Post on 18-Jan-2023
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Overview
The introductory section of the study provides the general
information about the topic to be studied. This chapter discusses
background to the study, perceived problem diagnosis [Evidence
and causes], statement of the problem, purpose of the study,
research questions definition and delimitation of the study.
Background to the study
A lot of countries all over the world have one way or the other
been completed by circumstance to adopt English as a national
language. English language became the only alternative as a
national language in Ghana unifying tool due to our long
relationship with the British our formal colonial masters. It
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occupies the central position in the educational enterprise and
it impact neither positive nor negative is felt in all other
disciplines.
Apart from formal education, English language enables us to
communicate effectively with other users of the language
throughout the world. English language is the medium of
instruction and it is used in our Ghanaian schools from lower
primary to the university level. The language serves as the
vehicle for learning, understand, gaining competence in all
subjects in school curriculum. It has been the foundation for all
academic work. The English language has become a lingua Franca
and the official language of the press as well as commerce.
It is against this background that learners inability to
pronounce English words correctly made the researcher became
interested in investigating why learners of basic four pupils
cannot pronounce English words correctly.
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It has taken the first in international communication and for
carrying out business transaction world wide. It is not easily
known that much of the English language teaching that goes on in
the classroom do not teach learners to speak the language
learners rather learn word and sentences in a root manner and
therefore are not able to use the language as it is done in real
life situations. This is because the language items are not
demonstrated in real life situation to learners to enable them to
know how to use them in every day expressions.
Gurvey, P.(1970:17-19) explains that nearly all the languages
most learners try to master, is the surface of sounds, and
dictionary meaning which means, the language is not heard and
studied as a language which fulfils social or contextual needs.
Most of the school going children find it extremely difficult to
express themselves effectively with others and master the English
language. This is not because they do not have the ideas of what
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to say but how to say it has brought the barrier in
communication.
Statement of the problem
Almost all children of school going age are introduced to
pronunciation right from nurses. These children begin
pronunciation by identifying the letters of English alphabets to
form two, three letter work and the like. Through these
procedures, children will have acquired a reasonable skill that
can enable them pronounce simple sentences form their class
readers.
Unfortunately, few of them are able to pronounce but most of them
are not able to pronounce at all. The inability of basic four (4)
pupils to pronounce at the grade level was brought to light
during the many informal and formal pronunciation (assessment)
test, pre-test that were conducted by the researcher. The essence
of these initial exercises was to establish in very reliable
terms the degree and severity of the problem. The pronunciation
that was used by the researcher to establish the problem of poor
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pronunciation among the pupils was based on the pronunciation
(reading) of individual works. Twenty (20) words were selected
from the English reader for B.S.4 and used for the exercises.
(Refer to Appendix (A) for the pre-test items. The individual
score from the pre-test has been represented as shown in appendix
‘C’.
Daily problems sported of the desire to investigate the short
falls of pupils and teachers.
Among interventions used were phonic and syllabic techniques of
teaching pronunciation incorporated with the use of various
instructional materials to address the pronunciation needs of the
pupils.
It is a fact that the spoken English does not have a universal
standard that speakers can aspire. These are various accents in
many countries in which English is used as first language, such
as American, Australia and Canada. In Britain, however, accents
used by well-educated English speakers have been recognized as a
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standard pronunciation that is taught in schools. This is
recognized as Received Pronunciation (RP) or BB (English).
Diagnosis
The problem had two dimensions namely evidence and causes
evidence.
The inability of the pupils to pronounce effectively and fluently
will be seen through the following instruments such as class
exercise, test and observation.
- The researcher observed that, pupils in KunkunsoD/A could
not identify letters of the English alphabets.
- pupils could not pronounce simple words from their class
reader during reading
- Pupils could not differentiate or discriminate between
certain letters like /P/, /6/, /M/M /I/,/G/,/J/.
- Pupils could score low marks in English pronunciation test.
Causes
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Through interviews, observation and reading exercise, the
following were observed as the causes of poor English
pronunciation.
-Poor pronunciation of words by teachers.
-Many teachers fails to teach keywords during English reading.
-Poor teaching methods used by some teachers.
-Most teachers do not use teaching and learning materials during
English pronunciation.
-Children were not carefully guided through the stage of reading.
-A good foundation was not laid in English phonology, phonics and
vocabularies in their formative years.
Teachers fail to introduce children to syllabic methods to
enhance phonics reading
Examples: Pupil – pu-pil, together – to-get-them.
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Purpose of the study
The purpose of the study is to enhance how to use phonic method
to help basic four pupils to pronounce English words correctly.
Objectives
The main objectives of this research were to bring about changes
in the Childs level of competence in skills and attitudes towards
to achieve this by
-Introducing pupils to phonic method of English pronunciation
-Help pupil through the use of syllabic method of pronouncing
English words.
