Hanoi University of Science and Technology

School of Foreign Languages

PRACTICAL PRONUNCIATION

ASSESSMENT

RECORDINGS AND MINI-TEST

CLOs: 1, 2, 3 (refer to Course Outline for Course Learning Objectives)

Composition Due Weighting Grouping
Three recordings Before class time of 30% (10% per recording) Individual work
Weeks 7, 9, and 12
Mini-test During class time of 20% Pair work
Week 14

Recordings

This is a home assignment. There are three passages for recording on the next page. Read the passages
slowly and clearly with a focus on the segmental and suprasegmental elements (i.e. vowels and consonants,
and stress and connected speech processes, respectively) you will have learnt by the time of the assessment
week. That said, the pronunciation of untargeted phonic items still needs to be comprehensible. Do not
record the passages all at once; wait and benefit from your instructor’s feedback before you do the second
and third passages. Note that all varieties of accents are accepted; for example, you can choose whether to
make a flap /t/ sound or a rhotic /ɹ/ sound, etc. Again, clarity is more important than speed, so do not rush
your reading.

Make sure your recorded sound files are in an MP3 or WMA format. Your instructor will create a Google
Drive link for you to upload your file. This link will be shared directly with you or via a contact point,
normally your monitor. Remember that all submissions that are made during or after class time of the
assessment week will not be eligible for marking without approval sought in advance.

Mini-test

This test will be administered in class. Two students will be paired up to read a conversation. You do not
need to read too fast; be slow, clear and correct with sounds, stress and intonation.

FINAL TEST

CLOs: 1, 2, 3 (refer to Course Outline for Course Learning Objectives)

Composition Due Weighting Grouping
Part 1 Test date (to be 25% Individual work
announced at the end of
Part 2 the semester) 25% Pair work

Part 1

You will be asked to read a short passage with correct pronunciation, stress, and intonation. Then you will
be asked to identify phonological features of the passage by answering questions such as “Find a word
containing a diphthong and say it” or “Find a word whose stress is on the final syllable and say it”. These
questions will be printed on the test paper below the passage, and you will have time to prepare.
Part 2

You will be paired up with another student to make a complete conversation from a given scenario. The
conversation must contain features as required with regards to phonology and turn-taking. For example, it
must have at least five turns per person, two instances of linking words, two instances of three-syllable word
stress, and one instance of rising intonation, etc. Then you and your partner will read the conversation to the
examiner. There will be time for preparation.

Note: Do ask your instructor to clarify if you have any concerns regarding these assessment tasks!

PASSAGES FOR RECORDING

Passage 1

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.

Passage 2

A hawker is a person who moves from one place to another and sells their goods, by shouting on the streets.
They work hard throughout the day. They move on the street on their bicycle and sometimes on foot and sell
their products. We can see hawkers everywhere. They move everywhere selling their goods without caring
about the weather.

Passage 3

The Earth is home to approximately 1500 volcanoes which are considered active, and about 100 of those are
under the oceans. Many active volcanoes in the United States are found in Hawaii, California, Alaska,
Oregon, and Washington. Erupting volcanos have been known to wipe out entire forests, trigger tsunamis,
flash floods, earthquakes, mudflows, avalanches, mudslides, and rock falls. However, volcanos that erupt
can also create new islands once the hot lava cools off, especially those near the coast or below the ocean's
surface.