1

Effect of Speech Imitation Practice to

Grade 8 Students’ Pronunciation in English

December 2023
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CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

Introduction

Being able to pronounce words correctly in English is essential for non-

native speakers to learn the language and communicate effectively. In the setting

of education, it is crucial that Grade 8 students develop accurate pronunciation to

progress towards language fluency. The purpose of this study is to find out how

practicing speech imitation helps Grade 8 students pronounce words correctly in

English.

Because English is the universal language, being able to appropriately

enunciate sounds, intonations, and phonetic nuances is essential for successful

communication in various types of academic and professional contexts. But

attaining this level of proficiency tend to be difficult, particularly for non-native

English speakers whose original language may have distinct phonetic structures.

Speech imitation practice, is a teaching strategy that focuses on imitating

the pronunciation patterns of native speakers, has drawn interest as a possible

way to enhance pronunciation abilities. By mimicking the speech patterns,

intonations, and phonetic subtleties of native speakers, learners can improve

their accuracy in reproducing similar sounds via repetition.

Grade 8 marks a critical stage in students' language development,

wherein they are more receptive to language learning and possess a growing

capacity for imitation and adaptation. Thus, exploring the effectiveness of speech
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imitation practice specifically tailored for Grade 8 students could offer valuable

insights into optimizing English language education strategies.

This study aims to expand the current knowledge on how language is

learned by investigating how exercises that involve imitating speech impact the

way Grade 8 students pronounce English. It seeks to determine if through this

exercise students were able to improve their overall pronunciation abilities.

The result of this research could have significant implications for

educators, those designing curricula, and language teachers by offering practical

recommendations that can enhance language teaching strategies, aiding

students in their journey towards becoming more proficient in English

pronunciation.

Theoretical Background

According to the Theory of Constructivism by Piaget and Bruner (2013),

learners construct their meaning out from their current or past experiences.

Moreover, the human mind is accommodating and assimilating new knowledge

from those experiences. They further stated that learners recognized what they

already know to come up with new insights. This signifies that new experiences

can be experienced by a person which would contribute new learning to an

individual. This then leads to the personal discovery of knowledge.

This theory is also anchored on Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory which

states that learning involves the acquisition of abstract concepts that can be

applied flexibly in a range of situations. In Kolb’s theory, the impetus for the
 4

development of new concepts was provided by new experiences (Kolb, 1984).

According to John Dewey, students need educational experiences which enable

them to become valued, equal, and responsible members of society.

Discovery Learning Theory is an active, hands-on style of learning where

the students participate actively in the process of learning rather than passively

receiving knowledge as if they were an empty vessel to be filled by the instructor.

It is an approach to instruction through which students interact with their

environment by exploring and manipulating an object, wrestling with questions

and controversies, or performing experiments and is supported by the theories of

learning and understanding from cognitive psychology and constructivist

ideologies. Students are encouraged to think, ask questions, hypothesize,

speculate, cooperate, and collaborate with others and develop confidence in the

problem solving and in using what is in their minds.

This study is also anchored on the Behaviorist Theory which states that

second language acquisition comes from the behaviorist theory in the 1940’s -

50’s by B.F. Skinner. It proposed that children imitating the language of people

around them, will make accurate attempts that should be followed by positive

reinforcement of praise or successful communication. Since children were

encouraged by their surrounding environment they would continue to imitate and

practice these sounds and patterns until the children used ‘habits’ of correct

language use. The quality and quantity of heard language in conjunction with the

consistency of reinforcement by others will shape the child’s language behavior.

The environment is the source of everything the child needs to learn.

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Legal Basis

This study is supported by Article Vlll, Section 9 of the Code of Ethics for

Professional Teacher which states that:

A teacher shall ensure that conditions contributive to a maximum

development of learners are adequate, and shall extend needed
assistance in preventing or solving learner’s problems and
difficulties.

6-A otherwise known as, “The educational Development Decree of 1972”

states that:

Improvement of curricular programs and quality of instruction of

all level by way of upgrading faculties, adoption of cost-saving
instructional technology, and training and retraining
administrations.

With this, teachers should modify and use appropriate teaching approach

and at their best find an alternative technique in finding solutions to the learners’

difficulties. Schools are also set up for making children learn, and all efforts of the

teachers are devoted to their learning. Learning implies a progressive change in

behavior. It involves new ways of doing things, and it operates in an individual’s

attempt to overcome some barriers or to adjust themselves to new situations.