-Use adequate and appropriate teaching materials in teaching
pronunciation.
-Introduce pupils to the use of whole sentences method to
strengthen pronunciation skills.
Research questions
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The following research questions were formulated to guide the
study;
-How can the use of adequate and appropriate teaching and
learning materials help pupils to improve upon English
pronunciation?
-How can the use of phonic approach helps pupils to identify and
pronounce English words correctly?
-To what extent will use of syllabic methods of teaching help to
salvage the pronunciation skills of pupil?
-What are the cause of poor pronunciation of words among basic
four pupils?
-How many times English pronunciation is taught in a week?
Significance of the study
A number of unfortunate factors have contributed to the
difficulty in the pronunciation of certain words in the English
language. Therefore, the significance of the study is to come out
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with concrete strategies to enhance English pronunciation skills
of KunkunsoD/A JHS pupils.
-The study was intended to assist other classroom teachers to
apply similar approaches to solve pupils problem associated with
English pronunciation
-The study will also enable teachers to exhibit a sense of
initiative situation that can help remedy some of the problems of
pronunciation of words among basic four pupils of Kunkunso D/A
JHS.
-The researcher hoped that the outcome of the study would urge
other teachers and educationists to deliver deep into the subject
and come out with other appropriate suggestion to the educational
planners as well as other fellow teachers in general.
-Again the study could also be of great value to policy makers
and curriculum developers in designing modern instructional
strategies and approaches for adoption by birth teachers and
prospective teachers as acomplement to the traditional methods of
instruction.
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Definition of terms
-Phonic method: It is the method which deals with the individual
sounds making up the words. With this method, the child
pronounces the sound making up the word in turns before saying it
as a whole word.
-Pre-reading: The activities that beginners perform before they
begin formal reading
-Syllabic method: It is a method of breaking words into syllabus.
For instance, pupils – pupil, individual-in-di-vi-dual etc
-Reading readiness: It is a term which covers the several stages
of development through which a pupil passes before the child
starts formal reading.
Delimitation
There are many techniques of teaching pronunciation to English
but this study would be restricted to the phonic method only.
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Again, there were many schools in Nkawie in Atwima Nwabiagya,
however, basic four pupils in KunkunsoD/A together with the
teachers will form sample for the study.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
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Introduction
This chapter is to review options of various scholars on the
subject at teaching pronunciation and to survey some of the
methods and pedagogical theories and empirical phonic method.
What is pronunciation?
The Cambridge international dictionary of English page 1132
defines pronunciation as the saying of a word or a letter in a
particular way or to state something officially.
Pronunciation according to Collins learners dictionary page 873
defines pronunciation as how a word is pronounced. That is, to
pronounce a word means to say it by making sounds that are right
or understandable. In this broadest definition, pronunciation
involves the attention to gesture and expressions that are
closely related to the way we speak a language.
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Also to Encarta Dictionary (2007), pronunciation is making of
sounds of speech. That is the way in which a sound or word or
language is articulated especially in conforming to an accepted
standard.
The Nelson contemporary English Dictionary page 401 mentioned
that pronunciation is the manner of pronunciation the accepted
way of saying a word. To add a few pronunciation according to the
word net Princeton (edu/perl) web also, it is the way a language
is customarily spoken.
To enhance the above definition, the migration English program
research centre (A.M.E.P.R.C) October (2002) added that
pronunciation it he production of sounds that we use to make
meaning. It includes the attention to the particular sound of
language aspect of speech beyond the level of the individual
sounds as intonating, phrasing, stress, timing, rhythm and how
the voice is projected.
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From the definitions above, the word pronunciation could be said
to be based on one idea. That is, the way of saying a word by its
sound. Through this, it could be deduced that pronunciation its
he way and manner of speaking that is by pronouncing the word by
the sound of the letters through streets, intonation and accent
of words.
CAUSES OF POOR PRONUNCIATION
Nungent, Boateng and Isadidey (2002) argue (11) is one of the
basic reasons for poor pronunciation. Isadiey explains that some
times in learning English language, we find ourselves making
certain basic groups by virtue of the fact that our native
language (12) is interfering with what we are learning. This
makes use of the substitute sound in our (12) for those in the
target language which do not exist in our linguist repertoire.
To Akins and Boateng (2004) poor pronunciation of the language
has become a burden on teachers who handle the pupil Akins points
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out that at primary level, some of the teachers appointed to
teach are untrained and incompetent to handle the lower classes
such teachers find it extremely difficult to teach language, let
alone correct their children when they make mistake in
pronunciation.
