IINTERNAL AND EXTERNAL DETERMINANTS OF ENGLISH MAJORS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS PRONUNCIATION LEARNING AT A VIETNAMESE PUBLIC UNIVERSITY

By Luu Dat Phi, Nguyen Ha Minh Anh, Nguyen Giang Huong
DOI: 10.37550/tdmu.EJS/2025.04.679

Pronunciation is an essential factor in English learning. It affects intelligibility, communicative competence, and confidence, which are the primary factors in English language learning and pronunciation. However, the teaching of pronunciation has consistently been given less priority, especially in EFL contexts where it gets overshadowed by grammar and vocabulary. The current study explores the relationship between the attitudes of English majors towards pronunciation learning at a Vietnamese university, including both internal (learner-related) factors and external (contextual and instructional) factors. Using a quantitative method, information was gathered from 371 university students via a specifically designed questionnaire. Based on the results, most participants positively viewed pronunciation learning. Internal factors, like motivation, self-efficacy, and attitudes of learners, exhibited stronger predictive power compared to external factors, such as quality of instruction and support from the institution. In addition, gender and English proficiency were observed to affect the attitudes, with female students and students of higher proficiency having more positive views. Importantly, both internal and external factors were identified as strong predictors of the pronunciation learning attitudes, thus highlighting the combined effect of psychological and methodological influences. This study enhances the comprehension of the continuous interaction between the psychological and instructional factors, calling attention to the necessity of rethinking the curriculum design, teaching practices, and learner support in the context of EFL pronunciation instruction