UNIVERSIDAD DE PANAMÁ

EXTENSIÓN UNIVERSITARIA DE SONÁ

FACULTAD DE HUMANIDADES

FINAL EXAM IST SEMESTER 2022

COURSE: RESEARCH (NCMI 0013)

RESEARCH PROPOSAL:

“DIFFICULTIES IN DISTINGUISH AND PRONOUNCING THE VOICED

INTERDENTAL FRICATIVE / ð / AND THE VOICELESS INTERDENTAL

FRICATIVE / θ / FACED BY SOPHOMORE STUDENTS IN UNIVERSIDAD DE

PANAMÁ, SONÁ BRANCH”.

PREPARED BY:

RUTH R. CASTILLO D.

9 – 743 – 460.

PROFESSOR:

AURORA I. REYES C.

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3RD, 2022

1
 TABLE OF CONTENT.

CHAPTER I: Introduction..................................................................................................3

Statement of the Problem....................................................................................................3

Research question................................................................................................................4

Purpose statement................................................................................................................4

Hypothesis...........................................................................................................................4

Significance of the study.....................................................................................................4

CHAPTER II: Review of Literature...................................................................................6

CHAPTER III: Methodology.............................................................................................11

Population and Sample......................................................................................................11

Procedure...........................................................................................................................11

Instrumentation..................................................................................................................12

REFERENCES....................................................................................................................14

2
 CHAPTER I.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM.

Pronouncing the correct sounds implies much time and practice according to the position of

the tongue, lips, larynx, teeth, etc., All these aspects are not taken into account at the

moment that there are well pronounced. Students think that these are easy to acquire, but

learning to pronounce the sounds is a challenge because learning or involving a new

language is a new world, and pronunciation is a new aspect for an English School student.

However, this course is developed only in the first level, and in the teaching methodology

at schools, English classes consist of just writing sentences and paragraphs, singing songs,

performing role plays, filling out the workbooks, etc. This research will be emphasizing in

the study of difficulties in distinguish and pronouncing the voiced interdental

fricative /ð/ and the voiceless interdental fricative /θ/ faced by sophomore students in

Universidad de Panamá, Soná Branch.

Differencing these sounds has caused a great confusion among students, specifically these

who do not practice the pronunciation of the sounds or having difficulties to distinguish

them. These sounds are similar to pronounce, but they are different according to the

position of the vocal cords, teeth, and tongue. One of them sounds in the trachea, and the

other, does not produce any sound. And that is why students get confused at the moment

that they pronounce any word, using these sounds.

3
Changing the strategies of how students can pronounce and distinguish both sounds would

be the possibility that near to the objective that the research project seeks. “Many EFL

students may find that pronouncing words is a barrier to effective communication. More

importantly, pronunciation is a critical component of oral communication” (Berry, 2021).

Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze the difficulties in distinguishing and

pronouncing the voiced interdental fricative /ð/ and the voiceless interdental fricative /θ/

faced by sophomore students at Universidad de Panamá, Soná Branch.

Research Question:

What is the level of difficulty in distinguishing and pronouncing the voiced interdental

fricative /ð/ and the voiceless interdental fricative /θ/ faced by sophomore students at

Universidad de Panamá, Soná Branch?

Hypothesis:

Significant evidences will be obtained between the voiced interdental fricative /ð/ and the

voiceless interdental fricative /θ/ in the distinguish and the pronouncing by sophomore

students.

Significance:

Many people think that is not necessary to learn how to speak English, and that it would be

a learning enough, having a conversation with a native speaker or other English language

learner, or searching the words in a bilingual dictionary. But there have disadvantages.

First, natives did not learn their L1 by means of a L1 class session because they learned it

4
through their parents and relatives during their childhood and adolescence. Second, the L2

population needed to learn it through class sessions for many years, knowing the language

basic aspects, and few times, listening skill is not developed in these classes even in the

university, specifically, in the English career. It is very important to better the teaching way

so that students feel identified with a good learning and teaching ways, and not with a big

problem that they may not manage due to a lack development of these aspects. It is

effective when teachers improve oral practices, using sounds that create confusion in

students and not being stayed in the theory teaching or facilitating a poor explanation

through examples. That is why this research is focused to help students to distinguish and

pronounce effectively the voiced interdental fricative /ð/ and the voiceless interdental

fricative /θ/ phonology sounds. It also helps professors to better the teaching way, applying

more oral practices like homeworks and workshops. In other words, learning to speak

effectively is not only having conversations and pronounce the sounds in any way that

sounds more or less. Learn to speak includes listening phonology sounds, practicing

speaking alone and with others, studying the phonetic symbols and linked sounds, checking

the progress of the learning, and, above all, making questions to the professor or tutor who

supervise our learning process.

