to it from CD, after listening.

1.5 Previous research on the benefits of reading aloud on pronunciation

In this section we will look at previous research. There is the person

who reports practically training pronunciation with reading aloud.

1.5.1 Kawai (2012)

“Now, it is recognized for people that making

foreigner understood what they say with their English is

more priority than the accuracy of grammar and

pronunciation in the business scene and diary

conversation. One of the reasons is that people who speak

English and their first language is not English are

increasing all over the world”. (Kawai, 2012)

11

Many people would agree with this opinion basically. However,

it is very difficult for Japanese people to reach the level of English to

understand what they say. It is said that it is not easier for native

English speaker to understand Japanese English than Indian English

or Chinese English which we think the accent is strong by the

influence of their first language.

The representative feature of Japlish which is the English

Japanese people speak, is the intonation. The language-Japanese is

flat and doesn’t have much more intonation compared with English.

Also, the vowel sounds “a i u e o” are pronounced equally. For

Japanese people who get used to speaking English, it is good to

speak with strength and weakness of sound consciously, or

exaggeratedly a little.

In this case, it is more difficult to pronounce English weakly

and suitably than speaking with strength and weakness. If people

say “I should have done it yesterday”, in the case of native speaker,

they don’t pronounce [ɑɪ ʃúd hǽv dˈʌn ít]. In reality, they pronounce

[ʃúdəv]. This relaxed way of speaking is connected with good English

pronunciation.

The frequency of sounds is different between Japanese and

English. So, it is said that there are a lot of sounds which Japanese

people can’t understand as a language in English. Japanese people

can’t catch English phrases well, in other words, they can’t hear

12

English phrases well. Therefore, Japanese people can’t naturally

speak English well.

The one method which fights such a weakness is “Recording.”

Kawai (2012), who is a journalist, recommends the method

using the recorder to improve his English pronunciation. He got to

speak English fluently and clearly by recording his English and

listening to himself.

He used this for about two hours when commuting, because he

was an office worker. He often choose the digest from the radio,

because it is not like teaching materials. He listened to this many

times and recorded his English on an IC recorder. He said that he

understood his weak points and could correct the mistake in his

pronunciation.

1.6 Research Questions

1. Does pronunciation improve after reading aloud?

2. How many attempts does it take to improve pronunciation?

3. What aspects of pronunciation are improved (or not) by

reading aloud?

13

1.7 Conclusion

In Chapter One, we learned that it’s important for us to

improve pronunciation. It is thought English has a lot of features that

were cared correctly for Japanese people. Also, it’s important to get

the hang of linking, assimilation and so on. To improve the pronunciation, people should do practical

training with the ear and mouth system for output and input.Chapter Two presents the data for a questionnaire and an

experiment about improving the pronunciation by recording my

English and comparing correct English. Is this way actually effective?

14

Chapter 2: The Data

2.1 Introduction

In Chapter One, we looked at whether recording English after

listening to the English CD and comparing with correct English to

improve the pronunciation is effective or not. Also, we looked at

people’s way to improve their pronunciation and people’s idea about

pronunciation.

This chapter present the data for a questionnaire and an

experiment about pronunciation to see if read aloud practice does

improve pronunciation.

2.2 The experiment / questionnaire

2.2.1 Introduction to the experiment

Chapter One said that the reading aloud and recording

practice is effective. So, this experiment seeks to show if it is true or

not, and shows how effective it is.

2.2.2 Method of experiment

The experiment used the following method. The person who

did the experiment is a fourth grade university student majoring

15

English and is the author of this thesis. First, she selected a CD to

model from. The English CD I used is the part p5 in “My Mom, the

Movie Star” (Waring and Jamall, 2007). The transcript is in

Appendices.

1) Subjects

The subjects of this experiment’s judgment and

questionnaire were Okayama Notre Dame Seishin University

English major students and the University students who

graduated from Okayama Saidaiji high school English major ages

21-22.

2) Questionnaire design

Introduction

The subjects were asked two questions*

1. Which ways do you practice pronunciation?

2. Which ways are effective for practicing English pronunciation?

Why?

It is thought that these questions will reveal which method

16

people who study English and learn the English pronunciation

practice their pronunciation, and which method they think is

effective. Which ways are effective for practicing English

pronunciation?

3) Experiment design

Introduction

In this section, we look at the way how the experiment was done

by recording aloud and listening to it to see if it is effective to

improve my pronunciation or not. Next were four steps as below.

