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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter is an introduction which gives the general concept of the research. There are seven main sub chapters discussed here. Those are the background of
the study, the reasons for choosing the topic, the statements of the problem, the objectives of the study, the significance of the study, the limitation of the study
and the outline of the study.
1.1 Background of the Study
In mastering English, we have to learn at least the four major skills; normally, listening, speaking, reading, and writing in the form of spoken and written. As
stated by Hughes 2002: 8-9: ...as the spoken form has gained primacy of status in English, the human
voice and the faculty of speech are inherently bound up with the projection of the self into the world. As English is acquired by language learners, a
large number of other things also need to be adjusted for successful communication to take place. These are matters to do with culture, social
interaction, and the politeness norms which exist in the target language. To learn to communicate appropriately in another language a speaker must
change and expand identity as he or she learns the cultural, social, and even political factors, which go into language choices, needed to speak
appropriately with a new ‘voice’.
This is what happens when we play drama. As drama, according to Basom 2005: 1, is ‘an art from that explores human conflict and tension. It generally
takes the form of a story presented to an audience through dialogue and action.
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The story is conveyed using the elements of the theatre: acting, costumes, props, scenery, lighting, music and sound.’
Moreover, Crystal 1980: 81 adds the thing that is needed to be had by the drama performers besides good acting is good pronunciation.
Pronunciation itself refers to the way a word or a language is usually spoken, or the manner in which someone utters a word. In playing drama,
spoken language as a continuous sequence, as in normal utterances and conversations, is used. The term that is used by linguists to refer to spoken
language when analyzed as a continuous sequence, as in normal utterances and conversations, is connected speech. Its significance lies in the contrast
implied with studies of linguistic units seen in isolation, such as an individual sound, word or phrase, which was the subject matter of
traditional linguistic enquiry. It is now realized that important changes happen to these units when they are used in connected speech. If someone
said to have proper pronunciation, then it refers not only to sound like native speakers but also comprehensible Crystal, 1980: 81.
That is the reason why pronunciation really affects the process of conveying meaning of a drama. In an attempt to act the roles well, drama
performers try to bring the script about to naturally play. However, as Bebout 1985 wrote in her journal entitled An Error Analysis of Misspellings Made by
Learners of English as a First and as a Second Language, the field of English pronunciation error is classified to be significant due to ‘the complexity of sound-
symbol relationship in English.’ The focus that is discussed in study is the connected speech errors.
Weisser 2005 states in his article entitled Connected Speech, that ‘in connected speech, as the branch of pronunciation, many things change inside and in between
words in order to facilitate communicationpronunciation and to make certain
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parts of the message more or less salient or to group items of information together.’
1.2 Reasons for Choosing the Topic