5
 CHAPTER II.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE.

English is an international language used by people across the world. It is important

because English is used as media in sharing information, trading, marketing, education, and

many others (Irianto, N. A., Imranuddin & S., Syafrizal, 2018). As global communication

expands with less limitation, studying English becomes important for all learners. English

is probably one of the most important languages in the world today in terms of international

communication and lingua franca. It is truly clear that the English language is playing a

major role in the process of globalization. In all skills of English, many people think that

vocabulary and grammar skills are more important than pronunciation skill. As we know,

there are many things to study including vocabulary, grammar, reading, writing, and

speaking (Piyamat, B. & Deekawong, K., 2021).

English pronunciation is incredibly important to be understood and avoid misunderstanding

in communication. Thai students who study English as a foreign language are found too shy

to speak out since they are not confident with their pronunciation. They accept that their

poor pronunciation created incomprehensibility when they communicate with foreigners

(Khamkhien, 2010).

There are many not – native speakers who face big problems about distinguishing and

pronouncing of /ð/ and /θ/ English consonant sounds at the moment to acquire it by the

6
reason of their L1 does not contain the alphabet of some sounds that the English language

does. One study by Thien, S. B. (2016) done to Adult Vietnamese English learners, and

indicates that “The most dominant problem in pronouncing the consonant /θ/ found in the

present study was replacing this sound by Vietnamese /t‘/. Besides, the sound was also

produced like /t/, /z/ and /ð/. With regards to /ð/ sound, it was most frequently

mispronounced as /z/. There were a few times, this voiced consonant was articulated as

/dʒ/, /d/, /t‘/, and /θ/. There appeared to be more problems with the voiced dental

fricative /ð/ than its voiceless counterpart”. Other study by Khanh, C. L. (2020), directed to

Vietnamese EFL learners, asserts that “Some of them find less difficult way to pronounce

this sound is that they place the tongue tip touching the back of the teeth. That is why the

“th” sounds /ð/ is sometimes pronounced like the sound of /ɗ/ instead. /ɗ/ is familiar with

Vietnamese people and much easier to say. For instance, the word weather /ˈweðər/ may be

said as /ˈweɗər/ or /ˈweɗə/ by Vietnamese students.

An aspect that was not mentioned in this proposal is that in both English and phonetics

classes, the position of the mouth and organs when pronouncing sounds are not frequently

taught, and only we see on the books or documents. Through Ercan, H. & Kunt, N. (2019)

made on Norther of Cyprus, mention something related to the lack of pronunciation of

phonetic sounds. “This is considered to be due to the fact that students had not been taught

how to set their mouth positions to produce the correct sounds”. It is linked to the

articulation position. A study prepared by Piyamat, B. & Deekawong, K. (2021) to students

in Thailand, details “Necessary basic concepts based on articulatory phonetics are as

follows: (1) speech organs responsible for producing speech sounds; (2) criteria for

producing accurate consonant sounds according to the places of articulation, manners of

7
articulation and voicing; (3) criteria for producing accurate vowel sounds according to the

position of the tongue and the lips; (4) the use of suprasegmental phonemes to accompany

the consonant and vowel sounds in English; (5) sound assimilation of the English loan

words used in Thai”.

Reading is a linguistic skill not widely applied to students in the classroom, and it is a

strategy to detect how little pronunciation they master. Meldy Umantari, P. I., Laksminy, L.

P. & Putr, K. S. (2016) a study focused to senior high school students of SMAN 1 Tabanan,

shows a part of the experiment, and is related to the topic projected o this, and found that

“These two phonemes / θ / and / ð / absolutely bothered the twenty students of this study to

speak English and read an English text. They occupied three places in English words, for

instance, they can appear in word initial, medial and final positions, but they do not in

Bahasa Indonesia because they are not known and exerted in the phonological sound and

writing systems of Bahasa Indonesia. As a result, it was very difficult for the twenty

students of this study to pronounce English words having either / θ / or / ð /. The students

were inclined to pronounce them as / t /, / d / and / s /. Generally, it is acknowledged that

wherever Indonesian words in which the letters ‘th’ are involved, they are loan words from

foreign languages”. Phonological understanding develops the cornerstone

regarding phonics. Phonics seems to produce words tend to be related to reading. When

computing any learner’s phonological awareness, we all take a look at his capability to use

distinctive expertise. Children having powerful phonological awareness will be able to

recognize to employ rhyme, break phrases directly into syllables, mix phonemes directly

into syllables in addition to phrases, identify the beginning and ending sounds in a syllable

8
and see smaller words within larger words. (i.e. “Cat” [kæt] in “catalog” /ˈkætəlɔg/)

(Shalabi M. M. E., 2017).

