高中音標補救教學

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(1)國立屏東教育大學英語學系碩士班碩士論文 Department of English National Pingtung University of Education Master's Thesis. 高中音標補救教學 Teaching Phonetic Alphabet to Underachieving High School Students. 指導教授: 張理宏. 博士. Advisor: Dr. Li-Hung Chang. 研究生: 蔡宜君 Graduate Student: I-Chun Tsai. 中華民國 102 年 7 月 July 2013.

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(4) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I have a dream. I have dreamed of finishing my thesis a thousand times, and now it finally comes true. I have dreamed so long that I almost got lost in my dream world. Fortunately, I have an extraordinary advisor, Dr. Li-Hung Chang, who has always given me the power and strength to keep going on the road of pursuing knowledge. Dr. Chang has taught me with endless patience, humor, and wisdom. As one of his disciples, I will always follow him as I further explore the academic world. I also want to say thank you so much to Dr. Tsae-Tzy Wang and Dr. Mei-Jen Chen. Thank you for being my committee members for my oral defense and giving me advice to make my thesis better. Without your help, I would not have been able to make my dream come true. I am really grateful and thank you for giving me the opportunity to fulfill my dream. Finally, I would like to share this thesis with my family. Thanks to my parents and my younger sister, I can move forward to another stage of my life. And thanks to every friend who has helped me and encouraged me during this period of time, I have been able to achieve my goal. I am the luckiest person in the world to have you all.. i.

(5) 高中音標補救教學摘要本研究針對偏鄉地區英語低成就高中生進行 K. K.音標補救教學。由於筆者任教的學校學生英語程度低落，所以研究者決定進行基本的音字一致之音標規則補救教學。再者台灣當前所有的英語課本及教材皆採用 K. K.音標標記發音，學生應善加熟悉其使用。本研究主要採取質化研究法，以四位高中一年級學生為研究對象，進行為期六週的音標補救教學，旨在探討學生常用的單字學習策略、補救教學後單字背誦成效以及發音進步與否。爾後依據英語補救教學之前後測成績、口語前後測成績、學習單字策略問卷及訪談結果進行質量分析。主要發現結果如下: 一、英語低成就學生最常用的三種單字學習策略分別是觀看單字、抄寫單字以及用 K. K.音標輔助單字拼音。二、K. K.音標補救教學後單字背誦成效較之前為佳。三、K. K.音標補救教學後發音雖較之前進步，但未達統計上顯著。最後研究者根據實際實行補救教學的經驗建議，除了要設法保持學生的學習動機之外，學校可以將補救教學視為必要，並統一安排時間讓低成就學生可以學習而不影響其他課堂時間，另外教師必須了解自身任務善盡教導責任。關鍵字：K. K.音標、補救教學、低成就學生. ii.

(6) ABSTRACT The study determined the effects ofremedial instruction in K. K. phonetic symbols among underachieving high school students in Taiwan, to identify their most frequently used strategies for vocabulary memorization, and to measure the progress of their pronunciation skills as a result of the remedial instructions. Underachievers by definition lack expected grade-level competence; thus, the researcher decided to teach them the most basic rules of letter–sound correspondence, in the hope that it would help them do better in memorizing vocabulary. Since all or virtually all English textbooks and materials used in Taiwan are printed with K. K. phonetic symbols, it is essential for students to be familiar with them. The study used a mainly qualitative research model. Four high school freshmen were recruited as participants and required to attend classes for six weeks. The results were based on their pre-test and post-test scores, responses to background and English learning strategies questionnaires, and interview responses. The findings are as follows: 1. The three most frequently used strategies were 1) reviewing the word to be learned visually (―keeping eyeing‖ the word), 2) writing the word repeatedly, and 3) using K. K. phonetic symbols to help spell the word. 2. After receiving remedial instruction in K. K. symbols, the underachievers performed significantly better in word retention. 3. After receiving the remedial instruction in K. K., the underachievers performed better in vocabulary pronunciation, but the result did not achieve statistical significance. On the basis of these results, the researcher would suggest that teachers should find ways to better motivate underachieving students in order to achieve better. iii.

(7) learning. Additionally, remedial instruction classes should be arranged by schools, and teachers should take the responsibility to teach students well.. Keywords: K. K. phonetic symbols, remedial instruction, underachievers. iv.

(8) TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS..............................................................................................i CHINESE ABSTRACT.................................................................................................ii ENGLISH ABSTRACT................................................................................................iii LIST OF TABLES.........................................................................................................ix CHAPTERS CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION....................................................................1 Background and Motivation...........................................................................1 Statement of the Problem...............................................................................2 Purpose of the Study......................................................................................3 Research Questions........................................................................................3 Significance of the Study...............................................................................4 Definition of Terms........................................................................................4 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW.........................................................9 K. K. Phonetic Symbols.................................................................................9 Basic Concept.........................................................................................9 Function................................................................................................10. v.

(9) Use........................................................................................................11 Related Studies on the Use of K. K. Phonetic Symbols in Taiwan......12 Vocabulary Learning....................................................................................15 Vocabulary Learning Strategies...........................................................17 The Importance of Vocabulary in Reading and Writing......................19 Memorization of Vocabulary...............................................................21 Common Pronunciation Mistakes of EFL Students.....................................22 Underachievers.............................................................................................23 Low Proficiency in English..................................................................23 Problems in English Learning..............................................................24 Insufficient Motivation.........................................................................25 Anxiety Around English Learning.......................................................25 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY.............................................................27 Research Design...........................................................................................27 Subjects........................................................................................................28 Instruments...................................................................................................28 Instructor...............................................................................................29 Questionnaires......................................................................................29 Testing Materials..................................................................................29 vi.

(10) Teaching Materials...............................................................................30 Interviews.............................................................................................30 Data Collection Procedure............................................................................31 Data Analysis................................................................................................33 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION...........................................34 Vocabulary Learning Strategies....................................................................34 Habits of English Learning..........................................................................36 Test Performance on Knowledge of Phonetic Symbols...............................37 Test Performance on Pronunciation.............................................................39 The Effect of Remedial Instruction in K.K. Phonetic Symbols...................43 Interview Findings Regarding Remedial Instruction in K. K......................45 CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION......................................................................56 Summary of the Major Findings..................................................................56 Limitations of the Study...............................................................................56 Pedagogical Implications.............................................................................58 Suggestions for Future Research..................................................................58 References....................................................................................................................60 Appendix A: Chinese and English Questionnaire on Vocabulary Memorization Strategies..............................................................................................65 vii.

(11) Appendix B: Chinese and English Questionnaire on K.K. Learning Background......67 Appendix C: Teaching Schedule for Remedial Instruction in K. K.............................70 Appendix D: Chinese and English Pre-Test for Remedial Instruction in K. K............72 Appendix E: Chinese and English Post-Test for Remedial Instruction in K. K..........76 Appendix F: Chinese and English Interview Questions After Remedial Instruction in K. K......................................................................................................80. viii.

(12) LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1. Ranking of Vocabulary Memorization Strategies..........................................36 Table 2. Scores on the First Three Parts of the Pre-Test (Percentage).........................38 Table 3. Pronunciation Scores on the Pre-Test (Based on 45 Words).........................40 Table 4. Scores on the First Three Parts of the Post-Test (Percentage).......................44 Table 5. Pronunciation Scores on the Post-Test (Based on 45 Words)........................45. ix.