Boateng (2004), also explained that the English language is a
total associated with its peculiar stress pattern spelling
irregularities abound in the English language and the phonology
is unrelated to the mother tongue. The word book encyclopedia
page 820 on pronunciation says that, English words follow a
number of complicated pronunciation rules majority of words
follow a number of complicated pronunciation rules. However,
English has more irregular pronunciation that many other
languages have and others occurs among the most frequently used
words. Letter and combination of levels in English often have
more than one pronunciation. One basic reason for this that,
there are only 26 letters to represent 40 different sounds. For
instance the diagraph (two letters representing on sound) GH is
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silent in ‘dough’ but sound ‘f’ in ‘cough’ a hard ‘G’ ghost and a
‘P’ hiccough. It continues to point out that English has
irregular pronunciation in the sense that over a period of years,
the sounds of many word have undergone some changes but the
spelling reminded the same.
Importance of Pronunciation
As we are all aware of the significance of English to pupils
cannot be overemphasized in the sense that it assists pupil to
perform creditability in almost all the subject that are learnt
in schools.
The Adult Migrant English program research centre (A.M.E.P.R.C)
stresses their emphasize that the way we speak immediately
conveys something about ourselves to the people around us. They
further disclosed the learners with good pronunciation in English
are most likely to be understand even if they make errors in
other area whilst their grammar is perfect.
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Such learners may avoid speaking thus experience social
isolation, employment difficulties and limited opportunities for
further study.
Morley (1994) and Frase (2000) also contended that people often
judged by the way they speak and so learners with poor
pronunciation may be judged as competent, uneducated or lacking
knowledge even though listeners are only reacting to their
pronunciation.
Gray (1963) also asserts that the ability to read serves as;
-A tool of vocation
-An aid in meeting everyday needs.
-A pursuit of leisure time
-A tool of citizenship
-A source of spiritual refreshment
-An aid to enrichment of experience includes personal development
various experience.
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Phonic Technique and How It facilitates learning:
The Cambridge international dictionary page 1058 defines phonic
as using special signs to represent the different sounds made by
the voice in speech or phonetic are the sounds made by human
voice in speech. However, according to Boateng (2004) “Phonic is
the recognition of founds in association with letters or words
the also says that phonic provides learners with strategy for
independence. It develops pupils knowledge of letter sound
correspondence as well as encouraging correct pronunciation of
words.
Isadidey (2002) also says phonic technique by emphasis on
individual letters making up to the word. Letters are pronounced
to form word before saying it. Example P-e-Pen, B-o-x-Box, C-u-p-
Cup etc.
Forman (1995) contended that phonic is the process of tanking
sounds the symbols that stand for them. This implies that, when
pupils are taught the phonic technique, they use the phonic
information to convert letters and words in speech for example.
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Cat becomes k/-/a/-/t/. The more phonic skills pupils acquire the
more they became conversant with speech sounds.
Therefore for effective teaching of English pronunciation some
authorities believed that beginning pronunciation instruction
particularly for children at risk for pronunciation problems
should employed a text that is consistent with phonic that
children have been that carmine filbert and Kameni (1997) other
researchers like Blackman et al (1999), also report that phonic
treatment results in stronger word identification Forman et al
(1998) and Tongen et al (1999) state that beginning readers more
explicit phonic appropriate yield stronger word pronunciation
skills Rootman (1996) argues that it would be irresponsible and
inexcusable not to teach phonically at the early stage.
Systematic Phonics
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Some authorities say that the purpose of phonics instruction is
to teach children sound spelling relationship to pronounce words
correctly. Phonic instruction should be explicit and systematic.
Adoms (1990) says systematic and early instruction in phonics
leads to better pronunciation. This is because phonics knowledge
aids in the developments of words recognition. Word recognition
in turn increase fluency. Moreover, pronunciation fluency then
improves reading comprehension since children are not struggling
with decoding and able to devote their full attention to making
meaning from text the continued to lay emphasis that good phonics
lessons contain the following critical parts.
-Phonological awareness
-Introduction of good sound spelling
-Phonics maintenance
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-Blending
-Word building
-Dictation
Empirical Framework
This section provides the empirical framework to the study. It
reviews or discloses the work of other researchers. Many
researchers indicated the usefulness of phonic technique in
improving pupils pronunciation skills. Numerous studies were
conducted by people on the various aspects that the present study
of English language. A few of these aspects that the present
study considered were pronunciation disability or deficiency
problems and possible solution.
Amoako, (2001), carried out a research on using the phonic method
as a technique of improving pupils pronunciation skills he used
primary four pupils Panin D/A and Nkawie D/A experimental primary
all of Nkawie District of the Ashanti Region. The instruments
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used in this study were pre-test and post-test question designed
by the researcher for the pupils findings from the study that
malted against the teaching of pronunciation were:
-Alphabet method dilly does not generally help in pronunciation.
-Lack of the use of teaching learning materials in the schools.
Non-teaching of spoken English, English lessons and others were
likely to lack diversity.