Another factor of poor pronunciation is that, as mentioned at the beginning of this chapter,

other languages do not contain the phonetic sounds that English language has, and

misunderstandings can occur when one sound is mispronounced for another, and can cause

a big trouble. Irianto, N. A., Imranuddin & S., Syafrizal (2018), an study based on an

analysis of pronunciation errors of English consonants /θ/ and /ð/ by the students of the

English Education study program of university of Bengkulu, shows the Indonesians

mispronunciation in Bahasa where /θ/ and /ð/ sounds does not exist in their language

(Indonesian), and an example of this is “” Thank you” pronounced into “Sank you” or

“Brother” pronounced into “Brazer” will lead the negative impression because the word

“Sank you” means that you want to make people drown and “Brazer” sounds like a porn

website in America”.

As mentioned previously, the purpose of this project is to help to teachers can improve

more strategies so that students can acquire better the domain of phonetics sounds. An

abstract taken from the study by Karakaş, A. & Sönmez, E. (2011) applied to Turkish non-

native English teachers and teacher-trainees, supports that “Pronunciation teaching has its

unique place in the curricula of most of the European countries though it has been

neglected in Turkey so far. Mispronunciation of some core sounds is among the

fundamental problems in the speech of both nonnative pre-service and in-service teachers

in Turkey. The /θ/ and /ð/ sounds constitute the biggest trouble for Turks, for they do not

take place in the Turkish sound system”.

9
There are evidences that with the use of waveform and spectrogram, the differences

between both phonemes can be visualized, and that is why it is emphasized to focus more

on the aforementioned. A study done by Zadnik, S., Perry, S. J. & Tucker, B. V. (2021) in a

University of Alberta, in Canada, shows that “While the waveform is a 2D representation of

sound, the spectrogram is a 3D image of sound that allows for interpretation of time,

frequency, and intensity”. Other study by (Irianto, N. A., Imranuddin & S., Syafrizal, 2018)

which has applied a similar procedure for collect the data and see it like “The researcher

used an Audacity to see the pattern of the data recorded in order to check the correct and

incorrect of the students’ pronunciation”.

To solve the problem, there are study programs for those who study English as part of the

reinforcement in the academic training of students. Within the study by Jahara, S. F. &

Abdelrady, A. H. (2021), applied to Arab B.A undergraduate students, details what consist

to. “The Qassim University’s curriculum for B.A. program is designed with 127 total credit

hours to complete undergraduate studies in the English Language and Translation

Department. The students achieve learning through their study time, in-class participation,

assignments, projects, presentations, and library work with three credit hours for each

course and 15 to 18 hours of learning each week per semester. The university’s curriculum

focuses on developing skills that encourage listening, speaking, reading, writing, and

pronunciation through individual, pair, and group activities, as well as making participants

able to talk about their ideas, daily lives, and surroundings through a variety of exercises

and tests”.

10
 CHAPTER III.

METHODOLOGY.

Population:

The population that was selected for the study was sophomore students from the English

Bachelor at Universidad de Panamá, Soná Branch who attend the conversation I course.

Sample:

All sophomore students from English Bachelor at Universidad de Panamá, Soná Branch

who attend the conversation I course, will be part of the study. The amount of them are

sixteen. The quantity of girls are 9, and the quantity of boys are 7. The ages of them are

between 19 and 35 years.

Procedure:

First, the researcher will get the exact amount of students from the classroom required for

the study.

Second, the researcher will use the simple random sampling strategy (Kind of sampling).

This strategy consists of selecting part of population (The half) by using a bag full of

papers where the half of them will contain numbers from 1 to 8 (Amount of students), and

the rest of the paper will be in blank. The participants who take the numbered papers will
11
be participating in the study. But, due to the population is very few, the researcher will use

the whole population, and it won't be necessary to use any random strategy.

Third, after having the sampling, the researcher will visit the classroom, and she will

explain the topic of the research, and the purpose of this.

Fourth, the researcher will explain the methodology of the study. The data will be collected

through the application of an oral test which consist of three parts.

Fifth, the researcher will apply the oral test to the sampling.

Sixth, the researcher will collect and analyze the results by preparing some graphics and

tables.

Finally, the researcher will use the analysis and results from the collected data to provide

conclusions and recomendations.

Instrumentation:

In order to accomplish the purpose of the study, the researcher will require to have a very

efficient instrument like subject completed instrument that consists that sample answer or

solve or use the instrument.

The tests consists of three parts. The first part consists on a indentify the type of sound that

apply in each word. The second part consists on tongue twisters selected by me with words
12
which applies the sounds so that students read them, applying their knowledge based on

these sounds. The third part is to write words that contains the sounds in study, and justify

them by pronouncing one of the sounds that corresponds to the word.

