Background of the Study Reasons for Choosing the Topic

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter contains the general background of the study, reasons for choosing the topic, statements of the problems, objectives of the study, significance of the study, and outline of the study.

1.1 Background of the Study

English is the most widely used languages. Many people in the world speak English today. Since English is an international language, it is used to communicate among nations all over the world. Therefore, English is getting more and more important. Generally, many learners of English as a foreign language face difficulty in pronunciation. The difficulty encountered by students in learning English as a foreign or second language is caused by the different elements found between their native language and the target language. Pronunciation is very vital. If we pronounce words wrongly, there will be misunderstanding between the speakers. All words are made up of sounds, and a speaker needs to know the sounds of the language. The native speakers of English usually speak English with weak form pronunciation in daily conversation. On the other hand, the native speakers of Indonesia have difficulty using weak form pronunciation. In English teaching and learning in Indonesian schools, students are supposed to speak in English as well as possible. The goal of teaching English in Senior High School is to develop the students’ ability to communicate. According to my experience, I have heard that one of the language department students of SMA N 01 Sukorejo, Kendal read a text and she had problems in pronunciation. She felt some difficulties to pronounce using weak form words. I am a student of the English Education Department of UNNES, so I interested to make a research in their pronunciation. Besides that, this research is to complete my final project. Maybe from this research, I can give a suggestion that will be useful for the students and teacher in this school. The fact that the weak form words are very important in English makes me intend to study pronunciation the twelfth year students of SMA Negeri 1 Sukorejo, Kendal.

1.2 Reasons for Choosing the Topic

The foreign learners should realize the importance of pronunciation in speaking English. When someone speaks a new language, sometimes the other person may not understand him. This condition may be caused by his wrong or incorrect pronunciation. To avoid misunderstanding, correct pronunciation is needed in every speech. It is possible that every student will be confused with his English pronunciation. Therefore, there are some reasons why I intend to conduct a research dealing with the topic. They are: a. this topic is very interesting since the pronunciation of the English weak form distinguish meaning, b. weak forms still become a constraint in the process of mastering English pronunciation, and c. there is no previous study of the English department of UNNES concerning with English weak form.

1.3 Statements of the Problems