Learning is the acquisition of knowledge, attitudes, habits, and skills (Aggarwal,

1962). So, it is important for students to learn something not just through the

conventional way but also to learn something new for them to develop more

interest on the topic.

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Good teaching is progressive. A good teacher aims at improving his

modes and techniques steadily. He also helps the child to make suitable

progress in life (Rahman, 2004). It is essential for the teacher to improve and

create new techniques in teaching new lessons to the students. Through this, the

students will learn the lesson easily.

Article IV, Section 2 of the Code of Ethics for professional Teachers holds
that:

Every teacher shall uphold the highest possible standards of

quality education shall make the best preparation for the career
of teaching and shall be at his best at all times in the practice of
the profession.

In conclusion, Teaching should not be limited to giving the students

instructions about various disciplines like English but should also be a vehicle for

them to experience learning itself. Moreover, it cannot be denied that learners

are the center of the curriculum. It is for these reasons that teachers should put

their best foot forward to ensure the maximal development of the learners. They

must be aware of and prioritize the learners’ needs and interests.

Review of Related Literature

English has become an international language for education, cultural

exchange, business, and political affairs for many decades. This happens as a

result of internationalization and globalization processes which require a common

international language for information exchange in different aspects involved in

the processes. Due to the increased importance of English in our modern

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society, graduates with English proficiency have an advantage in securing

employment, career development, and international mobility, especially for those

from non-English speaking countries and for international graduates.

Consequently, in many non-English speaking countries, English has

become central in the national language policy, an instruction medium in some

HE programs, and taught as a core component of the curricula, from primary to

higher education.

Apart from the role of English language proficiency in students’ and

graduates’ employability and employment prospects, English language education

can add value to how students relate themselves with the world around them and

facilitate their studies of other subjects within the curriculum, as a range of

updated disciplinary and general knowledge is published in materials written in

English. Students with a good command of English will have better access to

learning resources and enrich their knowledge as English is the most common

medium of writing for articles from 65 countries and territories around the world.

Approximately 80% of the papers indexed in Scopus were written in English. In

addition, successfully acquiring English skills requires a high level of

determination, creativity, and collaboration. These attributes would in turn help

students and graduates develop useful psychological attributes that can be

translated to their employability development and career advancement.

Over the past three decades, non-English speaking countries in Asia have

committed significant resources to develop English language competency for its

citizens, especially young people. English language education is often prioritized

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in the government agenda and English is delivered as a subject within the

curriculum. Nation states like Singapore, South Korea, the Philippines, and

Vietnam have regarded English education as an important vehicle to enhance

their workforce competitiveness in the region and the world as well as their

position in the international economic and political arena (Nguyen & Nguyen,

2019).

The Philippines is the 13th most populous country and comprises more

than 7,000 islands, bounded by the South China Sea, and shares maritime

borders with some other nations such as Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia,

Indonesia, and Palau. The Philippines is multilingual and multicultural, but

communities with no local languages make up more than 50% of the total

population. Originally a large agricultural producer, the country has become the

world’s 34th largest economy and the 13th largest in Asia (Business Setup,

2021), with an average GDP growth rate of 7.2% over the last 10 years

(Business Setup, 2021). These national contexts would urge the country to have

a united language for communicating locally and integrating internationally. Being

colonized by the American, Japanese, British, and Spanish cultures, the

Philippine people relates to the English language as a mean of communication

between communities in the country, with Philippine English as one of the

English varieties.

However, the emergence of the English language in the country was not

completely a natural process, but it had the intervention of the government. After

the 1987 Bilingual Education Policy (DECS, 1987), bilingual communities have
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increased remarkably, especially after the country became a member of ASEAN

Economic Community (in 2015) and the United Nations. Then, Philippine

Education for All 2015 was established under the supervision of The Department

of Education, acting as “channels of learning which can become effective

conduits of values orientation, consciousness, and information useful and

relevant to a wide range of social goals” (DECS, 1987, p. 19). It is considered

crucial that every citizen in the nation should be able to use and communicate in

English effectively because this facilitates the country to be more economically

developed in the Asian and global markets. English also received much

promotion from the government for use in many social sectors such as business,

law, education, and international education. Via English language policy, the

government also attempted to bring educational opportunities for all citizens

regardless of their socio-economic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds (Dekker

& Young, 2005).