-The standard of spoken English was very low.
To offset the identified problem, Amoako (2001) observed that
improvement in pupils pronunciation in English to a large extent
depends on the use of phonic method as a moans of curbing the
pronunciation problem of the pupils in the district frequent
practice is pronunciation, active participation or involvement in
oral work and adequate exposure of diverse speaking can be a
great help. Peyton, Jenkins, Vadasy and Sanders (2001) studied
three group at risk first grades. Two groups received
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supplemental one-to-one pronunciation instruction from non-
teacher tutors using the same phonics programme. During
pronunciation (reading) component of the lessons, pupils in the
more decodable group pronounce words that were highly consistent
with the phonic programme ie. high proportion of the words
appearing in the text were composed of taught letter and sounds
alone).
Those words that could not be decoded from previously taught in
isolation before they appeared in pronunciation. In isolation
before they appeared in pronunciation. In contrast, pupils in the
less decodable group and read text composed primarily of high
frequently word, with an emphasis on predictable text.
A control grouped received regular instruction from classroom and
entitle one teacher, but were not given the supplementary one-to-
one lessons. At the end of the year, pronunciation the tutored
groups supposed the control group on a board array of decoding,
word pronunciation accuracy in content as well as comprehension
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measure. In interpreting these finding it must be remembered that
the more and less decodable text treatment were supplemented to
classroom pronunciation instruction, in which pupils pronounce
from a variety of texts that were the little relationship to the
supplemental phonic lessons under these circumstances, text
differences may not carry the weight, some authorities claim.
Merits of Phonic Technique (Method)
-According to swelling, (1998) phonic has a positive relationship
with beginning pronunciation, investigators agreed that, phonic
should be part of a broader programme pronunciation.
-Foorman, (1995) says that the more phonic skills acquired, the
more they become aware of speech sounds. Boateng, (2004) found
that phonic provides learners with strategy for independence
reading.
It develops knowledge of letter or word, sound correspondence and
encourage correct pronunciation of words. Phonic help pupils
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pronounce words and once the pronunciation is pronounce, the word
is recognized and identified.
-Again Arthur and Heilman (1976) state the purpose of phonic
instructions are able to provide the leader with the ability to
associate printed letters with the sound these letters represent.
It therefore implies that, the method enables the learners to see
that the written language is a presentation of the spoken
language.
-Davis, (2004) states that, one important advantage of phonic
method is that, it gives children tools for decoding or figure
out how to read and pronounce words that they do know
immediately.
He further said that, beginning readers may find the use of
phonics in their reading very helpful. It can also be used as a
support technique if a learner has sufficient sight vocabulary,
but finds it difficult to analysis phonic technique helps pupils
to have absolute control of both pronunciation and creative
writing-last but not the least, phonic helps to train children in
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the left to right eye movement. Since the letters have to be
sounded in the right order from left to right.
Demerits of Phonic Method
-Some children are confused when they learn phonic rule and then
encounter frequent exceptions and inconsistencies pose a problem
for them (Davis, 2004)
-He further contended or believed that there is no basis for the
view that are skills such as phonic that children need in order
to read, they see the skill as mythical.
-More over, phonics method can easily cause mispronunciation of
words because of irregularities in spelling of English words.
Again the use of the method sound out letters words is boring and
also one letter may represent more then one sound in several
ways. This can easily confuse learners pronunciation. For
instance, the letter “O” be haves differently in words like go,
pot, do and others.
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-Another major disadvantage to phonic is that visual learners may
not read well by this method. The rules do not hold all the time
(Theodor, 1963).
-Some learners may struggles to combine and blend the sound into
words. Learners may focus so much in pronunciation of words that
comprehension of the sentences or paragraph is lost. The
exceptions to the basic rules may also confuse learners.
The syllabic Method
With this method, pupils are taught to read letters put together
to make syllabus. The words selected either begin with common
constant or ends in common vowel for eg. /Fl/FA/etc.
The Cambridge international dictionary page 1479 defines syllabus
as a single unit of speech either a whole word or one of the
parts into which a word is separated when it is spoken or divided
when is printed. It usually contains a vowel.
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However, according to Isadidey (2002) the syllabus method of
refers to the technique which the class teacher uses to teach
pronunciation by relating to syllabus of words. The technique
enables pupils to be conversant with syllabus. He continued by
saying that the child is taught to read letters put together to
make syllabus. The words selected either begin in common
consonants or end in common consonants or in common vowels.
Again, the said this helps children to progress very fast at
initial stages since it becomes very easy to read a host of
disyllabic words but this does not rule out the disadvantages
complete.
Merits of Syllabic Method
According to Isadidey (2002) the syllabic technique enables
pupils to be conversant with syllables. He continued by saying
that the child is taught to read letters put together to make
syllabus. He continued by saying that the child to taught to make
syllable and it also aids children to learn new words. (Teacher
education division, 2003, 95).
