QUESTIONNAIRES

Hello, 
My name is Le Quoc Thai. I am a senior student (Intake 44) majoring in English at the
Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam. I am currently conducting a research entitled “Difficulties in
pronunciation among DAV’s senior students in relation to IELTS speaking tests and suggested
solutions”. Your responses on this questionnaire will be served as primary data for my research,
and will be kept strictly confidential. 

Thank you so much for your answers, your cooperation is highly valued and appreciated!

PART 1: BACKGROUND OF THE PARTICIPANTS

1.What is the name of your class at the DAV?

2. How long have you been learning English?

 3 years
 7 years
 More than 7 years

3. How many hours a day do you practice speaking English?

 1 hour or fewer
 2 hours
 3 hours or more

4. How often do you encounter pronunciation difficulties when you are required to speak
English in general?
 Always
 Often
 Sometimes
 Rarely
 Never

PART 2: Difficulties in pronunciation

1. My English pronunciation is correct most of the time.
 Strongly Agree
 Agree 
 Disagree 
 Strongly Disagree
2. I can understand native English speakers when they speak.
 Strongly Agree 
 Agree 
 Disagree 
 Strongly Disagree
3. Native English speakers can understand me when I speak.
 Strongly Agree 
 Agree 
  Disagree
  Strongly Disagree
4. When I have problems speaking in English it is because of a pronunciation problem.
 Strongly Agree
  Agree
  Disagree
  Strongly Disagree
5. When I have problems speaking in English it is because of a language problem like
grammar or vocabulary.
  Strongly Agree
  Agree
  Disagree
  Strongly Disagree
6. My writing in English is better than my speaking in English.
 Strongly Agree
 Agree 
 Disagree
  Strongly Disagree
7. What difficulties do you have with your pronunciation?
 Mispronunciation
 Ending sounds
 Word stress
 Sentence stress
 Linking sounds
 Awareness of rhythm and intonation
 Other (please specify):…………………………
8. Which sounds are the most difficult for you to pronounce?
……………………………….
Part 2: Difficulties in IELTS pronunciation (*for students who had taken the IELTS Test)
1. As for Pronunciation Accuracy criterion: Which difficulties do you encounter when you
are taking the IELTS Speaking Test?
 Mispronunciation
 Ending sounds
 Word stress
 Linking sounds
 Awareness of rhythm and intonation
 Other (please specify):…

PART 3: RECOMMENDATIONS
1. How often did you apply the following methods below to learn English pronunciation.
Please tick one box for each item using the scale 1-5 (1= always; 5= never)
1 2 3 4 5
Pronunciation practice just before/ as part of/ after ‘speaking’ activities.
Listening to authentic spoken English = real (tape or video recorded)
 conversations among speakers instead of scripted ones (e.g. British/
American radio or TV).
Modern computer technology (pronunciation software programs).
Pronunciation practice in the language laboratory.
Ear-training (discrimination) exercises between similar-sounding phonemes
etc.
Production/ articulation exercises (i.e. ‘reading aloud’ activities, drilling &
imitation exercises).
Individual responses from each learner in class.
Record yourself and read aloud
Learning to read the symbols of the international phonetic alphabet. 
Learning the phonological rules of English (i.e. stress placement rules,
spelling to sound rules).
2. How do you evaluate the effectiveness of using the aforementioned strategies?
Not Effective Very
effective Effective
Pronunciation practice just before/ as part of/ after
‘speaking’ activities.
Listening to authentic spoken English = real (tape or
video recorded) conversations among speakers instead of
scripted ones (e.g. British/ American radio or TV).
Modern computer technology (pronunciation software
programs).
Pronunciation practice in the language laboratory.
Ear-training (discrimination) exercises between similar-
sounding phonemes etc.
Production/ articulation exercises (i.e. ‘reading aloud’
activities, drilling & imitation exercises).
Individual responses from each learner in class.
Record yourself and read aloud
Learning to read the symbols of the international phonetic
alphabet. 
Learning the phonological rules of English (i.e. stress
placement rules, spelling to sound rules).

3. What other specific methods do you recommend to improve pronunciation for IELTS
learners?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (cho k47 đã thi Ielts và có kết quả speaking cao)
Hello, 
My name is Le Quoc Thai. I am a senior student (Intake 44) majoring in English at the
Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam. I am currently conducting a research entitled “Difficulties in
pronunciation among DAV’s senior students in relation to IELTS speaking tests and suggested
solutions”. Your responses on this questionnaire will be served as primary data for my research,
and will be kept strictly confidential. 

Thank you so much for your answers, your cooperation is highly valued and appreciated!
1. Have you been taught pronunciation properly in your former schools? If not, where did
you learn pronunciation and how did you reach your current level of pronunciation
proficiency?
2. Among features of pronunciation (Vowels, Consonants, Stress, Intonation, Rhythm,..)
Which one do you find the hardest to utter successfully? Why is that and can you give me
some specific instances of you making mistakes in pronunciation?
3. How do you evaluate the significance of pronunciation among four criteria in speaking
assessment (Fluency and Coherence, Lexical resources, grammar range and accuracy, or
pronunciation). Do you think that pronunciation criterion will play an important role in
assessing process?
4. During the IELTS speaking process, have you ever found any factors that lower your
pronunciation proficiency consequently lower your speaking band scores?
5. In general, what factors do you think that hinder English learners from achieving a high
level of pronunciation proficiency in communicating in English? What are the reasons
behind those difficulties?
6. What were the three most common pronunciation problems you faced up with during the
IELTS Speaking test preparation? How did you overcome the obstacles to be ready for
the test?
7. What are your learning strategies that you consider as highly-recommended for IELTS
learners to improve pronunciation? From your point of view, can those studying tips be
applied to all candidates? Why and why not?