The Philippines is the second highest in Asia and 20th in the global

rankings for high levels of English proficiency, the 2023 EF English Proficiency

Index revealed on Thursday. The Philippines maintained its overall score of 578

from the 2022 index to land under the category of "high proficiency" countries. It

comes second after Singapore, which ranks second globally with a score of 631

in the annual report of international education company Education First.

In its more detailed index for each country, Education First found that the

Cordillera Administrative Region tops the country in English proficiency with

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Baguio hailed as the top city. It said the top age group for proficiency among

Filipinos is the 26 to 30 age bracket. (CNN News, 2023)

However, the first participation of the Philippines in the 2018 Program for

International Student Assessment (PISA) revealed that the country's

performance is one of the lowest among the PISA participating countries and

economies. These findings show that there is a learning crisis in the country.

These data confirmed that English should receive more focus among all subjects

since it has the lowest achievement rate.

To help Filipino learners improve their reading and comprehension, the

DepEd has taken several actions and interventions to address the challenges

that hamper English learning. DepEd requires teachers to ascertain if learners

have acquired the prerequisite knowledge or skills necessary for understanding.

If not, educators should offer suitable interventions to improve low performance.

DepEd Order No. 08, Series of 2015 encourages teachers to carry out

remediation when learners are already struggling with a topic, as evidenced by

low ratings in any learning area supports this.

Although the DepEd has mandated many intervention programs to

address the lagging performance of learners in learning English, it is still a

recurring learning issue. Since the roles of learning and education in people's

lives have been significantly impacted by the fundamental changes in the world

over the past few decades, there is a need to innovate teaching approaches and

strategies that would match the needs of the learners in this generation (Joynes

et al.,2019).
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Today, effective pronunciation teaching aims to balance accuracy and

fluency while promoting intelligibility and the development of learners' individual

pronunciation goals. One technique that strives to meet modern pronunciation

goals with the use of technology is shadowing. Lambert (1992) defines

shadowing as “a paced, auditory tracking task which involves the immediate

vocalization of presented auditory stimuli: i.e., word-for-word repetition, in the

same language, parrot-style, of a message presented through headphones”.

Originally, speech imitation was a training technique used in simultaneous

interpretation (Lambert,1992); however, since the early 1990’s, several studies

have investigated speech imitation and its impact on second language learners,

their pronunciation, and their listening comprehension (Foote & McDonough,

2017). Each study has helped to refine the applications for investigating how

speech imitation as a technique can aid second language learners in improving

their fluency and accuracy in the target language. While many of these studies

have involved some type of treatment and often found significant results in how

speech imitation has improved learner's second language skills.

Related Studies

Lu (2021) developed a study wherein a group of adult beginner students

learning Mandarin Chinese were tested to discover the effects—if any—of two

different types of speech imitation on tonal accuracy. The first group of beginning

students imitated authentic videos. The second group imitated textbook audio

segments. The audio they imitated was no longer than one minute in length.
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Learners practiced speech imitation their video or audio segment six times per

session, twice a week for approximately six minutes. After four weeks of practice,

the posttest results showed that both groups significantly improved their tonal

accuracy in spontaneous speech in contrast to the pretest results. There was no

significant difference, however, between the groups’ improvement depending on

the type of input; results from the students who imitated authentic material versus

the group that imitated textbook audio segments were similar.

Another study conducted to determine the efficacy of speech imitation on

certain aspects of pronunciation was done by Foote and McDonough (2017).

They researched the impact that student-guided speech imitation had on fluency,

comprehensibility, accentedness. Their study’s participants consisted of 16

advanced-level non-native English-speaking students studying at an English

university in Canada. After practicing short dialogues for 10 weeks (for five to10

minutes three times per week), students were administered a posttest comprised

of two types of speaking tasks: one was an extemporaneous speech task where

learners were asked to describe a story based on a series of pictures and a

second task involved learners speech imitation a YouTube video. After 10 weeks

of practice, the differences between the pretest and posttest performance

showed that untrained native speaker raters scored the learners as having

improved significantly on measures of fluency (F=8.42, p<.0001) and

comprehensibility (F=5.00, p<.01). Accentedness, which was the third aspect

evaluated, did not show significant improvement (F=3.30, p<.05). Due to the
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number of ANOVAs run, the threshold for significance was set at .0125, thus

accentedness was not significant.