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Isadidey (2002) and Bell opened that thee syllabic method enables
children to progress very fast at the initial stages since it
become very easy to read to host of disyllabic words.
Demerits of the Syllabic Technique
Boateng (2004) cautioned that English is an intonation language.
This means that it observe stress pattern seriously and that
words are not all syllabus. He said that the use of the syllabic
technique will mislead learners when they are reading.
Reading syllable is very slow and pupils can therefore not read
fast. Again the technique leads itself to finger tracing in which
pupils point at every syllable as they read. This is a major
factor in slowing down reading.
Summary
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From the discussion above, it could be noted that the use of
phonic knowledge or technique aids in the development of words
recognition, word combination, increases fluency and competency
in spelling.
Therefore pupils need to be taken through phonic activities to
improve pronunciation skills.
CHAPTER THREE
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OVERVIEW
Chapter three of the study descries research design, setting,
population, sampling technique, intervention, methods of data
collection and analysis.
Description of the Study Area
The study took place at Kunkunso D/A JHS 1 in Bibiani Anhwiaso
Bekwai District of Ashanti. The desire by the researcher to
entrance pronunciation competence of its subjects necessitated
this study.
Research Design
The study is an action research that was conducted at Kunkunso
D/A JHS. One main characteristics feature of the study was a
steal by step intervention built into the process. This design
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among then thing involved examining closing unique cases of
pupils pronunciation deficiencies.
As part of the intervention design the phonic method was used as
a strategy of teaching, incorporated with careful selection and
including various relevant teaching and learning materials such
as supplementary book (readers) together with flush cards. The
frequent informal and formal intervention assessments helped in
the monitoring of the learning progess of pupils perhaps one
advantage of the study was its uniqueness as it helped in no
small measure to touch the lives of every individual in the
class. Data collection mechanisms included. Observation, reading
exercises, interview, discussion and reading test.
Population
The population (participant) consisted of fifty two(52) pupils in
KunkunsoD/A JHS 1. The sample of the study therefore consisted of
forty (40) pupils their ages ranges from eight(8) to ten (10).
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The subjects were made up of (20) twenty boys and twenty (20)
girls.
Instrument
The instrument used for the study during the research exercise
were
-Reading exercise
-Discussion
-Observation during class exercise
-Interview
Sampling Technique
The purposive sampling technique was adopted based on the results
obtained from the pretest for forty(40) out of fifty-two (52)
pupils of the class were used for the study since not all pupils
had the problem of pronunciation.
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Data Collection Procedure
The researcher used observation, interview and reading test as
the method of collecting data-data collected was on pupils
pronunciation competence several instruments were used for the
purpose which were both formally used informally administrations
were recorded and used for data analysis. The instruments that
were used included observation, interview, discussions, reading
exercise and test.
Interview Design and Implementation
Introduction
In action research, the researcher enters a problem situation,
attempts change or males and intervention and monitors results.
An action research involves the following steps;
-Identification of the problem should be one place
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-Designing an instrument to assess the situation (pre-test)
designing and implementation and intervention scheme to improve
the situation and monitoring the results.
-Designing an instrument to assess the change or improvement in
the situation and effectiveness of the interview scheme (post-
test) Mereku (2005).
Implementation Mechanism
Adopting a single method to the teaching and learning of English
pronunciation does not meet learning of English pronunciation
does not meet all the needs of the learners. (Asamoah and wife
2003). In the contemporary Ghanaian setting, up have been told as
teachers to inject additional and innovatory approaches as a
competent to the traditional class collective method of teaching.
It was as a result of this that the researcher adopted the phonic
method as a strategy to enhance the pronunciation competence of
class of pupils of KunkunsoD/A JHS.
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How the Intervention was Implemented
The intervention of the study started on the 28th of February
2011 and ended on the 28th of March, this means, the researcher
used four weeks for the actual intervention. The researcher used
two period on the school time table especially, Monday 9:5am to
10:15am which was English pronunciation period. I used
remediation to help to overcome their pronunciation problems.
Remediation refers to intervention activities used to correct the
problem of pronunciation and these includes
-Phonics method and
-Syllabic method
The pupils had difficulties with pronunciation street and
intonation. As a result of the problem the following were steps
used during the intervention.
Week 1: Research question one
Topic: The phonic, The syllabic method.
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The major intervention used was the phonic method. I treated the
sounds with pupils I taught them the vowels that are (a,e,i,o,u).
I made them to realize that the combination of the consanent and
the vowels form the unit of every word. We then went on with the
combination of the consonants and all vowels one after the other
for pronunciation drills.
