Pronunciation problems - A case study of ethnic students analysing errors of pronunciation in speaking English

ntelligibility, sometimes, listeners confuse the way pronunciation 
and the meaning of words. 
Description 
of error 
1. When speaking, the learners often forget to pronounce the final consonant sounds 
and final consonant cluster sounds such as /z, s, ks/. 2. In this production, the speakers 
do not pronounce or reduces final consonant sounds /z/ as well as final consonant 
cluster sounds /ks, s/ so that the sounds of words are change and the meanings as well. 
The speakers need to study again consonant sounds and consonant cluster sounds and 
how to make these sounds when they are at final positions. For example: 
- Vietnamese 
 /vjetnə‘mi:/ the speakers need to pronounce the final sound /z/. 
The speakers should add /z/ sound at the end of the word by putting the front of the 
tongue lightly the pump behind the upper teeth, let the air pass through and add voice. 
In addition, there are two examples (years; bananas, activities) which the speakers 
reduce the ending sound /z/ when they are plurals. The speakers need to add /z/ sound 
at the end of words similarly to the word “Vietnamese”. 
- likes 
 /laǺ/ the speakers delete final consonant cluster sound /ks/ of the word 
“likes” so that listeners may be confuse with another word such as lie /laǺ/. The 
speakers need add /ks/ sound at the final position of the word when pronouncing. 
Especially, the speaker note that both sounds /ks/ are pronounced together. Firstly, to 
make /k/ sound, put the back of the tongue against the roof of the mouth, then try to 
breathe out, but don’t let the air escape and finally release the air suddenly. The 
following step is adding /s/ sound. This sound is similar to the /z/ sound above, but 
don’t add the voice. It is the same as the sound of a snake. 
- works
 /wǬ:k/ the speakers need to add sound /s/ when speaking this word. 
Consonant clusters are pronounced together. Therefore, after the sound /k/, the 
speakers need to remember to pronounce /s/ by putting the front of the tongue lightly 
the pump behind the upper teeth, then let the air pass through. It is similar to the sound 
of a snake. 
Discuss 
possible 
reasons 
The learners’ first language is Vietnamese which is monosyllabic. The feature of each 
word is a single syllable. Vietnamese language only has six consonant sounds at the 
end of the words such as / p, t, k, m, n, ŋ/ ([5],[4]Ngo, 2005 and Tran, 2002) and, 
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especially, they are often unreleased or “held in” while English has variety of more 
complex consonant sounds and sound sequences across syllable positions / b, f, d, g, 
v, s, z, l, pt, ks, θ, ʃ, ð, tʃ, ./ [1](Kelly, 2000) while they may be released in English. 
In addition, Vietnamese learners tend to pronounce final stops /p, t, k / unexploded in 
all contexts (Honey, 1991). 
Although English /z/ is the same as /z/ in Vietnamese, Vietnamese /z/ only occurs in 
initial position [4](Tran, 2002). Therefore, learners have problems with /z/ sound in 
media and final positions. In this case, the speakers reduce /z/ sound in all final 
positions when pronouncing plurals (years /jǺǬ:/, bananas /bə‘na:nə/). 
 Moreover, Vietnamese language has no consonant clusters [3](Asian language notes, 
1976) and consonant clusters are not permitted in any position within a word [4](Tran, 
2002). It will be hard for learners to pronounce consonant clusters, especially final 
consonant /s/, when following a consonant, is frequently omitted such as /ks/. The 
speaker can not make these sounds together. She can pronounce well single consonant 
sound such as “work /wǬ:k/” but in case “works” she can not make /ks/ sound at the 
same time. Therefore, Language one has intensively affects on pronunciation of the 
speaker when learning a foreign language as English. It will lessen intelligibility 
between the speaker and listeners while communicating. 
Table 2. Difficuties in pronouncing /θ/ 
Description of 
error 
Difficuties in pronouncing /θ/ 
Examples of 
incorrect usage 
 three 
 /thri: / 
Reasons why choosing the speaker’s difficulty. 
Like most Vietnamese learners, the speaker has problem in pronouncing /θ/. 
Similar to reasons in Table 1, when the speaker uses /th/ in Vietnamese to 
replace /θ/ sound in English, it can cause misinterpretation for native listeners 
because it is the first time they have heard /th/. 
Description of 
error 
1. The speakers have produced th / θ in the initial position of the word. 
2. In this production, the place of the tongue is fine (Dental sound) but rather 
than pushing the air through when breathing out, the speaker holds the sound 
and makes voiced alveolar plosive in Vietnam, while /θ/ is an unvoiced dental 
fricative, produced by making light contact between the tongue tip with the back 
of the top, front teeth or tongue tip may protrude between the lips. The soft 
palate is raised. /θ/ is unvoiced and fortis. 
The speakers should put the front of the tongue lightly the back of the top teeth 
or between the upper and lower teeth. Then let the air pass through as the 
speaker breaths out. 