Like Foote and McDonough (2017), Kun-Ting Hsieh, Da-Hui Dong, and Li-

Yi Wang (2013) studied the impact speech imitation could have on the

pronunciation of university-level English language learners. Their study

specifically looked at whether speech imitation could be used to promote English

pronunciation. Fourteen non-English major students at National Taiwan

University voluntarily signed up to participate in this study with hopes their

pronunciation would improve. The students were randomly split in half into a

control group and an experimental group. The control group used My English

Tutor, a popular pronunciation program in Taiwan which “offers immediate

feedback to learners for reviewing their pronunciation accuracy in terms of

vowels, consonants, and overall intonation via comparison with recordings from

Native English-Speaking Teachers” (Hsieh et al., 2013). The study does not

indicate how long students using My English Tutor used the application for

outside of class. To supplement the My English Tutor, the experimental group

was given eight hours of speech imitation practice. The pre-test in this study

showed that there were no significant differences between the learners in their

intonation, fluency, word pronunciation, and overall pronunciation between the

two groups. However, the posttest indicated the experimental group produced

significantly higher scores on intonation (F=3.054, p<.001), fluency (F=1.533,

p<.001), word pronunciation (F=4.235, p<.002), and overall pronunciation

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(F=9.477, p<.0001) in contrast to the control group. These researchers suggest

the use of speech imitation to improve more accurate English pronunciation.

When evaluating Taiwanese EFL children’s English pronunciation, Tzu-Yu

and Yihsiang (2014) found that when it came to the impact of speech imitation,

intermediate-level students progressed the most in sounding out words whereas

“low-level students’ confidence and bravery [improved]… and [speech imitation]

accelerating high-level students’ native-like accent”. Yihsiang and Tzu-Yu used

speech imitation with text presentation to investigate the effects on Taiwanese

English pronunciation. There was a control group along with two experimental

groups comprised of three in-tact fourth grade classes. This study lasted for 12

weeks, and both experimental groups received the same treatment. While the

students were all in the same grade level, they had varying levels of English

proficiency. Their level (intermediate low, mid, or high) was determined by their

score on the read-aloud pre-test. Students in the experimental group received

speech imitation instruction four days a week for 10 minutes a day. Part of this

instruction included having access to the text they would be speech imitation and

analyzing the text to become familiar with the words and content. In contrast, the

control group only participated in the pre and post tests. Results of the pre and

post tests suggest that text speech imitation significantly improved the children’s

pronunciation in terms of phoneme production, stress, intonation, and chunking

amid all proficiency levels. This is one of the few speech imitation studies that

utilized a control group; however, because the study was conducted in an

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elementary school classroom, there is little evidence to say whether speech

imitation would impact adults in the same manner in a quasi experimental study.

Da Un Chung (2010) also conducted a study with children learning English

as a foreign language. The study involved 108 middle school students in Korea

who were split into three groups: a group that only listened to a passage, a group

that only imitated passages, and a group that did both listening and speech

imitation. This study found that while speech imitation had a positive effect on the

students’ ability to choose the correct response to a question a speaker asked

and choose the appropriate retelling of a story after listening to it, there were no

positive effects on L2 speaking abilities. Unfortunately, Da Un Chung does not

define his usage of the term “speaking abilities,” but he does say that the Versant

test (developed by Ordinate Corporation, a subsidiary company of Harcourt

Assessment) used in the pre- and post-test analyzed phonological abilities in

addition to the discourse and overall oral production ability.

This study’s pronunciation results do not mirror the majority of studies

which have found that speech imitation significantly helps language learners’

speaking, and thus, it indicates a need for further analysis to determine the

efficacy of speech imitation.

As more research on speech imitation has emerged, there are some

variations in the way in which researchers have implemented speech imitation

and interpreted the results. Hamada (2019) encourages these variants saying

researchers must be “examining what variations in speech imitation exist that

may be explored to help language learners develop speaking skills”.

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One method that requires further analysis is speech imitation with some

form of text presentation. The idea of using text presentation in the form of

subtitles or transcripts was first presented in 2007 by Kuramoto et al. Yihsiang

and Tzu-Yu (2014) claim “text speech imitation is an easier variant of speech

imitation by providing written text for listeners or shadowers to repeat

immediately and/or imitate simultaneously what they heard”. The following

studies look at various ways texts have been used in SLA speech imitation

studies and the results of such methods.