(13) CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Background and Motivation During her nine years serving as an English instructor for a national vocational high school in southern Taiwan, the present researcher has found that most of the students there have had very limited knowledge of English vocabulary, an important part of English learning. Though Gough and Tunmer (1986) ignore the developmental and pedagogical contexts, they still emphasize the importance of vocabulary in reading comprehension. Without a sufficiently wide vocabulary, students cannot make sentences and paragraphs, let alone compose whole essays or articles. They will often encounter learning difficulties both in and outside the classroom. Students often do not usually feel comfortable speaking to or talking with others in a second language (L2), simply because they do not know what words to choose in order to converse or express themselves. Vocabulary therefore plays a fundamental part in L2 learning, including the English learning of these Taiwanese students. Nonetheless, there are many methods available to memorize and retain foreign-language words. The researcher has found that students use many different approaches in trying to memorize new vocabulary items, including but not limited to writing them down from memory, verbal repetition, testing each other, or learning by playing word games in class. However, the researcher has observed that the students 1.

(14) who retain vocabulary best in long-term memory are usually those most familiar and competent with the use of K.K. (Kenyon and Knott) phonetic symbols. Therefore, the researcher has suspected that there is a connection between the use of K.K. symbols and vocabulary learning, and tried to identify this relationship through the work presented in this study. Lee (2009) conducted an experiment to explore the effect of K. K. instruction on the phonemic awareness and spelling of fifth-graders, and it turned out that the experimental group performed significantly better than the control group in a phonemic-awareness post-test. In addition, the experimental group showed a positive attitude to their instruction in K. K. At the same time, the experimental group also made significant progress in a spelling post-test, as shown in within-group comparisons. Another earlier study indicated that students can pronounce long English words using the K. K. phonetic symbols printed in English dictionaries used in Taiwan and make no mistakes, as long as they are familiar with the phonetic system (Liao, 2004). Accordingly, the researcher tries in the present paper to prove that there is a positive relationship between English L2 vocabulary learning and instruction in K. K. phonetic symbols. Statement of the Problem The students in the researcher’s school are to face the national Technological and Vocational Education Joint College Entrance Examination after three years of 2.

(15) studying English. Generally speaking, the students at this school do not do very well on quizzes or tests, including the Joint College Entrance Exam. When asked about the difficulties they face, most of the students said that they did not recognize the English words used in the test. This is a serious problem that affects the students’ learning aspirations, and there is a danger that their motivation to learn will fade away after constant failure. That is, the poorer the scores they achieve, the less interested they become in learning English. Without basic understanding of English vocabulary and ability to recall it from memory, the students will not achieve success in any aspect of English learning. Purpose of the Study The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of remedial instruction in K. K. phonetic symbols on English vocabulary learning among underachieving high school students. Research Questions The researcher would like to investigate three questions pursuant to the purpose of the study: 1.What kind of L2 vocabulary learning strategies do high school underachievers often use? 2. Do underachievers who have received remedial instruction in K.K. phonetic 3.

(16) symbols perform significantly better in vocabulary retention? 3. Do the underachievers perform significantly better in word pronunciation after remedial instruction? Significance of the Study The English learning underachievers in this study often do not recognize K. K. phonetic symbols. Thus, even though they have received English education since elementary school and have been exposed to textbooks and materials containing K. K., they cannot apply what they have learned to studying English. This study will show future researchers whether K. K. instruction and reconstruction works as a remedial teaching strategy for underachievers. Definition of Terms . K. K. Phonetic Symbols. The linguistsJohn Samuel Kenyon and Thomas Albert Knottpublished in 1944 A Pronouncing Dictionary of American English. The dictionary became a classic guide to American English pronunciation, and the system of phonetic symbols presented in it became known in the world of second language teaching and learning as K. K. Currently in Taiwan, K. K. phonetic symbols are extensively used in English textbooks and teaching and learning materials, and also taught in schools.. . Remedial Instruction. This is a way to provide additional teaching to 4.

(17) students who are left behind academically (Wu & Lin, 2003). When some student constantly fails to achieve an average score in a class, it is time to figure out if they need to receive remedial instruction to close the learning gap. Yang (2004) indicates that teachers are expected to give remedial instruction to underachievers, which is part of the responsibility as educators. Remedial instruction should be tailored to underachievers and their learning problems, learning abilities and learning situations, providing instruction suitable to help them fully display their talents and abilities. Yang also claims that teachers should teach students how to use learning strategies to develop their learning ability and interest in learning. By giving remedial instruction, teachers can help students with low proficiency rebuild their basic competence and catch up with other students. . Underachievers (Low-Proficiency Students). Students who have normal intelligence yet perform poorly and consistently receive low scores in academic assessment are often regarded as ―underachievers.‖They tend to make excuses for late homework and to be easily distracted when learning. Underachievers also need more time to finish tasks than other students, and require more attention from parents and teachers. Delisle and Berger (1990) claim that underachievement is content- and situation-specific; students who 5.

(18) may not be successful in school, for example, are often successful in outside activities such as sports, music, or after-school jobs. In this sense, labeling a student as an underachiever ignores positive outcomesin those areas in which the student does succeed; it therefore makes more sense to label an area of underachievement, not a student underachiever. For example, a student may be underachieving in mathematics or science. Underachievement is tied to self-concept, and can thus become a self-fulfilling prophecy. If students see themselves as failures, they may eventually place self-imposed limits on what is possible. For students in this category, good grades might be dismissed as accidents or luck, but poor grades still be taken to heart and serve to reinforce a negative self-concept. From the literature, it is evident that a universally acceptable definition of underachievement has not been reached; however, most researchers agree that discrepancies between ability and actual performance, disruptive behavior, and neurological/cognitive factors may have much to say in explaining underachievement (Bleuer, 1987; Delisle & Berger,1990; Sousa, 2003). In a general sense, the term―underachievers‖ includes those students who 1) do not perform according to expectations in a particular subject area; 2) do not show interest or do well in their studies; 3) do not perform well in a specific subject area; 4) have the necessary intellectual 6.

(19) ability but still underachieve; and/or 5) are limited by culture, language and gender from doing well academically (Zhang, 2003). As mentioned, the present researcher often sees underachievers in her classes. In certain cases, they show very little interest in English class and get very low grades on English tests. They mayshow their lack of interest in English by sleeping in class or doing things like drawing pictures in their textbooks or doing homework for other subjects. The researcher has tried to wake them up when they fall asleep, but often in vain, meaning that they miss out on classroom instruction. The researcher once worried that she was an inefficient teacher whose lectures always put her students to sleep; however, the sleepers told her that they had been sleeping in English classes since junior high school. They sleep simply because they do not understand what the teacher is teaching, not because her instruction is somehow flawed. Regardless, it seems clear that a vicious circle has formed between these students’ academic performance their and attitude towards English learning. Therefore, the researcher hopes to start from the most basic element of language—its sounds, as represented by K. K. phonetic symbols—to show underachievers that English is not difficult to learn, and that even if they are struggling they can still gain some marks and improve their test scores by learning vocabulary 7.