The letter word formation
B+a = Ba
n+a = na
N+o=No
B+e=Be
I went on with the combination of vowels and consonants.
Vowels Consonants
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i + 5 = is
a + t = at
o + n =on
I made them understand that when vowels are added to sounds like
b,c.d, it sounds differently from the single letter b,c,d. Pupils
learnt that some letters have the same sounds but they are
different letters. For example ‘C’ and ‘K’ example C- Come, K-
Kaba, kite. (I also taught pupils the three letter words
combination, that is the vowels and the consents. Since the
sounds had been taught, it was quite easy for pupils example are
ba + d=bad
me+n=men
ca+t=cat
be+n=ben
Pupils learnt how to form words that has sound mentioned by the
teacher, for instance,
a-ant
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b-bird
c-cat etc
Activity II Research Question one
Topic=The phonic method
Material=Word cards showing words of the same sounds.
Activities
I showed word cards having the same sound like bag, bed, bird and
back. After the researcher.
-Read these words twice while pupils attentively.
-Ask pupils to read the words as a class, in vows and individuals
-Called pupils to pick word cards put in front of the class at
random and pronounce them aloud. I corrected pupils mistakes.
-Divided the class into two groups. One group picked word cards
and asked the other group to pronounce aloud the words on the
cards. After sometime, I asked the two groups to change roles.
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-Wrote words of the same sound on the chalkboard, pronounce them
and ask pupils to pronounce them aloud after me.
Example were; moon, soon, groom, room, broom.
Week 2: Research Question two
Topic: The syllabic Method
Materials: Word card showing words broken into syllabus
Activities: steps followed were: The researcher
-Showed the different cards with words broken down into syllabus
to the class. Example; ta-ble, foot-ball, vi-llage, pen-cil, mar-
ket and fa-ther. The researcher read these words several times
while the pupils listened.
-Asked pupils to read the words as a class in rows and as
individuals.
-Called some selected pupils to pick a word from the table at
random and pronounce it aloud and correcting mistakes that arose.
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-Divided the class into two groups. One group pick the word cards
and asked any member of the other to pronounce the word
correctly. Any correct pronunciation of word attracted two marks
while failure led to deduction of one mark.
-Asked pupils to give a few examples of words that can be broken
into syllables to make their pronunciation easier.
-Wrote the words on the chalkboard and asked pupils to break them
into syllabus. Examples were: tables, bi-ble, pu-pil, child-ren
etc.
Post Intervention (Post – Test Assessment)
At the end of the intervention post test was conducted.
Mechanisms used consisted of both formal and informal assessments
procedures namely; Observation, discussions, interviews, reading
exercises and tests.
As it was during the pre-test (reading), the test items as
indicated in appendix A. Tabulated results are shown in 2 and
42
fig. 2 respectively for the individuals scores obtained by pupils
refer to appendix A.
Problem Encounted
In the teaching of the phonic method, some pupils found it
difficult to differenceiate between the letter ‘d’ and ‘b’ m and
‘n’ and ‘y’. When a word starts with ‘d’ as ‘in’ dad, they
pronounce it ‘bad’ likewise, those words that had ‘b’ in them as
in ‘bat’ if not well cautioned they pronounce it as ‘dat: Again,
pronouncing the sounds ‘e’ and ‘I’ posed a problem. After the
problem pupils identified the cause and overcome it, they because
very enthused. Pupils were able to pronounce the ‘I’ and ‘e’
sound. Example pen, pet and the like. The ‘i’ in words like bee,
teeth and keep. Another problem encounted was the irregularity of
some pupils to school. That made some pupils not to benefit fully
from either intervention of did not take some of the assessment.
43
Limitation to the study
The study was limited to basic four pupils in KunkunsoD/A and the
teachers of English language. The study has ascertained some
problems associated with basic four pupils pronunciation and some
concrete strategies to enhance it. There were certain constraints
which limited the progress of the research. The combination of
the research work together with the work load poles a big
challenge to the researcher.
Moreover, the attitude of some teachers and pupils towards the
nature of the research was at first not quite encouraging,
especially with the use of the observation constructing. They
however observed and willingly accepted copies of the
questionnaire and responded to them. Again there was not enough
time and funds available to undertake the research work.
Data Analysis
Frequently counts the arithmetic mean and percentages were used
in the analysis of the data collected from the study.
44
The chapter presents the quantitative data collected during the
study. The data shows the distribution of marks obtained by the
pupil at the pre-test and post-test stages.
Data Presentation
The researcher’s guest to gather evidence on the poor performance
of the subjects of the study started with a pre-test. The focus
of the pre-test was to help the researcher obtain valid and
reliable possible data on subject entry behavior after the
problem was identified. The data that was obtained provided in
English pronunciation.
Following the completion of the pre-test as second major test
post-test was conducted immediately after the intervention.