Luo et al. (2010) used a transcript as part of their study to determine if

‘text-presented’ speech imitation had an effect on their Japanese learners of

English. In this type of speech imitation, the learner was given a transcript to use

while speech imitation. This study specifically investigated the effect of speech

imitation on phoneme intelligibility and prosodic fluency in terms of intonation,

and rhythm. Students “practiced speech imitation several times until they became

familiar with the native pronunciations” at which point they were given a transcript

of the audio to which they had been listening (Luo et al., 2010). A test was

administered just before they received the transcript and after they had studied

the transcript. The purpose of the transcript was to assess whether or not having

a better understanding of the content would aid in their accurate pronunciation

production. While this study claims speech imitation instruction led to improved

pronunciation scores, the researchers stated, “Knowing the contents of speech

imitation might not help learners with their prosodic fluency in speech imitation”

(Luo et al., 2010).

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Research Flow

Constructivism Theory Code of Ethics for Professional

Teachers
The human mind is
accommodating and assimilating Article IV, Section 2
new knowledge from experiences.
“Every teacher shall uphold the
(Piaget, 1980)
highest possible standards … in
the practice of his profession.”
Discovery Learning Theory

Students perform a task to obtain

knowledge for oneself.
Presidential Decree No. 6-A Sec.
(Bruner, 1961)
4 or “The Educational
Development Decree of 1972”
Experiential Learning Theory
Students need educational “The improvement of curricular
experiences which enable them to programs and quality of instruction
become valued, equal, and … training and retraining
responsible members of society. administrations.”

(Kolb,1984)

Bohol Northern Star College

Grade 8
Academic Year 2023-2024

Control Group Experimental Group

 Pre-test  Pre-test
 Post-test  Speech Imitation Practice
 Post-test

Results and Recommendations

Figure 1: THE RESEARCH FLOW

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THE PROBLEM

Statement of the Problem

The main purpose of this study was to test the effectivity of Speech

Imitation Practice to respondents’ pronunciation specifically in English of the

Grade 8 students at Bohol Northern Star College in the Academic Year 2023-

2024.

Specifically, the study sought to answer the following questions:

1. What is the level of pronunciation of the students in English in the control and

experimental group during their:

1.1. pre-test; and

1.2. post-test?

2. Is there a significant difference in the level of pronunciation of the students in

English in the following:

2.1 pre-test of both groups;

2.2 pre-test and post-test of each group; and

2.3 post-test of both groups?

Statement of the Null Hypothesis

This sought to test the presented null hypothesis: there is no significant

difference between the level of pronunciation of the students in English in both

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pretest, both pretest and post-test, and post-test of both experimental and control

group.

Significance of the Study

This research will benefit the following:

Students. The findings of this research can help students build confidence in

speaking English. It helps in learning proper pronunciation that can refine their

accent and sound more natural when speaking.

Parents. The results can inspire parents to create an environment where

speaking English properly is encouraged. Through this, parents can make

informed decisions about the resources and amenities they provide at home to

support their children's language development.

Teachers. The outcome of this study will directly impact educators by offering

insights into the effectiveness of speech imitation in enhancing students’

speaking skills in English. Teachers can use this information to tailor their

instructional approaches, incorporating this strategy that has proven successful

in fostering positive outcomes.

Educational Administrators. The findings of this study will be beneficial to

educational administrators as it provides a basis for informed decision-making.

This will guide administrators in developing targeted interventions or programs

aimed at enhancing the English-speaking skills of the students.

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Curriculum Developers. The result of this study will be useful to the Curriculum

Developers in refining speaking-related components through Speech Imitation

Practices in the curriculum. The insights from this study can inform the

integration of strategies that promote effective English speaking skills within the

established curriculum framework.

Future Researchers. The findings of this research will serve as a foundational

reference for future researchers interested in exploring the effect of Speech

Imitation Practice on the students’ pronunciation in English. It provides a

methodological and theoretical framework that can guide subsequent

investigations, ensuring a cohesive and cumulative development of knowledge in

this area.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Design

This study used the experimental method to find out the effect of Speech

Imitation Practice to the Pronunciation of the respondents in English.

Experimental method investigates cause-effect relationship by observing some

actual consequences and looking back through the data for the plausible factor.

The design pairs two variables with equal value. The study equally divided the

total population into two groups, the experimental and the control group. The

experimental group was exposed to Speech Imitation Practice while the control

group has received no treatment during the conduct of the study.

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Research Environment and Participants

This study was administered at Bohol Northeastern Education Foundation,

which is in Población, Ubay, Bohol. The researchers selected the Grade 8

students enrolled in the Academic Year 2023-2024 as the population. The

researchers used purposive sampling to select the respondents in each group.