Four steps

1 Repeating English CD and recording my English I

pronounce in my recording.2 Listening to my English and comparing with English CD

three times3 Reading same sentences after checking my weak points

and improving my pronunciation better again 4 Noting my weak points in memo

First, the experiment was conducted using these 5 times.

It was done about 30 minutes every two days. The recording

day was 3 times in about 2 months. The first recording was

30th April, second recording was 21st May, and final recording

17

was 2nd June. The first recording had no training to improve the

pronunciation, only listening to the English CD twice and read

aloud.

Next, the recordings were judged by other people three

times to see if my skill improved or not in reading aloud from

recording my English. The pronunciation was judged with three

categories dividing intonation, sounds, naturalness, and feeling.

4) Procedure

The questionnaire

First, 44 people answered my questions and their ideas about

improving the English pronunciation.

Next, 44 people judged the three recordings I read aloud

and record in the above‐mentioned four items per one record. The

recordings were not in time order. These were the questions.

My pronunciation

Intonation. The question was how was the intonation? This

is judged five grade system from very good to bad.

Sounds. The question was how clear were the sounds? This is

judged same system from clear to terrible.

Naturalness. The question was did she speak with feeling?

18

This is judged same system from with emotion to a little flat tone.

Feeling. The question was did she speak naturally? This is

judge same system from vary naturally to unnatural.

2.2.3 Results of the questionnaires

Introduction

The data are from 44 subjects who are studying English now in

their university or have studied English in their high school. There

are many people who can speak English, but sometimes people can’t

understand their English. However, some people speak it well.

Figure 1: The data for how fluently the subjects can speak

19

7%

25%

41%

27%

Do you think you are good at speaking English fluently?

very naturally people can understand my Englishsometimes people can't understand not at allother

This data show only 7 percent of the subjects who speak

English very naturally. It was found that the subjects don’t have the

confidence of their pronunciation, however, they learn or learned

English at school. Many subjects think that they are sometimes able

to be understood their English pronounce. Then, which way they

practice English pronunciation. Next figure shows that.

Figure 2: The data for which ways the subjects practice the

pronunciation

20

read En

glish book

s

listen

to Eng

lish CDs

read an

d listen

to Eng

lish bo

oks

listen

to th

e Eng

lish so

ngs

sing Eng

lish so

ngs

speak

with nati

ve speak

ers

visit f

oreign

coun

tries o

n a tri

p

go to

homest

ay more

than

1 mon

th

record

your v

oice a

nd liste

n to it

listen

ing to a

CD an

d rep

eating

pronou

ncing

words m

any t

imes

05

10152025303540

Which ways do you practice pronunciation?

Very often Quite often Sometimes Almost never

Most subjects often choose listening to the English songs and

sing it, it is thought that these ways are close to them. Moreover, it

is easy for the subjects in these two ways and they can continue

them with enjoyment. Many subjects sometimes listen to English

CDs or read and listen to English books. It is thought that they do

this training at school. However, almost none of the 44 subjects

never record their voice and listen to it. Definitely, it seem they did

not to hear a recording of their voice themselves and listen to it to

improve pronunciation.

21

Figure 3: The data for which ways the subjects think effective

for English pronunciation

read En

glish book

s

listen

to Eng

lish CDs

read an

d listen

to Eng

lish bo

oks

listen

to th

e Eng

lish so

ngs

sing Eng

lish so

ngs

speak

with nati

ve speak

ers

visit f

oreign

coun

tries o

n a tri

p

go to

homest

ay more

than

1 mon

th

record

your v

oice a

nd liste

n to it

listen

ing to a

CD an

d rep

eating

pronou

ncing

words m

any t

imes

05

10152025303540

Which ways are effective for practicing English pronunciation?

Very often Quite often Sometimes Almost never

This data shows us the difference between the ways they did

and the ways they think are effective. Many subjects often listen to

the English songs and sing them to improve pronunciation, but

actually, most of them think that speaking with native speakers is

effective. And going to homestay more than 1 month or visiting

foreign countries on a trip are also thought effective by the subjects.

However, these ways are difficult for them, because some

people don’t have a chance to study abroad.

22

From the subject’s idea:

Yume said that she thinks talking with native speakers is

very effective, because native speakers have perfect

pronunciation.

Yu said that it’s effective for her to go abroad many times

because we can touch with real pronunciation. She said

listening to native pronunciation, then repeating it is very

effective way to improve skills.