The way that the data will be evaluated is through using a checklist with the following

aspects: There are three checklists (One checklist assigned to each part of the test). The

type of checklist consist on a box that includes: The list of words as part of applying of the

knowledge about the sounds that the researcher will use and the students (Third part), and

the evaluation range that is from 1 to 5 where the researcher draw a check mark into the

small box correspond, according to the domain level of these sounds applied in the words

given by students.

13
 REFERENCES.

Ercan, H. & Kunt, N. (2019). Is it really difficult to produce correct “th” (/ð / and /θ/)

sounds in English for EFL Learners? A case study in Northern Cyprus. Journal of

Language and Linguistic Studies, 15 (3), 926-936; 2019 ISSN: 1305-578X. Retrieved from

https://www.academia.edu/80691525/Is_it_really_difficult_to_produce_correct_th_

%C3%B0_and_%CE

%B8_sounds_in_English_for_EFL_Learners_A_case_study_in_Northern_Cyprus

Irianto, N. A., Imranuddin & S., Syafrizal (2018). An Analysis of Pronunciation errors of

English Consonants (/ð/ and /θ/ by the Students of the English Education Study Program of

University of Bengkulu. Journal of English Education and Teaching (JEET) Vol.2.

No.3.2018. Retrieved from

https://ejournal.unib.ac.id/index.php/JEET/article/download/6833/3420

Jahara, S. F. & Abdelrady, A. H. (2021). Pronunciation Problems Encountered by EFL

Learners: An Empirical Study. Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 12. Number 4.

December 2021 (Pp. 194-212). DOI: Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 12.

Number4 December 2021 Pp. 194-212. Retrieved from

14
https://awej.org/pronunciation-problems-encountered-by-efl-learners-an-empirical-study/

https://awej.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/14.pdf

Karakaş, A. & Sönmez, E. (2011). The Teaching of /θ/ and /ð/ Sounds in English.

Workshop on Innovation in Language Teaching and Learning – ISBN: 978-1-71674-888-2

1st International Conference on Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics May

5-7 2011 Sarajevo. Retrieved from https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/153446763.pdf

Khamkhien, A. (2010). Teaching English Speaking and English Speaking Tests in the Thai

Context: A Reflection from Thai Perspective. English Language Teaching, 31, 184-190.

Retrieved from

https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v3n1p184

Khanh, C. L. (2020). The problem of pronouncing the English “th” sounds /θ/ and /ð/ of

Vietnamese learners. Workshop on Innovation in Language Teaching and Learning –

ISBN: 978-1-71674-888-2. Retrieved from:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/

352245663_The_problem_of_pronouncing_the_English_th_sounds_th_and_d_of_Vietnam

ese_learners

Meldy Umantari, P. I., Laksminy, L. P. & Putr, K. S. (2016). Pronunciation Problems of

English Consonants Encountered by Senior High School Students of SMAN 1 Tabanan.

15
ISSN: 2302-920X Jurnal Humanis, Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Unud Vol 17.2 Nopember 2016:

228 – 234. Retrieved from

https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/sastra/article/download/34492/20807/

Piyamat, B. & Deekawong, K. (2021). Phonological Variations and Problems in English

Pronunciation among Thai EFL Learners: A Case Study of Undergraduate Students at

Huachiew Chalermprakiet University. ศิลปศาสตร์ปริทัศน์16(1) มกราคม-มิถุนายน 2564

(Liberal Arts Review 16(1) January-June 2021). Retrieved from

https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/larhcu/article/download/248822/171143/898538

Shalabi M. M. E. (2017). Think, Tink or Sink, the Phonological Awareness of English

Voiceless Interdental Fricative /θ/ and /ð// Among Chinese, Arab and Pakistani Learners

of English. American Journal of Education and Information Technologies 2017; 1(2): 31-

37 http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ajeit doi: 10.11648/j.ajeit.20170102.11.

Retrieved from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323526624_Think_Tink_or_Sink_the_Phonologi

cal_Awareness_of_English_Voiceless_Interdental_Fricative_th_and_d_Among_Chinese_

Arab_and_Pakistani_Learners_of_English

Thien, S. B. (2016). Pronunciations of Consonants /ð/ and /θ/ by Adult Vietnamese EFL

Learners. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, Vol. 6 No. 1, July 2016, pp. 125-134.

Retrieved from

16
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305722396_Pronunciation_of_consonants_d_and

_th_by_adult_Vietnamese_EFL_learners

Zadnik, S., Perry, S. J. & Tucker, B. V. (2021). Variability of /ð/ and /θ/ in the Casual

Speech of Native English Speakers. Alberta Phonetics Laboratory. Retrieved from

https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/ed4a4175-3a01-4e45-8466-8a9f7e8bb6af/view/

701eb536-fff4-46b0-b56f-47d42f20f433/Zadnik_Solange_FinalProject_Variability%20of

%20th%20sound%20in%20casual%20speech_SRP%202021.pdf

17