The students were divided into two groups, the control, and the experimental

group. Out of 68, 34 respondents were selected to participate in the experimental

group which was exposed to Speech Imitation Practice and another 34

respondents participated in the control group.

Research Instrument
An adopted one-paragraph speech and a modified rating system as used

to get data on the respondents' level of pronunciation during the pre-test and

post-test. The test material has 122 words with 10 sentences. The paragraph

was adopted from the book American Accent Training by Ann Cook 3rd edition.

Data Gathering Procedure

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A systematic procedure was used to facilitate the gathering of data.

Step 1. Asking Permission

Permission from the Dean of the College of Teacher Education and the

Campus Director of Bohol Northern Star College was requested for the

researchers to conduct the study. Then, asking of permission from the class

adviser of the respondents. In the letter, the purpose of the study was explained

with the request for the approval to conduct the research in school. After the

approval, the administration of the pre-test, discussion, and the post-test

followed.

Step 2. Preparation of the Oral recitation Test Materials

A. Preparation of One paragraph speech

The researcher used and adopted the one paragraph speech designed to

get data on the respondents' level of pronunciation during the pre-test and post-

test. The pre-test and post-test test oral test material had the same content with

122 words. The paragraph was adopted from the book American Accent Training

by Ann Cook 3rd edition.

B. Preparation of the Levelling/ Rating System

In preparing the rating system, the researchers derived and modified the

International English Language Testing System used by other language learning

schools. This was first referred to the thesis adviser for corrections and revisions,

then to the English expert to assure further on accuracy and reliability. Third, the

one speech paragraph material and the rating system underwent pilot testing that

was administered to Grade 7 students at Bohol Northern Star College, who were
 23

not part of the actual respondents. After checking and gathering data, the items

were subjected to word analysis. After the word analysis, all counted words were

used in the oral test material finally, it was finalized for reproduction and

administration.

C. Preparation of the Speech Imitation Practice Material

The researchers downloaded and adopted an audio material of the one

speech paragraph. This audio file was also used by other schools in their

pronunciation classes. The researchers conducted a review on the words used in

the printed and the audio material for equality purposes.

Step 3. Administration of the Pre-test

The pretest was administered to determine the level of pronunciation of

the respondents in the control group and the experimental group before it was

exposed to Speech Imitation Practice. The pre-test was an oral recitation test

with a 122-word paragraph piece.

Step 4. Grouping the Respondents

The researchers used the purposive method in grouping the respondents

which was based on the actual sectioning of the school. The respondents were

divided equally based on total number of students enrolled in Grade 8 for the

school year 2023-2024. There were 68 students divided into two groups,

therefore, 34 respondents were exposed to Speech Imitation Practice which was

the experimental group, and another 34 were selected to participate in the control

group. To avoid biases and ensure the reliability, fairness, and accuracy of the
 24

results, one of the groups was the Experimental Group while the other one was

the Control group.

Step 5. Conduct of the Speech Imitation Practice

A training matrix was made to guide the treatment period of the

respondents in the Experimental Group. The treatment period lasted for 15 days,

however the total hour per day was 1 hour due to the flow of the class program.

The researchers had to follow the vacant classes of the respondents in order not

to cause disruption of classes. The audio material was distributed to the

respondents with printed material. While the control group was not disturbed and

went on with their normal daily routine.

Step 7. Administration of Post-test

The post-test was administered to the two groups 15 working days after

the conduct of the Speech Imitation Practice. The 122-word paragraph piece was

given through an oral recitation test. The printed material was similar to the pre-

test and of the same arrangement. The result of the post-test was interpreted and

analyzed to determine the effect of Speech Imitation Practice to the respondents’

level of pronunciation.

Ethical Consideration in the conduct of the study

The researchers requested Permission from the Dean of the College of

Teacher Education and the Campus Director of Bohol Northern Star College to

conduct the study.

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The researchers then asked permission from the class adviser of the

respondents. The researchers submitted a letter stating the purpose of the study

with the request for approval to conduct the research in school. After the

approval.

The participants of the research were informed of the purpose of the study

and their right to withdraw from the experiment. Consent from the participants

and their parents was collected.

The researchers ensure the confidentiality of the study and the protection

of the privacy of all the participants.

Statistical Treatment

The data gathered from the results of the pre-tests and post-tests of both

groups were collated, analyzed, and interpreted.

The researchers determined the performance of the control group and the

experimental group using the formula for the arithmetic mean.