Also listening to a CD and repeating or pronouncing

words many times are thought effective by them. It is

thought that they think it is effective for both input and

output.

Yurina said that listening to native pronunciation, then

repeating it is a very effective way to improve skills.

Miki said that if we record our voice, we can find our

weak points, and correct them. She thinks repeating

after a CD is effective because we can pronounce almost

correctly after listening to good English. If we record our

voice, can find our weak points, and correct them.

23

2.2.3 Results of the experiment

Introduction

The experiment was judged by 44 subjects in four

categories -intonation, sounds, naturalness, and feeling at five

levels grade. Next are figures of these results.

Text 1 is the first record (30th in April)

Figure 4: The data for the subjects judging the Intonation of

Text 1

very good bad0

5

10

15

20

25

1

4

12

21

6

Text 1: Intonation (Judging pronunciation)How was the intonation?

27 subjects judge the intonation of the first recording is close

to bad. More than half of people feel the intonation not good.

24

Figure 5: The data for the subjects judging the Sounds of Text

1

clear terrible0

5

10

15

20

25

2

6

1311 12

Text 1: SoundsHow clear were the sounds?

This shows people have varying ideas, however, most subjects

think the sound of the first recording is not clear.

25

Figure 6: The data for the subjects judging the Feeling of Text

1

with emotion a little flat tone0

5

10

15

20

25

1

5

1012

16

Text 1: FeelingDid she speak with feeling?

The subjects think the feeling of the first recording a little flat.

They judge the speaker don’t speak with emotion.

26

Figure 7: The data for the subjects judging the Naturalness of

Text 1

vary naturally unnatural0

5

10

15

20

25

12.5

9

17

12

Text 1: NaturalnessDid she speak naturally?

The naturalness of the first recording is not good too. They

judge the naturalness unnatural.

27

Text 2 was first record (21th in May)

Figure 8: The data for the subjects judging the Intonation of

Text 2

very good bad0

5

10

15

20

25

5

1517

7

0

Text 2: Intonation (Judging pronunciation)How was the intonation?

This shows many subjects think the intonation of second

recording is not bad. About half of them judge it good.

28

Figure 9: The data for the subjects judging the Sounds of Text

2

clear terrible0

5

10

15

20

25

5

17 17

5

0

Text 2: SoundsHow clear were the sounds?

This shows many subjects judge the sounds of second

recording is not terrible. Everyone don’t assign the most terrible

grade.

29

Figure 10: The data for the subjects judging the Feeling of Text

2

with emotion a little flat tone0

5

10

15

20

25

10

5

18

0 0

Text 2: FeelingDid she speak with feeling?

This data shows most of these subjects judge the feeling of

second recording is not a flat tone, 10 people judge that the speaker

speaks English with emotion.

30

Figure 11: The data for the subjects judging the Naturalness of

Text 2

vary naturally unnatural0

5

10

15

20

25

5

15 16

8

0

Text 2: NaturalnessDid she speak naturally?

This show people have scatter idea, however, all 44 people

judge the naturalness of second recording unnatural at worst grade.

31

Text 3 was first record (on 12th in June)

Figure 12: The data for the subjects judging the Intonation of

Text 3

very good bad0

5

10

15

20

25

7

21

12

4

0

Text 3: Intonation (Judging pronunciation)How was the intonation?

In this data, 28 subjects judge the intonation of third recording

close to very good.

32

Figure 13: The data for the subjects judging the Sounds of Text

3

clear terrible0

5

10

15

20

25

8

1517

4

0

Text 3: SoundsHow clear were the sounds?

This shows the subjects have various ideas, many subjects

judge the sounds of third recording clearer than half grade.

33

Figure 14: The data for the subjects judging the Feeling of Text

3

with emotion a little flat tone0

5

10

15

20

2521

19

4

0 0

Text 3: FeelingDid she speak with feeling?

This shows there are no opinions that the feeling of third

recording has very flat tone. Most of the subjects feel that the

speaker speaks English with more emotion more than the first and

second recordings.

34

Figure 15: The data for the subjects judging the Naturalness of

Text 3

vary naturally unnatural0

5

10

15

20

25

7

17 17

3

0

Text 3: NaturalnessDid she speak naturally?

This shows a few subjects think the naturalness is unnatural,

but many subjects think the naturalness improved more than in the

first or second recordings.

2.3 Summary

Chapter 2 shows the subject’s idea of English pronunciation

and the effectiveness in recording the voice and listening to it. In

these, it is showed a lot of changes from Text 1 to Text 3. What is the

meaning of this? Next, in Chapter 3, we look at the results in detail.

