An investigation into the intonation patterns in english 4 experienced by the students at primary schools in da nang city

Abstract

This study aims at describing the intonation patterns used in grade 4 and finding out the difficulties that the students at primary schools in Danang City may encounter so that effective solutions can be suggested to help improve their performances in intonation of English language. This research employs both quantitative and qualitative approach with a contrastive analysis of the data collected from the teachers’ questionnaires, the diagnostic test and interview from grade 4 students. The subjects involved in the research were thirty (30) informants - English teachers teaching Grade 4 students from primary schools in Danang City including Phu Dong Primary School, Tran Thi Ly Primary School, Ly Cong Uan Primary School, Dien Bien Phu Primary School, Le Dinh Chinh Primary School, Au Co Primary School, Duc Tri School, Skyline School, Phan Dang Luu Primary School, and Huynh Ngoc Hue Primary School. They were chosen randomly to do questionnaire without considering their seniority and experience. Besides, one hundred (100) informants were chosen from Grade 4 students from primary schools in Danang City including Phu Dong Primary School, Tran Thi Ly Primary School, Au Co Primary School, Be Van Dan Primary School, Phan Thanh Primary School, Hoa Lu Primary School, Le Van Tam Primary School, Doan Thi Diem Primary School, Ha Huy Tap Primary School, and Huynh Ngoc Hue Primary School. They were chosen randomly to attend and do interview without considering their ability in English while only 40 out of 100 informants were also asked to be involved in diagnostic tests to collect data about their intonation recognition and production. The study revealed that these informants mainly had trouble in performing Tone 1, Tone 3 and Tone 4 while there is a fact that both students and teachers widely admitted that intonation is important and necessary for English learning. The actual intonation performance of the students seems to be not as good as expected. Accordingly, reasons should be considered by both the teachers and the students for the remedy of the situation of students’ pronunciation concerning intonation