(20) with their K. K. skills.. 8.

(21) CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW K. K. Phonetic Symbols Basic Concept. K. K. phonetic symbols represent American English pronunciation. There are 41 symbols in the system, including 14 vowels, (11 monophthongs and three diphthongs) and 24 consonants. The purpose of learning K. K. phonetic symbols is to be able to pronounce and spell English words correctly. According to Chen (2011), during the period from the 1980s to the year 2000, K. K. phonetic symbols played a crucial role in the explanation of American English pronunciation to students in Taiwan. Though phonics came to be used in the past decade, and prevailed till about 2005 in Taiwanese classroom instruction, soon teachers and students found that K. K. phonetic symbols were indispensible. Therefore, a combination of phonics and K. K. phonetic symbols has emerged as the normal means for teaching American English sounds, and teachers and students have tried to find a balance between them. The researcher herself has benefited from learning K. K., and always teaches K. K. to high school freshmen at the beginning of their first term, in keeping with her school’s policy. The reason for this policy is so that it can be determined to what degree the students have learned the use of K. K. in junior high school and how proficient they are. Can students use K. K. to pronounce 9.

(22) the words printed in English textbooks and dictionaries? And can they make good use of the phonetic system to memorize new vocabulary? If not, the teacherwill want to know this from the very beginning of class, so that they can address the gap. Function. Liu (2009) claims that it is difficult to teach English pronunciation without the help of phonetic symbols like K. K., which are a convenient tool to convey pronunciations in a clear way. Successful teaching of K. K. can also help students understand vowel–consonant correspondence relationships better, and can enhance their ability to read and spell. Hsu (2000) indicates that instruction in K. K. is meant to help students understand the sounds of English phonemes and letters and to be able to combine them into complete pronunciations of words; conversely, words can be divided into their constituent phonemes. In order to keep a vocabulary item in long-term memory, it is important to be able to associate it with a phonetic sequence. Thus, in several ways, K. K. symbols provide a definitive solution to the problem of learning pronunciation. In addition, according to Lee (2009), it is necessary to pronounce a word correctly before being able to spell it correctly. Knowledge of phonetic symbols is thus also an effective tool for training students in spelling and writing. Though the direct phonological awareness provided by phonics is indispensable while learning spelling and pronunciation, the K. K. system plays the key role of connecting the letter to the sound, which is important when dealing with 10.

(23) exceptions to phonic rules. Use. According to Chen (2011), K. K. was the sole dominant approach to teaching the sounds of English in Taiwan from the 1980s to the year 2000. Thus, for years, K. K. phonetic symbols have been extensively used in English teaching materials in Taiwan. Students usually receive education in K. K. beginning in junior high school, since the national Ministry of Education (MOE; 2001, 2003, 2008) mandates instruction in K. K. phonetic symbols at this stage to support the learning of phonics. Students in Taiwan receive instruction in phonics in elementary school, from the third to the sixth grade, and there are certain aspects of this phonics education that K. K. phonetic symbols can facilitate. One example is that though phonics emphasizes and clearly conveys letter–sound correspondences, it does not reveal changes in stress among syllables. Further, phonics only deals with the easiest pronunciation of a given word. Moreover, according to Dickinson and Smith (1994), the phonics method does not always manage to achieve the effective learning of pronunciations of a large number of words. Taiwanese scholars of English education have encouraged English teachers to teach K. K. partly to compensate for these deficiencies of phonics. As mentioned above, K.K. has been widely used in Taiwan for decades; this is true in mass media, textbooks, and all kinds of exams. The typical K. K. teaching method is usually implemented during the learning of the alphabet. ―Phonetic symbols 11.

(24) are taught in Taiwan for language learning’s sake, not for linguistic study.‖ (Hsu, 2000, p. 21) Teaching English pronunciation through phonetic symbols is a conventional teaching method through which English sounds and word pronunciation can be effectively symbolized for learners. Learners are asked to memorize all the K. K. symbols and then to practice spelling words with them under some time limit. Usually they imitate the teacher’s pronunciation without engaging in effective practice, partly due to lack of time. This makes K.K. symbols a crucial tool for language learning; as has been shown among adults with an extensive period of English learning and K. K. knowledge behind them, many can independently guess the pronunciation of a new word without a dictionary (Hsu, 2000). Even for younger people who are still learning the system, K. K. symbols have value and can help support learning, as long as the learners are progressing as expected and acquiring K. K. effectively. Related Studies onthe Use of K. K. Phonetic Symbols in Taiwan. Most studies on K. K. phonetic symbols consider them in combination with phonics. It seems that the scholarly consensus is that to use K. K. alone is not the best way to teach vocabulary. The following studies show the close relationship between phonics and K. K. in Taiwan. Hsu (2000) investigated the application and functions of phonics and phonetic 12.

(25) symbols in English learning and teaching. She observed several classrooms to see how phonics and phonetic symbols help English learners in Taiwan, and presented the following findings. First, the relationship between phonics and phonetic symbols should be cooperative. Letter–sound relationships introduced by phonics can be reinforced by the teaching of phonetic symbols. Phonics and phonetic symbols are two assisting tools and methods in pronunciation teaching in her study. Second, both phonics and phonetic symbols should not be introduced until after students have acquired some basic words, and then the presentation of phonics should be prior to that of phonetic symbols. More specifically, in Hsu’s (2000) study, fifth-graders in Taipei were inferred to be ready to learn to manipulate the logical and systematic K. K. symbols because they had learned phonics for more than four years. Lin (2001) aimed to examine which teaching method—namely, phonics with or without K. K.—is more effective in teaching pronunciation to adult Chinese-speaking EFL learners, an investigation that yielded several findings. First, both the pure phonics approach and the combination of phonics with the K. K. phonetic method have significant positive effects on the learning of pronunciation by adult EFL learners. Second, high-proficiency subjects perform significantly better than lower-proficiency subjects do on an oral posttest. Third, on the oral test, the phonics plus K. K. group performs significantly better than the pure phonics group on the 13.

(26) vowel digraph sound pattern. Finally, higher-proficiency subjects perform significantly better than lower-proficiency subjects on diphthongs and single consonant letters. Hsu (2003) aimed to find an effective way to improve the attitude of elementary students to learning English, and also to develop their phonemic awareness (specifically, awareness of phoneme segmentation and blending), word recognition, and spelling. Her participants the 70 fifth-graders were not attending after-hours cram school during the experiment (where they might receive additional instruction that would complicate the results). The participants were divided into three groups, one that was offered phonics instruction alone, another that was offered phonics plus K. K. instruction, and still another that was offered K. K. instruction only. The results showed no statistically significant differences among the three groups, but the group that only accepted K. K. instruction performed better than the other groups on tests of both English ability and learning attitude. This study suggests that if fifth-graders are interested in learning English, it may be helpful to teach them the symbols. In contrast, a combination of phonics and K. K. instruction might not be appropriate for EFL learners at the elementary level. Though most of these previous studies have been investigating which way is better for teaching pronunciation, it is interesting to know that outside of Taiwan, 14.