Unlike the pre-test, the post test scores of subjects were
recorded and tabulated as shown in table 1 and 2. For anyone
individuals performances could be traced to the appendix column
for the data (see appendix C and D)
46
A distribution that presents data in a clear and effective manner
and which is satisfactory for purposes of this study are the
frequently distribution tables and bar charts were used for the
study.
Table 1: Pre-Test Scores
Marks Frequency (f) Percentages (%) F
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
-
4
6
9
7
4
4
2
2
-
2
-
10
15
22.5
17.5
10
10
5
5
-
5
-
4
12
27
28
20
24
14
16
-
20
Total £f=40 100 £fx 165
47
Source: Researcher’s field
Pre-Test: Mean Score X : £fx = 165 = 4.1
£f 40
Table 1 represents the pre-test as seen from the perspective of
frequency counts percentage scores and mean. The table gives
vivid picture of subject performance on the pre-test.
Table 2: Post – Test Scores of subjects
Marks Frequency (f) Percentages (%) F
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
-
-
1
2
3
2
5
4
10
-
-
2
5
7.5
5
12.5
10
25
-
-
2
6
12
10
30
28
80
48
9
10
10
3
25
7.5
90
30
Total 40 100 £fx 288
Source: Researchers field
Post-test mean score x £fx = 288 7.2
£f 40
Table 2 represents the post-test as seen from the perspective of
frequency counts percentage scores and mean. In addition to the
respective tables giving clear pictures of subjects performance
on the two test, information from the data were also presented in
the form of bar charts to help ensure visual interpretation of
the subjects general performance on the two tests.
Fig I Bar charts representing subjects general performance on the
pre-test and post-test
Chart representing subjects general performance of Pre-test.
49
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION OF RESULT, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Overview
Chapter five marks the last of the chapters in the study. It
height lights on the discussion of results, conclusion and
recommendations offered for implementation for future researchers
teachers and curriculum developers.
Discussion of Result
Judging from the pre-test scores, twenty-six(26) pupils
representing 65 of the total class size of forty (40) scored
below average mark of 5 while four(4) pupils representing 20.
Scored exactly the average mark of 5. Finally, 10 pupils
52
representing 26 percent scored above the average mark of 5. (see
table 1 and fig 2).
Using data on post-test scores are shown on table 2 figure 2, six
(6) pupils representing 15. Scored below the average mark while
as many as 32 pupils representing 80 percent scored above the
average mark of 5.
To find out whether the post test achievement was outstanding,
the means of the two tests being the pre-test and the post test
were worked out and this yielded means scores of 4.1 and 7.2
respectively, using percentages and the means of the two tests in
the presentation and analysis of data as stated above, it was
clear and evident that the intervention and for that matter the
use of phonic as a strategy in the teaching helped greatly in
improving the pronunciation competence of pupils as 80 percent
had scores above the average mark of 5 in the post-test. The
intervention design did work well.
53
In carrying act the study, research questions were formulated.
These were
-How can the use of phonic method as a strategy of teaching
enhance pronunciation competence of pupils?
-How can the use of syllabic method of teaching improve the
pronunciation skills of pupils?
-To what extent will the provision of adequate and relevant
teaching and learning materials increase pupils ability in
pronunciation to at least seventy percent (70%).
In respect of the research questions, the researcher believes
that all the research questions generated in the course of this
study was answered. This was partly due to the provision of
appropriate and varied pronunciation and instructional materials
that were available to learners.
As a result of the intervention pupils performance in
pronunciation shop up, the researcher came to the realization
54
that all research questions generated were supported by the
result of the study. One important thing the researcher observed
was that, the blending of phonic method and syllabic approach
ensured that pupils were able to pronounce. This was because,
with the help of the phonic method, pupils could pronounce every
word or sentence they came across for they were able to use the
phonic approach to pronounce the syllables in the word hence the
remarkable improvement.
After the intervention, pupils ability has increased to eighty
percent (80%). This outstanding and commendable performance
attest to the need to use and develop lesson in English
pronunciation using phonics as a technique of teaching
pronunciation as advocated earlier by cornie, silber and Kamenui
(1997), Torgesen et al (1999) and Foorman et al (1998) that for
beginning readers, more explicit phonic approaches yield stronger
word pronunciation skill.
55
Furthermore, when the various test means are considered one sees
that the post-test was 7.2 as against that of the pre-test which
4.1 implying how effective the intervention was judging from the
results of the pre-test and the post-test, the purpose of using
phonic technique to address pupils problems of pronunciation as
identified in case of KunkunsoD/A JHS 1 duly addressed.
Consequently, the objective of using phonics and syllabic
techniques as readdressing pupils poor performance in English
pronunciation exercise has also been addressed as evidence by the
post-test as against that of the pre-test.