Possible 
explanation 
There is not the sound /θ/ in Vietnamese [5],[4](Ngo, 2005 and Tran, 2002), so 
it is difficult for the speaker to pronounce /θ/ sound. Although Vietnamese has 
the same spelling /th/ as in English such as “thơ - poem”, pronunciation is 
different. /th/ in Vietnam is a stop and alveolar [5](Ngo, 2005) while in English 
/θ/ is dental fricative and dental sound [1](Kelly, 2000). Therefore, the speaker 
may think that the sound / th / in Vietnamese is the same as /θ/ in English so that 
learners often pronounce /th/ instead of /θ/ in some words. In addition, because 
of the speakers’ habit of pronouncing /th/ in their native language, it seems to be 
difficult to pronounce/θ/ correctly. Finally, the speakers may know how to say 
the words containing /θ/ correctly, but they feel uncomfortable when they have 
to put their tongue forth. 
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Table 3. Difficuties in pronouncing /s/ and /ʃ / 
Description of error Difficuties in pronouncing /s/ and /ʃ / 
Examples of incorrect 
usage 
English
 /‘ǺŋglǺs/ s/ʃ F consonant 
she-> /siː/ n F consonant deletion 
Reasons why choosing the speaker’s difficulty. 
Confusing two sounds /s/ and /ʃ/ is another difficulty of the speakers. They 
have the same problem in L1 because their dialect is in the North of 
Vietnam. Many people have difficulties in pronouncing /ʃ/. Thus when 
speaking English, she makes /s/ instead of /ʃ/ sound. Confusion /s/ and /ʃ/ 
can reduce intelligibility for listeners and creates misinterpretation. 
Description of error 1. The speakers have produced /s/,/ʃ/ in the final position of the word. 
2. In this production, the speakers can recognize it is unvoiced and 
affricative. The place of tongue blade is right. However, they confuse 
/s/,/ʃ/ when pronouncing. Because of lacking of raising the front of the 
tongue, they only make /s/ instead of /ʃ/. 
The speakers should remember to move the tongue slightly back when 
produce the sound /ʃ/. 
Discussion possible 
reasons 
The speakers produce /s/ replacing /ʃ/ when speaking. In this case the 
speakers recognize the important of final consonant sound in English. 
However, they confuse between two sounds /s/ and /ʃ/ because of some 
their language one and their background. Firstly, in Vietnamese language 
there are only six consonant sounds at the end of the words: /p/, /t/,/ k/,/m/, 
/n/, /ŋ/ [5](Ngo, 2005). In addition, six final consonants are are unreleased 
or ‘held in’, while English has variety of more complex consonant sounds 
and sound sequences across syllable positions (/b/, /f/,/d/,/g/,/v/,/s/, 
/z/,/l/,/p/, /t/, /θ/, /ʃ/, /ð/, /tʃ/, /mpt/, /ks/ ...) [1](Kelly, 2000). Secondly, 
The speakers come from the North of Vietnam in which many people have 
difficulties in pronouncing consonant /ʃ/ (Asian Language Note, 1976). 
They tend to make the sound /s/. The speakers are the examples of may 
people in the North of Vietnam [3](Asian Language Note, 1976) so that 
they faces difficulties in pronouncing /ʃ/, particularly in final positions. 
Finally, the differences in types of phonemes and the variety of consonants 
may cause difficulties for the learners when they pronounce the last 
consonant sounds such as /s/ and confuses /s/ and /ʃ/. 
Table 4. Words stress 
Description of error Word stress problem 
Examples of incorrect 
usage 
Produced words 
 intended words 
birthday /bɜːθ‘deɪ/ -> /ˈbɜːθ.deɪ/ 
community /ˈkəmjuː.nə.ti/
 /kəˈmjuː.nə.ti/ 
homework /həʊmˈwɜːk/
 /ˈhəʊm.wɜːk/ 
handicapped /hæn.dɪˈkæpt/
/ˈhæn.dɪ.kæpt/ 
Reasons why choosing the speaker’s difficulty. 
In English, stress plays an important role in spoken language. In case 
study of the speakers, they stress words in different ways from the native 
speakers. It may reduce intelligibility as well as misinterpretation for 
listeners because it can change the meanings and emotions of the 
speakers. 
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Description of error 1. The speakers have made stress on the second syllable or the first 
syllable of the word. 
2. In this production, the speakers do not recognize the right stress. They 
stresses on the second syllable while the right stress on the first syllable. 
In this case, the speakers need to change word stress on the first syllable. 
The first syllable /bɜːθ/ is stressed with a long vowel /ɜː/ and /deɪ/ is 
weak sound. Thus, the speakers should practice again the word “birthday” 
with stress on the first syllable. 
community /ˈkəmjuː.nə.ti/
 /kəˈmjuː.nə.ti/ 
homework /həʊmˈwɜːk/
 /ˈhəʊm.wɜːk/ 
handicapped /hæn.dɪˈkæpt/
/ˈhæn.dɪ.kæpt/ 
Similar to the word “birthday”, the speakers stress the word ‘homework’ 
and ‘handicapped’ on the final syllable. The speaker needs to stress on 
the first syllable / həʊm/, /hæn/ and other syllable /wɜːk/,/dɪ.kæpt/ are 
weak sounds. The word ‘handicapped’ has three syllables, the speakers 
pronounce word with three syllables and has problem with incorrect tress 
and final consonant clusters /pt/ so that the speakers should practice the 
right tress on the first syllable and consonant cluster sound /pt/. 