(27) there is no notable argument for or research or pedagogical tradition that investigates K. K. phonetic symbols. According to Chen’s (2011) recent work, no country in the world uses the K. K. system except for Taiwan, where it is used alongside phonics as an official tool for pedagogical instruction in pronunciation. The policy of using K. K. may in a sense limit English learning, because dictionaries printed in western countries do not use K. K. symbols. However, considering that helping underachieving students and providing them with a reliable tool to learn English pronunciation is the top priority of the present study, the researcher felt that teaching them the current system, which has been shown to be effective, would be desirable. After all, it is not the students’ call to change government policy. For the time being, K. K. is still the mainstream, accepted system in Taiwan, and it is used here accordingly. Vocabulary Learning As an English teacher in an EFL class, the researcher has to admit that vocabulary learning and development have been largely ignored in EFL education and have been simply viewed as a natural byproduct of teaching and learning. Many students regard studying vocabulary to be simply a matter of studying the forms and translated meanings of words. However, many studies have made the point that one needs to acquire many 15.

(28) types of vocabulary knowledge in order to properly use a word. For example, Nation (1990) claims that knowing a word means studying its written and spoken forms, its meanings, its grammatical patterns, its collocations, associations, and frequency, as well as its register. Laufer (1997) reviewed several researchers’ definitions of ―a word‖ and developed a list of features involved in a word’s form and the learning of a new word, including pronunciation and spelling; word structure (for instance, the word root); derivations and inflections;syntactic patterns;multiple meanings; metaphorical, affective and pragmatic meanings; relations with other words (e.g., synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy); and common collocations. Gairns and Redman (1986) provide several perspectives on ―knowing‖ a word—conceptual meaning; homonymy; affective meanings; style, register, and dialectal considerations; sense relations such as synonymy and antonymy; meanings; L1 translation-equivalents; verb phrases; idioms and collocations; semantic relations; and grammar and pronunciation. From the above arguments, we can see that learning a word is a complex process. Therefore, it is reasonable that vocabulary learning would be a difficult task for EFL learners. Though most EFL students in Taiwan agree that vocabulary learning is a very important part of learning English (Chen, 1998), they still have difficulty learning and memorizing new words. Retention of vocabulary lasts for a short time only,thus causing fluctuations instudents’ performance on reading comprehension, writing, 16.

(29) listening, speaking,and other L2 activities. Undoubtedly, vocabulary is a necessary part of the foundation of every other aspect of English learning. The researcher has noticed that the first difficult situation students face in an English class is often the pronunciation of vocabulary. Students can usually imitate the words they hear after they are demonstrated by the teacher, but most of the time they cannot pronounce a word on their own, even though its K. K. representation is given in the textbook. When the students are asked why they cannot read the word, the most commonly received reply is that they do not recognize the K. K. phonetic symbols. They do not have any idea about any aspect of the word’s pronunciation, be it vowels, diphthongs, consonants, stress, or syllables. It is no wonder that they always perform poorly on quizzes and tests. However, the students still keep certain vocabulary in mind in somewhat mysterious ways. Thesecan be considered their ―vocabulary learning strategies,‖ andwill be discussed in the following section. Vocabulary Learning Strategies. Compared to general foreign-language learning strategies, there has been little research conducted on L2 vocabulary learning strategies. Schmitt (1997) investigated EFL learners’ vocabulary learning strategies among 600 Japanese EFL students: 150 junior high school students, 150 high school students, 150 university students, and 150 adult learners. The participants were given 17.

(30) a survey containing 40 vocabulary learning strategies and asked to describe their usage and perceptions of the helpfulness of these strategies. The results showed that there were the six most commonly used and most helpful strategies, namely that they involved saying new words aloud, written repetition, verbal repetition, use of a bilingual dictionary, studying spelling, and taking notes in class. The three least used strategies were using cognates, using semantic maps, and using physical action. Additionally,the three least helpful strategies were using cognates, imaging words’ meaning, and using the keyword method. The results also show that shallow strategies like the ones described above are preferred by the subjects to deeper strategies such as the keyword method and semantic maps (Schmitt, 2000). Schmitt further pointed out that learners from different cultures are very likely to use and prefer different vocabulary learning strategies. Take Chinese learners as an example. The strategy of using cognates to learn English does not exist in Chinese. Similarly, the appropriateness of Oxford’s (1990) Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) questionnaire items has also been questioned when the items are administered to learners from different cultural contexts, as noted by Huang (2000), who also points out that learners may not be able to access some strategies, such as using rhymes or linking the sound of a new word to an image or picture. Further, learners may respond to the introduction of vague or ill-conceived strategies with different interpretations, 18.

(31) implementing them in inconsistent and perhaps ineffective ways. Chen (1998) investigated Taiwanese EFL students’ vocabulary learning strategies. Among 275 participants in Chen’s study, there were 81 senior high school students and 194 college freshmen. The same instrument used by Schmitt (1997) was applied. The results showed that bilingual dictionaries and verbal repetition were the two most helpful strategies, results that correspond to those of Schmitt (1997). In the two studies, both Taiwanese and Japanese learners of English have thus been shown to prefer shallow strategies. Moreover, comparing the two studies, Chen found that both Taiwanese and Japanese learners used more memory strategies than other strategies. This is consistent with a popular belief that Asian students prefer using memory strategies (Oxford, 1990). The Importance of Vocabulary in Reading and Writing. It is widely acknowledged that vocabulary plays a vital role in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The reason why the present researcher puts a particular emphasis on reading is that students need to read their English textbooks every day, and if they cannot recognize the vocabulary in the readings, they certainly will not comprehend the content. According to studies focusing on vocabulary and reading comprehension, there is a strong relationship between these capacities (Laufer, 1997; Nation, 1990; Nation & Coady, 1988). Coady (1993) also found that vocabulary not only has a 19.

(32) positive effect on reading comprehension but also leads to reading proficiency. Even when they are aware of the importance of vocabularyreading comprehension, however, in the researcher's classes, senior high school students still think of learning vocabulary as an obstacle in the learning of English, in that not being able to recognize new words when reading is a serious problem for them. Through Laufer’s (1997) discussion of the minimum vocabulary needed for reading comprehension, we can find out a little bit more about how much vocabulary is necessary for EFL students to be able to comprehend English texts with ease. She suggests that the ―turning point‖ in vocabulary size for reading comprehension is about 3,000 word families or 5,000 lexical items. That is, this is the size of vocabulary that ESL/EFL readers have to possess to comprehend an average English text. Laufer further claims that vocabulary size is related to reading comprehension assessment score and that when reaching this vocabulary threshold (3,000 word families or 5,000 lexical items), good L1 readers are more likely to begin to transfer their L1 reading strategies to their L2(Huang, 2000). However, if the competence of a reader does not reach the level, difficulties in reading and comprehending a text will persist. It is somewhat surprising that most of thestudents considered in the above studies, even at the university level, had not yet reached the vocabulary threshold mentioned, since in theory they should know about 3,850 words when graduating 20.

