Saturday, May 23, 2009

HOT TOPIC 5 - Making myself understood is difficult?

Hi there!!!

I've come back from the trip to Thailand (there's no sign of rebellion during my one-week-stay). 
I visited Chulalongkon and Mahidol University (two biggest universities in Thailand) for culture exchange. And I have something to share with you about their students' English speaking.

I have to say that their vocabulary is very limited, their pronunciation is affected seriously by their mother tongue. They can't pronounce the sound "r" so they make it into "l". They can't pronounce well the sound "d" so they make it into "t". Take the word "durian" (quả sầu riêng) for example, they would pronounce like "tu  li ừn". That make it very difficult for me to understand them sometimes. 

Despite of that, generally speaking, I still have to admit that they could communicate very effectively. When they couldn't express their opinions in words, they used their body language. They ran, they danced, they described what they wanted to say with the whole body. Besides, they are very very confident, they weren't afraid of making mistakes. They just talked their ideas out along with body language's help. 

So, I want to raise two matters here:

1. Why are many HULIS students afraid of speaking English? How to make HULIS students more confident in communicating in English?

2. Do you think you are affected by your mother tongue when speaking English? Which sounds are often mispronounced when you speak English? (for example:th in thank is pronounced as thanh in Vietnamese) How to correct those mispronunciation?

Add as much ideas as possible, it will be of many helps for HULIS English speakers.

Eli.

Posted by Eli at 7:00 AM
Reactions: 

7 Comment or Q&A:

  1. Actually, i have talked to Thai people some times and I also share the same experience with you. Not only Thai people but also Korean, Japanese and Chinese are affected by their mother tongue when speaking English. But I think that Vietnamese people are not much affected by mother tongue when they use English. just the most prominent example is "th".And some Northern people may find the sound "r" difficult to pronounce because in the North, people often make the sound in Vietnamese language less heavy than in the South. But HULIS students, who have been taught in our university, know how to pronounce this sound accurately. So it wouldn't be the reason why Hulis students afraid of speaking Engish. Personally I think there are some reasones as followed. Firstly, it is due to the characteristic of almost Vietnamese people: they don't want to state their ideas in front of the crowd. Keeping silent is one of the way not to interfere with others' affairs.Another reason is that student are afraid of making mistakes.They fear that their pronunciation is not good so someone may laugh at them. Gradually, they don't have chance to make their pronunciation corrected by peers and it get worse.Finally, I think Hulis students don't have opportunities to talk in native English environment. In speaking class, they just talk to their friends and teachers who are also Vietnamese so there is not much motivation for them to speak English.Maybe something different will work. Studying English with native speaker is a very effective and motivating way to develope English skills.
    ReplyDelete
  2. 1. Why are many HULIS students afraid of speaking English? How to make HULIS students more confident in communicating in English? uhmmm. It's a really hard question. It depends on characteristics of each person.Some are open and social. Some are not. So those will struggle to speak English. I used to be the one who was afraid of speaking English. The reason was I was surrounded by those who could speak fluently and nicely. However, I was so dumb and spoke like an idiot with my horrible voice. I was afraid that people would laugh at me and feel bored when hearing me. I was afraid that i would make mistakes if i speak out. Therefore, it's better to shut my mouth up. Somewhat we influence from our culture to keep 'face' in front of people. How to make students more confident? It's hard. Each student should have awareness and need to improve their English themselves. Otherwise, all the effort from our teachers will be wasted. For me, English club works as i kept going there, talking to those who were better or even the same level as me. So i received help, encouragement. Once I got improved, I talked more in class.
    2. Do you think you are affected by your mother tongue when speaking English? Which sounds are often mispronounced when you speak English? (for example:th in thank is pronounced as thanh in Vietnamese) How to correct those mispronunciation?

    Yeap. we do. We are affected by our mother tongue in terms of grammar and pronunciation. When i talked to one hotel manager, he said that his Vietnamese staff could not pronoun "six o'clock' correctly. Normally, in our language, we often say 1 quyen sach, 2 quyen sach but in English it is essential to add "s/ es" after plural words. That's why people often forget the ending sounds. The key is keeping the rules in mind and practice.
    ReplyDelete
  3. Nobody can make himself understood easily, therefore none is interested in this topic (j/k)

    Keep moving!

    Thanh Vu Khac
    ReplyDelete
  4. @ Phuong Bui and Nhan: Yes, the most popular reason for their not raising their voice is their fear. The fear of making mistakes, the fear of being laughed at when not saying something right. But I think the root is their hesitation to show their ego in front of the majority. Most Vietnamese people act and do as the majority do and don't dare to do anything different. That's the reason why some students dare not to speak up for fear of having different ideas and therefore, being judged as wrong answers. >.< So, yes, that comes from the awareness, personal notions. However, as teachers, we should encourage student's own personality and their ideas. We should stop judging which is right, which is worng, which is good, which is bad because there is no exact definition for those.
    What else do you think we, teachers/students, can do?

    @ anonymous: Can you clarify why NOBODY can make himself understood easily and why it leads to the fact that nobody is interested in this topic?? :D I don't find those statements either valid or connected with each other???
    ReplyDelete
  5. @Eli: haha.I just want to make the topic hotter. so I said j/k = just kidding:)). Ice-breaking only.

    Thanh Vu Khac
    ReplyDelete
  6. @ Anonymous: =)) Yep!!! Really you made it hot! Actually made me "hot" :P heeeheee!! move on! ^O^
    ReplyDelete
  7. First of all, everyone who is not native guys is afraid of English, not just HULIS students. How can we not be afraid when we have to say something not in our mother tongue? So many problems arise (phonetics, vocabulary, grammar....), but the important thing is that you have to control your fear, your embarrassment? Keep in mind that: "You're afraid and so do other people"..."but they can do and so can you"....even you have to think that "you can do better than them" . You can, of course it's really possible

    The second thing is that every nation is affected by their mother tongue and Vietnam is not an exception....The different thing here is that each nation is affected in their own way, not in the same way...Well, how can we not be affected by a language which we've talked and listened to from when we know how to talk (our first language)..

    I think that we can only limit this effect to some extent, not completely...I mean even you think you're really really good at speaking, you can't say out loud that "I can talk like a native". How can you guy? You will still be affected by your mother tongue, even it's very little...

    About the way to correct mispronounce, well, four words: "listen, observe and mimic"
    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)