Discussion possible 
reasons 
Vietnamese, a monosyllabic tone language, has no system of word stress 
[7], [4](Nguyen, 1970, cited in Nguyen and Ingram, 2005 and Tran, 
2002). Vietnamese is monosyllabic because a large proportion of words 
consist of single syllables and tonal because pitch variations signal 
meaning differences for other homophonous words [4](Tran, 2002). In 
contrast, English is a stress language. Stress represents levels of relative 
prominence among syllables in spoken language [7](Hulst, 2005, cited in 
Nguyen and Ingram, 2005). Therefore, Vietnamese learners often face 
difficulties in word stress because of influencing mother tongue. Learners 
never have experiences of word stress before. Most learners drop word 
stress or pronounce wrong stress. As a result, when speaking, the 
speakers stress words wrongly. 
In summary, these above sections have 
discussed ethnic students’ areas of difficulty 
in pronunciation. Although the have made 
many errors in speaking, they seems to be 
confident and communicate in English 
successfully. 
Regarding to pronunciation, omission final 
consonant and consonant cluster sounds such 
as / s, z, k, ks, ld/ are the frequently errors. In 
addition, they have problems when making 
the sound /θ/ and /ʃ/. They often uses /th/ 
instead of /θ/ in English. It is very typical 
difficulty of Vietnamese learners because 
there is not /θ/ in Vietnamese language. The 
students also confuse the sound /s/ and /ʃ/. It 
is hard for them to make /ʃ/ because they 
have this problem in her first language. 
Despite of the errors, they speaks quite well 
and they can express their feelings and 
thinking as well. 
In order to speak English fluently, learners 
should concentrate to solve their areas of 
difficulty in pronunciation with more practice 
speaking and listening to native speakers. As 
result, after time the pronunciation will be 
improved. 
REFERENCES 
[1]. Kelly, G., (2000). How to Teach 
pronunciation, Harlow, Longman. 
[2]. Ngo,N.B.(2005). The Vietnamese language 
Learning Framework. 
Retrieved August 2007 from 
olume%2010/VN%20LLF%20Part%20I.pdf 
[3]. Asian language notes (1978): some likely 
areas of difficulty for Asian learners of English No 
1Burmese Chinese Khmer Vietnamese. Language 
Teaching Branch, Commonwealth Dept. of 
Education.Canberra : Language Teaching Branch, 
1976-1981. 
[4]. Tran, T.T.T. (2002). Consonant cluster in the 
English of Vietnamese learners. Consonant cluster 
and syllable structures in English and Vietnamese. 
Chapter 4.La Trobe University. 
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Nguyễn Thị Thu Hoài Tạp chí KHOA HỌC & CÔNG NGHỆ 103(03): 91 - 96 
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[5]. Nguyen, Thu. T.A. and Ingram, J. (2005). 
Vietnamese Acquisition of English and Word 
stress. University of Qeensland. 
[6]. Field, J. (). Intelligibility and the Listener: The 
Role of Lexical Stress. Birkbeck College, 
University of London, England. 
[7]. Nguyen, Thu. T.A. and Ingram, J. (2005). The 
Tonal Constraints on Vietnamese Percaption of 
English Stress . University of Qeensland. 
TÓM TẮT 
PHÂN TÍCH LỖI PHÁT ÂM TIẾNG ANH CỦA NHÓM SINH VIÊN DÂN TỘC 
 Nguyễn Thị Thu Hoài* 
 Khoa Ngoại Ngữ - ĐH Thái Nguyên 
Bài báo nghiên cứu những khó khăn chủ yếu và lỗi phát âm tiếng Anh của nhóm sinh viên dân tộc 
trong khi phát âm các âm phụ âm. Nhóm sinh viên tham gia nghiên cứu đều đến từ vùng xâu, vùng 
xa của tỉnh Thái Nguyên ở miền Bắc Việt Nam. Trong suốt thời gian học phổ thông, học sinh rất 
hiếm khi được thực hành nói tiếng Anh ở trên lớp cũng như giao tiếp với người nước ngoài. Do 
vậy họ thiếu môi trường trường giao tiếp và kinh nghiệm trong giao tiếp tiếng Anh. Bài báo đã 
tổng hợp, phân tích các lỗi phát âm tiếng Anh mà người học thường gặp sau: bỏ âm phụ âm ở vị trí 
cuối từ và các phụ âm đứng liền nhau; những khó khăn khi phát âm các âm /θ/,/s/, /ʃ/ và các lỗi về 
trọng âm. Từ những lỗi đã thu thập và phân tích trên, bài báo đã lựa chọn các giải pháp phù hợp 
với người học để mang lại hiệu quả cao nhất. 
Từ khóa: Lỗi phát âm, âm phụ âm, âm phụ âm đi liền nhau, trọng âm 
Ngày nhận bài:19/12/2012, ngày phản biện:15/1/2013, ngày duyệt đăng:26/3/2013 
*
 Tel: 0945 631778, Email: tnhoai78@gmail.com 
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