(33) from high school (Wang, 2004). Their lack of adequate vocabulary thus prevents them from comprehending authentic English texts, and so they usually do not have time to apply their L1 reading strategies when reading an English text because they are instead busy decoding unknown words due to insufficient knowledge (Laufer, 1997). As for writing, it is a complex activity that requires a large quantity of vocabulary to proceed successfully. In order to express their opinions or feelings in writing, students should be equipped with broad, deep vocabulary knowledge. However, in this study, the underachiever participants were not expected to write an article or passage in English, because they hardly knew the basic rules of English spelling, let alone writing. The researcher hoped to ―go back to the beginning‖ of English learning to help them develop the ability to study English on their own and make it possible for them to write in the future. Memorization of Vocabulary. There are many ways to memorize vocabulary. Schmitt’s (1997) vocabulary learning system presents two memory strategies that the present researcher takes up: one involves studying the spelling of words, and the other, their sounds. The reason for adopting these strategies is that students can always take the initiative under these methods by studying on their own using K. K. Macaro (2006) mentions that if a learner applies a suitable memory strategy to vocabulary learning, it will be possible to keep the new word in his or her long-term memory. Therefore, in 21.

(34) this study, the researcher tried to emphasize the importance of connecting K. K. to memorization of vocabulary and pronunciation. Common Pronunciation Mistakes of EFL Students It is undeniable that correct pronunciation helps English users be understood. Being a native-like English speaker makes a person more persuasive in English. As a result, for English learners, gaining correct pronunciation of vocabulary items from the very beginning of study becomes a crucial job. In the present researcher’s teaching experience, she has found that good pronunciation depends on good listening ability: students should pay very close attention to what they hearand do shadow reading or shadow speaking immediately, in class. The best medium to close any gap between the teacher’s speech and students’ listening skills is phonetic symbols. Based on the researcher’s observations, many Taiwanese students cannot pronounce the sounds [ð] or [θ ] well. The [ð] sound is usually replaced by [d] or [l], while [θ ] turns into the [s] sound. The durations of long vs. short vowels are usually ignored, too, and differences between [e], [ε ], and [æ ] are problematic. If learners cannot tell the pronunciation differences between new words using these sounds by reference to a textbook presenting K. K. symbols for them, it may lead to mistakes in either spelling or pronunciation. 22.

(35) Underachievers Underachievers are defined in this study as the bottom 25% of students in English learning assessment results. According to Kuo (2004), underachievers usually have some commonalities in academic performance and daily behavior. For example, underachievers tend to get low grades and to fail to complete tests without leaving blanks. They make excuses for late homework, copying others’ answers or not turning in the assignments. In addition, they cannot concentrate on schoolwork or lessons. The present researcher has found the underachievers often have no patience or motivation for studying; sometimes they show a bad attitude not only to schoolwork but also to their teachers. They tend to rely on other people’s help to finish a task; however, most of the time their families do not give them appropriate support. Finally, they become less confident and less interested in the subjects they are not good at. The situation gets worse, in a vicious circle, when underachievers do not succeed academically. Low Proficiency in English. Among all the subjects that Taiwanese underachievers cannot handle, English is their natural enemy. It is because their mother tongue is composed of Chinese characters while English is combined with letters. They cannot spell or pronounce English vocabulary, let alone read their 23.

(36) textbooks. The researcher has seen many of them defeated by English. When they face the test paper, they just write down their names and student numbers and make a few guesses on the multiple choice questions; then, they sleep, showing no interest in achieving a good grade. It seems that vocabulary and sentence composition are never a problem for these students because they have already given up learning English. However, the researcher has observed some of them struggling to recall the spelling of a word, wasting up to 30 minutes on one question. When English-class underachievers are asked to spell a word and say it out loud, they usually cannot pronounce the word correctly. When they learn a new word, they focus only on individual letters, one at a time, instead of on the combination of sounds. It is obvious that these underachievers can hardly keep up with or effectively comprehend the content of the reading material in their English classes, and it is easy to imagine how much difficulty they will face at college in the future. Problems in English Learning. According to the researcher’s observations, there are two main problems, or factors leading to low proficiency in English among the underachievers in her class. One is insufficient motivation to learn, and the other is anxiety surrounding English learning. Underachievers are generally uninterested in learning English because they do not understand what the teacher is talking about. It is very likely that they have had difficulty concentrating on English learning since 24.

(37) they were in elementary or junior high school. If they do not obtain encouragement and care from their teachers and parents and see concrete improvement, they will finally give up and make no progress. Insufficient Motivation. The underachievers in this study lack English learning motivation mainly because they think they will not need English anymore after graduation. Due to the remote location of the school and the urgent financial need felt by many people in this depressed rural area, most underachievers in the author’s classeschoose to work to support their families as soon as they graduate from this vocational high school. Some local parents tend to view degrees as not being useful, and expect their children to use their labor to make a living. Though better-off parents generally encourage their children to study, underachievers in these families often still think there is no need to study harder and no use in doing so, since their parents provide everything they need. Either situation can lead underachievers to lose their interest in learning English. What they do not know at present is that English is so useful and important that it is somewhat difficult for them to avoid or escape from it. Anxiety Around English Learning. According to Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986), anxiety can be broken down into three components: communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation. The researcher finds it 25.

(38) interesting that the performance of the underachievers in her English class clearly reflects the above components. If an English underachiever is asked a question and is not sure about the answer, he or she will often remain silent, act awkwardly,or blush. At that moment, the researcher tries to encourage the student and help them perform better next time. If one pushes students too hard in this situation, they will refuse to answer the question. When it comes to the test time, underachievers like these often ask the researcher in advance if they will fail the test, because they feel they will not do well, as usual.. 26.

(39) CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY Research Design This study aimed to determine whetherunderachievers perform differently on vocabulary memorization and pronunciation after receiving remedial instruction in K. K. phonetic symbols, and also to explore their vocabulary learning strategies. It is widely known that there is a severe rural–urban disparity in education in Taiwan; in keeping with this situation, some students at the researcher’s vocational high school in the southern part of the country had had less effective instruction in English as compared with students in other parts of Taiwan when coming into her class. The researcher has served as an English teacher at this high school for nine years, and has encountered many underachieving high school students who struggle to meet English requirements. This study was designed as action research to improve these students’ low proficiency in English. The researcher found that much of the difficulty these students had in vocabulary learning was due to their unfamiliarity with K. K. symbols. Therefore, shedecided to design a remedial course in K. K. for them. After analyzing and evaluating their status at the end of remedial instruction, the researcher planned to reflect on the results of the course and improve and correct her approach; the 27.

(40) experience would also allow her to give suggestions for future studies. Subjects The subjects were four underachieving students recruited from the same class of 39 freshmen, who are sixteen years old, at the researcher’s vocational high school, in Pingtung County. They were asked to attend a remedial instruction program in K. K. phonetic symbols for six weeks—30 minutes a session, twice a week. The researcher chose freshmen as participants because they had just graduated from junior high school and faced a sudden jump in expected vocabulary size and a required level of vocabulary learning. These students should have already acquired basic vocabulary, specifically the ―Basic 1,000 Words for Elementary and Junior High School Students‖as identified by the MOE. However, the researcher should make it clear that, from her observations, most of the students at the school where she serves have been low-level students with very low motivation in English learning. This might be attributed to the remoteness of the school, the lack of English teaching and learning resources, the low socioeconomic status of the parents, and other such factors. Instruments This study employs an action research model, and the researcher counts herself as one of the instruments. In addition to the administration of two questionnaires to investigate the underachievers’ commonly used vocabulary learning 28.