Conclusion
Objective
The main objective of this research was to bring about changes in
the child level of competence and attitude towards pronunciation.
56
From the presentation and analysis of data, the objective were
achieved since pupils who could not pronounce initially made
remarkable improvement in the ways they pronounce.
Purpose
The purpose of the study was to assist KunkunsoD/A JHS 1 pupils
to pronounce English word correctly. From the study, there has
been a significant change since children can pronounce words
correctly.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that for
effective teaching and improvement in the pronunciation ability
of pupils teachers could.
-Adopt the electric method in the teaching and learning of
pronunciation since it involves all the techniques used in
teaching pronunciation
57
-Teachers should be encouraged to use more and relevant teaching
learning materials to make teaching become easy and real.
-Enough and adequate books should be provided for schools so that
pupils would have easy access to them.
-Curriculum development could as well device strategies for
adoption by teaching since there is no one best method that can
suit all the needs of the children we handle.
-Qualified teachers must be made to handle lower classes so as to
be able to build solid foundation in the children as far as
pronunciation is concerned.
-The researcher further, recommends the use of effective
activities in the class to boost or teach pronunciation and
activities such as dialogue in short play.
Suggestions for further research
The researcher wishes to make it known that there is more room
for further research work on pronunciation in the sense that what
58
has been presented does not mean the teaching and learning of
pronunciation has come to an abrupt end.
REFERENCES
Able White R.C. (1971) The show reader London
Adam M.J. (1990), Beginning to read: Thinking and about point.
Cambridge: MA:MIT press
Aikins A (1990) Suggested methods oral English University College
of Education, Winneba Unpublished.
59
Akpanglo Nartey J.N (1989) A phonetic for nonnative speakers of
English Tema Sakumo Book.
Ball, E.N. and Blackman, B.A. (1991) Does Phonemes training in
kindergarten make a difference in early work recognition and
development spelling? Reading research Quertery 26,49,66.
Bond, G-Land Tinker M. (1967) Reading Difficulties, Their
Diagnosis and collections. N.Y.
Boateng M.A. (2004) Teaching English Language Level Kumasi. UGC.
Publishing House.
Cook, G. (1989) Language Teaching Discourse New Oxford University
press.
Davis, C. (1985) Extensive Reading an expensive extravagance (P.
329)
Hann, W. (1984) Learning to read and write U.S.A
K.J. Harris, A (1970) How to increase reading ability New York
Harrist A.J. (1967) Effective teaching of reading New York.
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Harns J.A. (1970). Effective Teaching of Reading New York. David
Mckay Company.
Ghana Teachers Journal (1959) Publisher for the ministry of
Education Ghana, London and Edinburgy. Thomas Nelson and Sons
Ltd.
Gullery (1970) Teaching English as a foreign Language: London:
Longman Group Ltd.
Mcbagonluri D.B. Mebagonluri F and Aryee (2005) Excellent English
for primary schools Book five Accra: Excellent publishing and
printing.
Pearson, H (1996) Reading Time Teachers guide to reading
resources Macmillan London.
Proctor, A. (1994) Assigmnet of children Fundamentals, Methods
and Practices Dubarave: Brown and Bench mark.
Heiman A. Wet al (1998) Principles and practice of teaching
reading. New jersey: A rentice Hall InG.
Sackey; W.A (1996) Lets teach English Accra
61
Strang R.M.Cullough and Troxla (1991) the importance of reading
U.S.A.
Yule, G. (1998) The Study of language (2nd Edition)
U.K. Cambridge University Press.
APPENDIX A
Test items for Pre-Test and Post –Test
Nurse Table
Study Hospital
Pupils Ghana
English Tree
Food Bucket
Class Kindergarten
Condition Road62
Medical Reading
Teacher School
Books Church
APPENDIX B
Interview Questions
1. After school what work do you do at home?
2. Do they assist you in pronunciation?
3. What time do you go to bed?
4. Do you live with your parents?
5. Which part of Kumasi do you stay?
6. Do you have any reading material at home?
7. Do you have electricity for use at home?
63
8. Can your parents, brothers and sisters read?
9. Can your classmates help you to pronounce word exactly?
APPENDIX C
Pre-Test
Pronunciation Test Scores of subjects
Pupils Score (x) Pre-
Test
Pupil Score (x) Pre-
Test
A 3 U 3
64
B 4 V 3
C 2 W 5D 5 X 6E 1 Y 2F 6 Z 2G 3 AA 4
H 2 AB 10
I 4 AC 3J 5 AD 1K 3 AE 4L 7 AF 2M 4 AQ 10N 1 AH 4O 3 A1 7P 1 AJ 6Q 5 AK 8R 8 AL 2S 3 AM 4
T 6 AN 3
APPENDIX D
Post – Test
Pronunciation scores of subjects
65