The result of the computed arithmetic means was interpreted according to

the following scale:

NUMERICAL VALUE DESCRIPTION

106-120 High Advance
96-105 Low Advance
86-95 High Intermediate
61-85 Middle Intermediate
46-60 Low Intermediate
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31-45 High Beginner

16-30 Middle Beginner
0-15 Low Beginner

To determine the difference in the pre-tests of the control and

experimental group and the difference in the post-tests of the control and

experimental group, the t-test for independent samples was used:

Formula:

x̅ 1−x ̅ 2
t=

√
2 2
❑ SD SD2
1
+
n1 n2

where:

t=¿computed t-test

x ̅ 1=¿ mean score of the control group

x ̅ 2=¿mean score of the experimental group

2
SD 1=¿variance of the control group

2
SD 2=¿variance of the experimental group

n1=¿ number of students in the control group

n2 =¿ number of students in the experimental group

To determine the difference between the pretest and the posttest

performance of the control group and difference between the pretest and the

posttest performance of experimental group, the researchers used the t-test for

dependent sample:

Formula:
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D−μ D
t=
SD
√n

where,

t = computed value

D = mean of the differences

S D= standard deviation of the differences

n = number of students

The computed t-test was compared to the tabular t-value at 5% level of

significance.

OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

The following terms were commonly used throughout the study. These

terms are defined operationally for better comprehension.

Speech Imitation Practice- an activity done to the experimental group one hour

everyday for 15 days where the experimental group was tasked to imitate a one

paragraph speech adopted from the book American Accent Training by Ann

Cook 3rd edition.

Experimental Group – a group of 34 students who underwent treatment for at

least one hour per day for 15 days.

Control Group -a group of 34 students that were not exposed to the experiment.

Rating System – a derived and modified the International English Language

Testing System used by other language learning schools

 28

Training Matrix – the guide on the treatment of the experimental group

CHAPTER 2
 29

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

This chapter deals with the presentation, analysis and interpretation of the

gathered data on the level of pronunciation of the Grade 8 students in English in

Bohol Northern Star College, exposed to Speech Imitation Practice.

The table below shows the profile of the pre-test performance of Grade 8

students before the exposure to the Speech Imitation Practice.

Table 1

Pre-test Performance of Grade VIII Students of Bohol Northern Star College

n=68

Experime
Control
ntal
R D F P F P
ange escription requency ercentage requency ercentage
( ( ( (
f) %) f) %)
1 H 0 0
0 0
06-120 igh Advance % %
9 L 0 0
0 0
6-105 ow Advance % %
8 H
0 0
6-95 igh 0 0
% %
Intermediate
6 M
0 0
1-85 iddle 0 0
% %
Intermediate
4 L
8 8
6-60 ow 3 3
.82% .82%
Intermediate
3 H 1 1
6 6
1-45 igh Beginner 7.65% 7.65%
 30

1 M
2 7 2 7
6-30 iddle
4 0.59% 4 0.59%
Beginner
0 L 2 2
1 1
-15 ow Beginner .94% .94%
Mean
26.47 26.50
Score
Descriptio Middle Middle
n Beginner Beginner

The mean scores of the control and experimental groups are 26.47 and

26.50 respectively, which are categorized as “Middle Beginner”. It appears that

both groups have the same level of understanding on the topic. Admittedly, this is

expected since the grouping of respondents is the result of exact pairing of the

members of each group. The poor performance of both groups implies that these

students have insufficient knowledge in the exact pronunciation of the words.

Thorndike’s Law of Readiness explains that the respondents’

unpreparedness to take the test is the reason behind this poor performance as

they were not given a discussion or a review yet. It points out that one learns only

when he is physically and mentally ready for it. In other words, preparatory set on

the part of the students is an important condition of learning. When the student is

prepared to do some work the act of doing is satisfying and not doing it, is

annoying. Conversely, when the students do not want to work, forcing them to

work is dissatisfying. Many students soon get disinterested in learning, because

they are forced to learn when they are not physically and mentally ready for it.
 31

This result is in accordance with the findings of the study of Graham

(1999) that average test scores for students who were exposed to unannounced

and unexpected tests were lower than those who were exposed to announced

quizzes.

Table 2 illustrates the level of pronunciation of the students in English after

the exposure to Speech Imitation Practice.