(41) strategies, and their background learning and using K. K. symbols, the researcher also prepared teaching materials, testing materials, and interview questions for the participants. All the remedial classes as well as the interviews were videotaped for analysis thereafter. Instructor. The researcher has been serving as an English teacher in the same rural national vocational high school for nine years. During the time, she has found that most of her students are not interested in English and usually get low scores on college entrance examinations. Many of them have told her that they had given up on English in junior high school. They have also often said that they do not understand K. K. symbols, and have had difficulty memorizing vocabulary and pronouncing new words. Therefore, the researcher embarked upon this study to collect more information on the problem and figure out solutions. Questionnaires. In order to determine the participants’ background, favored vocabulary memorization strategies, and experience and feelings about learning K. K., two questionnaires were designed by the researcher (presented as Appendices A and B). Due to their limited interest in studying English, the researcher speculated that these students might have no strategy at all for doing so. She therefore hoped that the questionnaire would provide her with more detailed information. Testing Materials. A pre-test and a post-test were implemented for the 29.

(42) underachievers (presented as Appendices D and E). The pre-test was meant to measure their initial ability in word recognition,and the post-test, to examine whether remedial instruction in K. K. had a positive effect on their English learning outcomes. Assessment was divided into four parts: listening to English vowels or consonants and writing down the relevant K. K. symbols, listening and selecting a word from two choices, listening and finishing a word by filling in a blank, and pronouncing words from avocabulary list. In order to measure students’ pronunciation ability, the last part of the test had two sections—one for pronouncing the words on their ownand one for repeating them after the researcher. Teaching Materials. The teaching materials were designed by the researcher; the content of the lectures was taken from the English textbooks published by Far East, English Reader for Vocational High Schools Book I and Book II (Lin & Brooks, 2011), that the freshmen were using in their regular English class at the time. Each week there were two classes; a teaching schedule was developed (presented as Appendix C). Interviews. After the remedial instruction, the researcher interviewedthe participants to determine how they felt about it (see Appendix F). This was a chance for the students to express themselves and for the researcher to gather their feedback. There were ten questions asked in the interviews. 30.

(43) Data Collection Procedure The researcher tried ensure the reliability of this study by collecting several kinds of data: pre-test and post-test results, recordings of classes, questionnaire answers, and interview responses. On this basis, the researcher tried to identify the problems that the underachieving students encountered and develop appropriate solutions.. 31.

(44) Find out the problems of underachieving students in vocabulary learning.. Design a remedial course of K. K. phonetic symbols for the underachievers, and choose the underachieving participants.. Participants answer two questionnaires. One is for vocabulary learning strategies; the other is for the background research.. Participants take the pre-test.. Carry out the 12-class remedial instruction course.. Paticipants take the post-test and be interviewed.. Analyze the collected data.. Find out the solutions to underachievers' problems. Figure 1. Research design and process of the study.. 32.

(45) Data Analysis Although the research sample was limited to four participants, which is less than is generally seen in quantitative studies, the students were asked to take a pre-test and post-testand to answer questionnaires; therefore, the researcher would define this study as both qualitative and quantitative.The more illuminating data are likely to come fromhow the participants acted in the test setting and how they answered the questionnaires. However, the pre-test and post-test results will be presented in the following chapter without statistical analysis.. 33.

(46) CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS AND DISCUSSION This chapter contains the findings of the study and discussion of their implications. It is divided into six parts, respectively covering vocabulary learning strategies, English learning habits, performance on the K. K. knowledge tests, performance on pronunciation, the effect of remedial instruction in K. K. phonetic symbols, and other aspects of the findings regarding remedial instruction. Vocabulary Learning Strategies This section presents findings on Research Question 1: What kind of L2 vocabulary learning strategies do high school underachievers often use? When asked about their favored memorization strategies, each of the four participants gave the highest score to the option of ―keeping eyeing‖ the word to be learned, that is, reviewing it visually several times;second place went to the option of writing the word repeatedly,and using K. K. phonetic symbols to help spell the word was their third favorite option (see Table 1). The least-used three strategies, to the researcher’s surprise, were looking the word up in the dictionary, making a mental image of the word, and listening to the sound recording of the word. From the above results, we can see that underachieving students tend to preferentially use the simplest method of memorizing vocabulary, namely to ―keep eyeing‖ the word to be learned. If 34.

(47) they could not remember the new word on that basis, then they would take the second step of copying the word out repeatedly. However, these two strategies only helped them keep new words in their short-term memory long enough to cope with a quiz or an exam. Afterward, the researcher had seen in classes that they would totally forget what they had learned before, which was the main reason that these underachieving students, compared with other students, could not get even an average score on English tests. Further, it is hard to imagine learning English without being able to look new words up in the dictionary. Nevertheless,both on the questionnaire and in the interviews, the four participants claimed that they did not or only seldom used dictionaries to learn English. More promisingly, the third most frequently used strategy was using K. K. phonetic symbols, which the participants found aided their English learning in at least three ways—spelling a word, pronouncing it, and looking new words up in the dictionary.. 35.

(48) Table 1 Ranking of Vocabulary Learning Strategies Strategies from Most to Least Frequently Used. Means. 1.. Keep eyeing the word to be learned. 4.75 points. 2.. Write the word repeatedly. 2.5 points. 3.. Use K. K. phonetic symbols to help spell the word. 2.25 points. 4.. Say the word aloud several times. 2. 5.. Memorize bilingual lists. 1.75 points. 6.. Do vocabulary exercises. 1.75 points. 7.. Remember the affixes and roots of new words. 1.75 points. 8.. Visualize the word mentally. 1.5 points. 9.. Connect the word to its synonyms or antonyms. 1.5 points. points. 10. Place the word in a sentence, paragraph, or conversation. 1.5 points. 11. Make up rhymes to link words. 1.5 points. 12. Draw pictures to illustrate the meaning of new words. 1.25 points. 13. Listen to sound recordings of the words. 1. points. 14. Make a mental image of new words. 1. points. 15. Look the word up in the dictionary. 1. points. Habits of English Learning In order to better understand the English learning background of these four students, a questionnaire was administered to them. The data show that these students had three things in common. First, they had all been learning English for more than six years. Second, none of them generally spent extra time studying or reviewing English after school. Third, they had all learned K. K. phonetic symbols in either elementary school or junior high school. When asked about their familiarity with K. K., two of the participants said that they were familiar with none of the symbols, while the third said that he knew only a 36.

(49) few of them and the last said that he was familiar with most of them. However, the first three students said that they were unable to use K. K. phonetic symbols to read or spell; only the fourth said that sometimes he could. That is, the students are basically not capable of using K. K. to study English or memorize vocabulary, even though, as mentioned, this is one of their most frequently used strategies. In order to bridge the gap, the researcher gave remedial instruction in K. K. to the students. Based on the answers these underachieving students gave before their remedial instruction, it seemsthat only one of them thought their previous K. K. learning experience was helpful for their English ability, while the other three were not sure. Further, only two of them thought it would be a problem for them if they could not recognize the K. K. symbols printed in their textbooks and other materials. When encountering a new word, three of them would choose to ignore the word, and only one would ask his classmates or friends. Here we can see that asking the English teacher is not really part of their inventory of options; the English teacher is the last one they will turn to. Additionally,it is true that none of these four students has asked any questions of the researcher, who has been their English teacher for almost a year. Test Performance on Knowledge of Phonetic Symbols In this section, the researcher will present the results of the first three parts of the pre-test; results for the last part, the pronunciation pre-test, are placed in the next 37.