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Chapter 3: The Analysis

3.1 Introduction

Chapter 1 and 2 show what has been researched about

improving the pronunciation. Chapter 1 shows the change of

pronunciation of English and shows some effective ways to improve

the pronunciation and the effectiveness of the way to record the

voice and listening to it. Chapter 2 shows whether recording the

voice and listening to it is effective way or not.

Then, in Chapter 3, we look at the results compared to Chapter

1 and Chapter 2.

3.2 Summary of the results

In Chapter 1, we look at previous research about improving

pronunciation. English pronunciation has a lot of features, for

example, linking and assimilation. English has more phonemes than

Japanese. Therefore, we especially need to practice the

pronunciation in some ways. Chapter 1 showed various ways to

improve pronunciation by reading aloud, which were shadowing,

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overlapping, and repeating. Also, Chapter 1 showed the idea of the

people who practiced their English pronunciation skill by recording

their voice and listening to it. They said that recording the voice and

listening to it is effective and they improve their skill in this ways.

In Chapter 2, we looked at the questionnaire and experiment.

The subjects who was related in English often listen to and sing

English song to improve the pronunciation, but they think that the

effective way is going abroad and speak English with native

speakers. However, many subjects think recording the voice and

listening to it is effective. In this experiment, the subjects judging

this way is actually effective.

3.2 Discussion of the results

In the questionnaire, the subject often listened to English

songs and songs to improve their pronunciation, however actually,

they think that the effective way to improve English pronunciation is

going abroad to study or speaking with native speaker, so it is

thought it is important to speak English practically. And most of them

never record their voice and listen to it.

The experiment shows recording aloud and listening it was

good for people to learn English pronunciation. However, in this

experiment, it shows recording the voice and listening to it is

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effective to improve the pronunciation for short term. The people

who practice pronunciation by recording in Chapter 1 and I who did

the experiment actually practiced and improved.

Recording my voice and listening to it was a very good way,

because it made me notice my pronunciation’s weak points. By

comparing with the correct English CD, it makes people pay

attention the differences and can correct my incorrect pronunciation.

So, it is thought that the point we should pay attention to is speaking

like native English speaker. Therefore, people who practice the

pronunciation by recording recommend this way. It is good for

English learners to choose the way of that record the voice and

compare with correct English.

The subjects judged all items of the third recording better than

those of the first or second recordings, and many subjects judge all

items of the first recording worst in three recordings, because it is

thought that the speaker, I only listened the English CD twice before

recording my voice the first time. Because of this, the second or third recording was better,

because it is thought the way of recording the voice and listening to

it is effective for pronunciation. Compared with Figure 4 and Figure 12, the changes are clear.

To focus on the intonation, in Figure 4, 27 these subjects judgement

of the first recording was bad. However, in Figure 12, 28 the subjects

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judgement of the third recording better. In this chapter we look at a detailed analysis of these data in

Chapter 2.

3.3 Answering the research questions

1. Does pronunciation improve after reading aloud?

The answer to this question is yes, because reading aloud is

effective to improve pronunciation that is mentioned in the

background. Morisawa said that people have to do the motor system

training like reading aloud-listening, repeating, and shadowing which

is used the mouth and ear system. My data also show this.

2. How many attempts does it take to improve pronunciation?

There are basic three methods in reading aloud. They are

shadowing, overlapping, and repeating. Morisawa (2009) said that

the model English CD is not too long sentences. Also, it is important

to repeat same sentences many times, and it is suitable to use from

20 to 40 minutes at one time.

3. What aspects of pronunciation are improved (or not) by

reading aloud?

Reading aloud is effective to improve the pronunciation,

because it is learned the English intonation, stress, and the like.

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However, if people don’t know the correct pronunciation, it is not so

effective. And it is not so effective to improve the English grammar

skills.

3.4 Implications

In Chapter One, we look at what Morisawa (2009) said about

the way to read aloud, because we can notice the weak point of

pronunciation in listening the English voice oneself by using mouth

and ear system. And Kawai who practically record his voice and

repeat English said the recording way is very effective. We look at if

it is truly effective or not in Chapter two.

The answer to this question: “If the recording way is very

effective or not?” is Yes, because, in the experiment, I practiced my

English pronunciation by recording it. Compared with Text 1 and Text

2-3, many subjects determined that my pronunciation improved in

the short term for four features like intonation, sounds, feeling, and

naturalness.