Table 2

Post-test Performance of Grade VIII Students of Bohol Northern Star

College
n=68

Experime
Control
ntal
R D F P F P
ange escription requency ercentage requency ercentage
( ( ( (
f) %) f) %)
1 H 0 8
0 3
06-120 igh Advance % .82%
9 L 0 2
0 8
6-105 ow Advance % 3.53%
8 H
0 2
6-95 igh 0 8
% 3.53%
Intermediate
6 M
0 1 4
1-85 iddle 0
% 5 4.12%
Intermediate
4 L
8 0
6-60 ow 3 0
.82% %
Intermediate
3 H 1 4 0
0
1-45 igh Beginner 4 1.18% %
 32

1 M
1 5 0
6-30 iddle 0
7 0% %
Beginner
0 L 0 0
0 0
-15 ow Beginner % %
Mean
32.50 88.53
Score
Descriptio High High
n Beginner Intermediate

It manifests the post-test performance of the Grade 8 students after the

exposure to Speech Imitation. The control group has an average score in the

range described as “High Beginner”, while the experimental group is described

as “High Intermediate”. Only three out of 34 under control group was rated “Low

Intermediate” and three in the experimental group was rated “High Advance”.

The average scores of the control and experimental group were 32.5 and 88.53,

described as “High Beginner” and “High Intermediate”, respectively.

This can be explained by the Theory of Constructivism which implies that

students relate their learning experiences to their earlier knowledge for them to

construct better understanding. In the NSSE study, BrckaLorenz, Cole, Kinzie, &

Ribera (2011) found a significant, positive relationship between teaching clarity

and the performance of the students.

The table below presents the difference between the performance of the

control and experimental group.

Table 3
 33

Difference between the Performance of the Control and Experimental

Groups
n=68

C P
Differe I D
omputed robability
nces nterpretation ecision
Value (p)value
Pre- I
R
tests of the Control - 0 nsignificant
etain the null
and Experimental 0.027 .489 D
hypothesis
Groups ifference
S
Pre- R
- 0 ignificant
test and Post-test of eject the null
11.642 .000 D
the Control Group hypothesis
ifference
Pre- S
R
test and Post-test of - 0 ignificant
eject the null
the Experimental 44.088 .000 D
hypothesis
Group ifference
Post- S
R
tests of the Control - ignificant
eject the null
and Experimental 21.644 0.000 D
hypothesis
Groups ifference

The first row presents the difference between the pre-tests of the control

and experimental group. As shown, there is no significant difference between the

pre-test performance of the control and experimental group based on the

computed value of -0.027 and the corresponding P-value is 0.489 because the P-

value exceeds the critical value 0.05. Thus, the null hypothesis is accepted. The

synonymous pre-test performance of the two groups could be accounted to the

exact pairing of the members in each group based on the pre-test scores.

The insignificant difference of the pre-test of control and experimental

group is then understandable and self-explanatory, likewise owing to the fact that

no methodical intervention yet.

 34

The second row presents the computed value of -11.642 and the

corresponding P-value is 0.000 making it significant because the P-value is less

than the level of significance 0.05. This implies that there is a significant

difference between the pre-test and post-test of the control group. This result

could be attributed to discovery learning in which the students gained in

experiences, observations and peer influence based on their existing body of

knowledge.

The third row shows that there is a significant difference between pre-test-

post-test performances of the students in the experimental group who were

exposed to Speech Imitation Practice. This description is based on the computed

value of -44.088 and the computed P-value is 0.000 making it significant because

the P-value is less than the level of significance 0.05. This implies that the

Speech Imitation Practice is effective and affected the performance of the

experimental group since there is an increase in the performance of the students.

This is supported by Thorndike’s’ Law of Exercise which stresses the idea

that repetition is basic to development of adequate responses. In the

experimental group, the students improved their performance because of

repeated practice with feedback. During the Speech Imitation Training, the

researchers gave many examples, and the responses are strengthen because of

repeated utilization of the materials that are adopted from the American Accent

Training.
 35

The fourth row depicts the difference on the post-tests performance

between the control group and the experimental group. The table shows that

there is a significant difference between the post-test performance of the control

group and experimental group based on the computed value of -21.644 with a P-

value of 0.000 which is less than the critical value of 0.05. Moreover, the Speech

Imitation Practice is effective in teaching how to enhance the English

Pronunciation Skills. The average results of the control and experimental group

in the post-test were 32.50 and 88.53, respectively, which shows a big difference

between their performances.

From the whole series of data tests, it can be concluded that the use of

the Speech Imitation Practice as an intervention technique has a significant effect

on the improvement of English pronunciation for the Grade 8 students of Bohol

Northern Star College.