(50) section. The reason for this arrangement is that the first three parts are related to the aural input that is represented by K. K. phonetic symbols, while the pronunciation part is connected to the verbal output that is based on them. The results for the first three parts are shown in the following table (see Table 2).. Table 2 Scores on the First Three Parts of the Pre-Test (Percentage) Part A Vowels and Consonants. Part B Listen and Check. Part C Fill in the Blanks. Student 1. 10%. 70%. 20%. Student 2. 10%. 80%. 40%. Student 3. 10%. 90%. 70%. Student 4. 10%. 60%. 0%. From the above results, it is obvious that the students are not familiar with the sounds of individual K. K. symbols. They cannot tell vowels from consonants because they failed in answering Part A when they heard a single vowel or a consonant. Also interesting is that these underachieving students, though they had learned K. K. phonetic symbols when they were in elementary school or junior high school, had not memorized the sounds to which they corresponded. This is analogous to a person who wants to learn Chinese characters without memorizing the Chinese phonetic alphabet first. There is no doubt that it would be very difficult for these students to study English under these circumstances, explaining why they fail at all kinds of English tests and show no interest in English learning. 38.

(51) However, when two similar words are read together by the instructor, it is much easier for the students to choose from the options. That is why they gained better grades on the second part of the pre-test. Nevertheless, when it comes to filling in the blanks, their accuracy goes down; one of the students even got a score of zero on the third part. Test Performance on Pronunciation This section proved to be the most frustrating part for both the participants and the researcher. In order to make the pronunciation test easy to understand, and with consideration to the fact that the students are underachievers, the researcher chose 45 items from the ―Basic 1,000 Words for Elementary and Junior High School Students.‖ Even so, the students failed to give answers for some of the 45 words in the pre-test (see Table 3), telling the researcher that they did not know how to pronounce the word; even some of the words they did attempt were mispronounced. Concerned that the students would fail to correctly pronounce most of the words, the researcher then divided this part of the pre-test into twophases, and in the second phase asked the students to repeat the words after her. The students performed better when she spoke the words immediately before them, which was a relief, since all they had to do was mimic her.. 39.

(52) Table 3 Pronunciation Scores on the Pre-Test (Based on 45 Words) Correct. Incorrect. Pass (Ignore). Student 1. 2/45. 7/45. 36/45. Student 2. 5/45. 5/45. 35/45. Student 3. 10/45. 17/45. 18/45. Student 4. 9/45. 26/45. 10/45. From the above table, we can see that the third student pronounced the words more correctly than the others did. Indeed, he is the one who claimedto be familiar with most of the K. K. phonetic symbols in the previous questionnaire. In addition, the fourth student also showed perseverance on this test. Although he made a lot of mistakes compared with the previous test, he tried not to ignore too many words. The researcher found that these students demonstrated three qualities in common when facing the pronunciation test. They had little confidence in themselves, tended to give up quickly, and would pronounce words so quickly and in such a clipped manner that there was no difference between long and short vowels. The following extracts give some examples of the difficulties faced by these underachieving students.. Extract 1. S1’s Pronunciation Pre-Test T: … [O]kay, …how would you pronounce word number 13(of)? S1: … mm…[]? 40.

(53) T: How about number 14 (cup)? S1: …[kp]? T: Number 15 (like)? S1: … I don’t know. May I pass on this one? T: Okay, let’s try number 16 (how). S1: … Is it [ho]? … (laughs) … I am not sure. . . . T: How about number 28 (sit)? S1: …[sɪ]! (Answered with a confident voice, yet missed the /t/ consonant.) . . . T: Okay, how about the last word (hi)? S1: … (hesitates) … [h]? Extract 2. S2’s Pronunciation Pre-Test T: Would you start reading the words out loud? S2: … (thinking)… I don’t know this word … I’m sorry …. T: It’s okay … how about the next word? S2: … (Shaking his head) … I don’t know. T: How about word number 3 (say)? 41.

(54) S2: … Is it [si]? … I think it is [si]. . . . T: How about word number 5 (cat)? S2: … (thinking) … [kt]. Extract 3. S3’s Pronunciation Pre-Test T: How do you pronounce word number 26 (thing)? S3: [sɪn]. T: How about number 27 (they)? S3: [le]. Extract 4. S4’s Pronunciation Pre-Test T: How do you pronounce word number 32 (cheap)? S4: … [ʧ] …? (ignores the last consonant, /p/) T: How about number 33? S4: … I am not sure … is it []? (still ignoring the last consonant, in this case /k/) After analyzing the pronunciation test results, the most common mistakes these underachievers made were identified, as follows: 1. They could nottell the difference between // and //, // and //, // and //, // or // and //. 42.

(55) 2. They liked to drop ending consonants, such as /t/, /d/, and /p/. 3. They all mispronounce the word of [] as []. 4. They all become confused between the word he and hi. All of them pronounced both these words as []. 5. They are not good at placing the stress in a multisyllabic word. The Effect of Remedial Instruction in K.K. Phonetic Symbols In this section, the researcher would like to present the results of the post-test (see Tables 4 and 5) in order, first, to consider Research Question 2: Do underachievers who have received remedial instruction in K.K. phonetic symbols perform significantly better in vocabulary retention? Then, this section takes up RQ 3, below. With regard to the post-test results, an upward arrow means the student did better than on the pre-test, while a downward arrow means that they did worse. No arrow indicates no change. We can see that after receiving remedial instruction in K. K., as shown in Table 4, three of the students made progress in identifying vowels and consonants, and two of them performed better in listening and checking vocabulary. However, the fill-in-the-blanks task is still difficult for most of the underachieving students, which will be a continuing issue in their future English classes. The researcher hopes that these students will become familiar with English letter–sound 43.

(56) correspondences and become able to memorize new words more quickly and smoothly.. Table 4 Scores on the First Three Parts of the Post-Test (Percentage) Part B Listen and Check. Part C Fill in the Blank. Student 1. Part A Vowels and Consonants 30%(↑). 70%. 20%. Student 2. 30%(↑). Student 3. 30%(↑). 80% 100%(↑). 40% 50% (↓). Student 4. 10%. 90%(↑). 30%(↑). Next, we consider the third research question: Do the underachievers perform significantly better in word pronunciation after remedial instruction? On the pronunciation post-test, the researcher found that the participants could pronounce more words correctly than on the pre-test; in other words, their accuracy rate increased (see Table 5). It was also interesting to see that the four students behaved more confidently during the post-test than during the pre-test. Across the 12 remedial class sessions, in fact, most of the time the students cooperated well with the researcher. Sometimes their concentration on the lessons would flag and they would start chatting to one another; in the end, however, the researcher knew these underachieving students better and saw their confidence improve as they came to know more about K. K. phonetic symbols. 44.