In my research, it found that the way of listening to English by

recording themselves and comparing with correct English is

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effective, because it shows us the one’s weak points and many

incorrect pronunciation words that it was learned with mistakes. Therefore it can correct my weak point and correct word

pronunciation. Also it can help me learn the English pronunciation

features like linking. It always makes me imitate the pronunciation of

native speaker from CD and conversation with native speakers now.So I now recommended people to record aloud and listen to it

to improve English pronunciation in the same way as Kawai and

Morisawa.

3.5. Limitations of the Experiments

There are several limitations with this study. Firstly, most of the

subjects were female university students. Secondly, most of the

subjects were only 18-22 year olds. Finally, the experiment was with

only Japanese.

3.5. Further research

The experiment this time was short term, therefore it should

be done for a longer period. How much more effective would it be to

record the voice and listen to it for long term? And which ways would

be the most effective way to improve English pronunciation,

including many ways, we don’t know.

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3.6. Conclusion

In Chapter One, we looked at that Morisawa said the way to

read aloud is effective, because we can notice the weak point of

pronunciation listening to the English voice oneself. And Kawai who

recorded his voice and repeated his English said the recording way

was very effective. We looked at if it is truly effective or not in

Chapter two.

The answer to the question: “If the recording way is very

effective or not?” is Yes, because, in the experiment, it showed my

English pronunciation by recording way improved. Compared with

Text 1 and Text 2-3, many subjects determined that my

pronunciation improved in the short term for four features like

intonation, sounds, feeling, and naturalness.

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References

Book names and journal names are in italics and have capitals at

the start of each word > Family name, initial, date, Title, Journal or

Book

Books – みるみる英語力がアップする音読パッケージトレーニング

Yosuke, Morisawa. 2009. Thesis Writing. Bere Printed

Press. pp. 8-37.

Articles – the Journal name is italic

Howard, K. 2001. Language Education in Japan. English

Language Teacher’s Journal, 3 (1): 15-41.

Weller, P. 2003. The Japanese Classroom. In Thomason, P.

and T. Rogers (Eds.). Life In Japan, Geneva Press. pp. 23-

45.

For web articles where you don’t know the author, give the name

of the site title and the exact location of the file and the date you

accessed it,

43

BBC News, The parsing of texts into meanings.

www.bbc.co.uk/langauge/parsing.htm. Accessed August 14,

2016

If you know the author, write this way.

Smith, P. The parsing of texts into meanings.

www.bbc.co.uk/langauge/parsing.htm. Accessed August 14,

2016

44

Appendices

Background questions

I agree that these data can be used for research.

Agree

Reject

Do you think you are good at speaking English fluently?

Very naturally

People can understand my English

Sometimes people can't understand

Not at all

Other

Which ways do you practice pronunciation?

Which ways are effective for practicing English pronunciation?

Read English books

Listen to English CDs

Read and listen to English books

Listen to the English songs

Sing English songs

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Speak with native speakers

Visit foreign countries on a trip

Go to homestay more than 1 month

Record your voice and listen to it

Listening to a CD and repeating

Pronouncing words many times

Judging pronunciation

I practiced my English pronunciation in the record.

Please judge my pronunciation from Text1 to Text3.

Intonation: How was the intonation?

Very good- Bad

Sounds: How clear were the sounds?

Clear- terrible

Feeling: Did she speak with feeling?

With emotion- a little flat tone

Naturalness: Did she speak naturally?

Vary naturally- unnatural

“My Mom, the Movie Star” (Waring and Jamall, 2007) P5

Kerry and Gemma were talking, “Today is April Fool’s Day.

So what can we do to trick Mr. Harris?” asked Kerry. Gemma

46

said, “Here’s an idea. Anita Hamilton looks a little like my

Mom, right? And her family name was Hamilton before she

got married, too.” “Yes, she does, a little,” said Kerry. “So?

What are you thinking?” “Well, Mr. Harris doesn’t know my

Mom,” said Gemma. “I’ll tell Mr. Harris that my Mom was

the famous Anita Hamilton. It’ll be fun.” “That’s a great

idea. You’re good at jokes,” said Kerry. “Your mom used to

be an actress when she was younger, didn’t she? Her name

is Anita, too, isn’t it?” “Yes, but my Mom’s name is Anitta,

not Anita,” replied Gemma. “He’ll never know if it’s true or

not. This will be really great.”

47