(57) Table 5 Pronunciation Scores on the Post-Test (Based on 45 Words) Correct. Incorrect. Pass (Ignore). Student 1. 6/45. 9/45. 30/45. Student 2. 6/45. 7/45. 32/45. Student 3. 20/45. 10/45. 15/45. Student 4. 15/45. 20/45. 10/45. The Findings Regarding Remedial Instruction in K. K. After the completion of the 12 classes of remedial instruction in K. K. phonetic symbols, the researcher interviewed each of the four underachieving students in order to understand their feelings about the course and get some feedback. The interviews were transcribed, and the findings are presented below.. Extract 5. Interview with Student 1 T: Now I am going to ask you some questions and interview you. Are you ready? S1: Yes. T: Okay, here we go. Question number 1: ―Do you think remedial instruction in K. K. phonetic symbols has been helpful for you in your English study? S1: Yes, I do. I guess it is helpful when I try to memorize new words. T: And in what aspect of English learning do you think it is helpful? S1: Hmm … I think I can memorize the new words in a faster way. 45.

(58) T: Do you think learning K. K. phonetic symbols is helpful for you to understand the rules of pronunciation? S1: Of course it is helpful. I think I know the rules better now, compared with before. T: Do you think learning K. K. phonetic symbols is helpful for you to spell words? S1: I guess so … is memorizing new words the same as spelling words? T: Okay … spelling words could be part of memorizing new words. For example, when you are asked to spell the word book, you would say ―b-o-o-k.‖ S1: Oh, I see. Then I think learning K. K. phonetic symbols is helpful for me to spell words. T: Good, let’s move on to question number 5. Do you think learning K. K. phonetic symbols is helpful for you in pronunciation? S1: Yes, I used to mispronounce new words, but I think I am doing better now. T: Good to know. And do you think learning K. K. symbols is helpful for you to look up new words in a dictionary? S1: I don't think so. 46.

(59) T: Why? Would you give a reason? S1: Because I’ve never used a dictionary … (laughs). T: Oh, really? I’d like to add one more question here. Do you think you’lltry to look up new words in a dictionary in the future? S1: Hmm … maybe. T: Okay, then. Let's move on to question 7. Do you think learning K. K. phonetic symbols is helpful for you to memorize vocabulary words? S1: Yes, just like I said before. I think it is helpful. T: Do you think learning K. K. phonetic symbols has madeyou feel more confident, and why? S1: Yes, I think I am more confident now … hmm … I think it’s because I know how to spell and learn faster. T: Will you keep using K. K. to help you study English, and why? S1: Definitely. It’s for my future. T: What do you mean, it’s for your future? S1: I want to get better grades and improve my English. You know, I am Catholic, and there is a program for young people who are over 18 to go to other countries to do missionary work. I think I will apply to it in the future. 47.

(60) T: That’s great! I am happy for you. And I believe that you will realize your dream in the future. Now let’s move on to the last question. How do you feel after receiving the remedial instruction in K. K.? S1: I feel less scared of English learning. To be honest, I did not like English at all. But now I think I can live with it.. Extract 6. Interview with Student 2 T: Now I am going to interview you, and all you have to do is answer the following questions. Are you ready? S2: Yes. T: Good. Do you think remedial instruction in K. K. phonetic symbols has been helpful for you in your English study? S2: Yes, a little bit. T: Okay. In what aspect of English learning do you think it has been helpful? S2: Well … I think pronunciation. I was not able to pronounce new words correctly, but I think I am doing better now. T: Do you think learning K. K. is helpful for you to understand the rules of pronunciation? S2: Yes. Like I just said. It is helpful. T: Do you think learning K. K. phonetic symbols is helpful for you to spell 48.

(61) words? S2: Yes, I believe so. I used to lose some letters in a word. I guess I know how to spell better now … (smiles confidently). T: Glad to hear that. Now, do you think learning K. K. phonetic symbols is helpful for you in pronunciation? S2: The answer is a ―yes,‖ I guess. T: Do you think learning K. K. phonetic symbols is helpful for you to look up new words in a dictionary? S2: Dictionary? I don’t think so. I've never used a dictionary to look up new words. T: Really? Why? S2: There is no need. I can’t even handle the words in the textbook, so I would not spend extra time looking up new words in a dictionary. T: I see. Let’s move on to question number 7. Do you think learning K. K. phonetic symbols is helpful for you to memorize vocabulary words? S2: Yes, of course. T: Do you think learning K. K. has made you feel more confident, and why? S2: A little bit, I guess. It’s because I am able to figure out how to pronounce a new word, and I feel happy about it. 49.

(62) T: Good to know. So will you keep using K. K. to help you study English, and why? S2: I will. I think it is useful when I find some words hard to pronounce; I can make sure of the pronunciation by using K. K. phonetic symbols. T: How do you feel after receiving remedial instruction in K. K.? S2: I feel that I will make progress in English in the future. I also feel more confident about English learning.. Extract 7. Interview with Student 3 T: Now I will ask you some questions and interview you. Are you ready? S3:Yes, I am ready. T: Okay, here we go. Question number 1: ―Do you think remedial instruction in K. K. phonetic symbols has been helpful for you in your English study?‖ S3: Yes. I think it is helpful in many ways. T: In what aspect of English learning do you think it has been helpful? S3: I would say it is helpful in pronunciation. T: Do you think learning K. K. is helpful for you to understand the rules of pronunciation? S3: Rules? Hmm … yes, I think it is helpful. I did not fully understand the rules of pronunciation until I took the remedial class. 50.

(63) T: Do you think learning K. K. is helpful for you to spell words? S3: Yes. I think I can spell better now. T: Do you think learning K. K. is helpful for you in pronunciation? S3: Sure. T: Do you think learning K. K. phonetic symbols is helpful for you to look up new words in a dictionary? S3: I don’t have the habit of looking up new words in a dictionary. So I am not sure if it is helpful or not. T: Do you think learning K. K. phonetic symbols is helpful for you to memorize vocabulary words? S3: Well … I don’t think it helps a lot in memorizing vocabulary words. I mean, I still forget the new words a lot. T: Okay. Do you think learning K. K. has made you feel more confident, and why? S3: Yes. It’s because I can pronounce the word, which I could not do well in the past. T: Will you keep using K. K. to help you study English, and why? S3: Yes, I will. The reason why I will keep using them is that it is a lot easier to learn this way. I used to have to write new words down a thousand times 51.

(64) to make sure I kept them in my memory. Now, with K. K., I know more rules about spelling. There's no doubt I will keep using them. T: How do you feel after receiving remedial instruction in K. K.? S3: It feels wonderful to finally figure out the whole picture of K. K. phonetic symbols. I don't know why I never paid any attention to them before.. Extract 8. Interview with Student 4 T: Now, I will ask you a few questions as an interview. Are you ready? S4: Yes. T: Okay. Do you think remedial instruction in K. K. phonetic symbols has been helpful for you in your English study? S4: Yes. I think it is really helpful. T: In what aspect of English learning do you think it is helpful? S4: I guess,vocabulary learning. I can learn more about new words now. T: Do you think learning K. K. has helped you to understand the rules of pronunciation? S4: Um … I guess the answer is ―yes,‖ though I am not fully familiar with the rules. T: Okay, how about spelling? Do you think learning K. K. has helped you spell words? 52.