Some difeiculties engcontered by high school students in learning english pronunciation : a case study at the second year students of sma darul ma'rif cipete, academic year 2005/2006

SO

E DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY HIGH SCHOOL

S JDENTS IN LEARNING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION
(A Ca

ｾｴｵ､ｹ＠

at the Second Year Students ofSMA Darul Ma'arifCipete, Academic
Year 2005/2006)

Skripsi' presented to the Faculty ofTarbiyah and Teachers' Training
>artial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSai:jana (S-1)

By
IFAI-1 FATHILLAH
101014020799

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
F

::'ULTY OFT ARBIYAH AND TEACHERS' TRAINING

S'\'

{IF HIDAYATULLAH STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
JAKARTA

SC

1!: DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY HIGH SCHOOL

5 )DENTS IN LEARNING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION
(A Ca

Study at the Second Year Students ofSMA Darn! Ma'arifCipete, Academic
Year 2005/2006)

'Skripsi' presented to the Faculty ofTarbiyah and Teachers' Training
Jartial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Smjana (S-1)

By:
Ifah Fathillah
101014020799

Approved by:
Advisor

DR.Atig Susilo, M.A.
NIP. 150 182 900

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
F
S'\'

ｾｕｌｔｙ＠

OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHERS' TRAINING

llF HIDAYATULLAH STATE ISLAMJ[C UNIVERSITY

JAKARTA

2006

LEGALIZATION OF EXAMINATION COMMITTEE

A 'skr

i' titled : "Some Difficulties Encountered by High School Students in

Learn.

English Pronunciation" (a case study at the second year students of SMA

Dami

.'arif Cipete, academic year 2005/2006) was examined at examination

session

·the faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers' Training Syarif Hidayatullah State

Islamic

1iversity (UIN) Jakarta on March 3'ct, 2006. This 'skripsi' has fulfilled the

require

1ts for the degree of Strata I (SI) at English Department.
Jakarta, March 9"1, 2006

Examination Committee
The F.

The Secretary of Committee

d of Committee

J/P
ｾｲｯｺｩＬ＠

Thr

Drs.Na:
NI

NIP. 150 202 343

The Examiner II

xaminer I

IL
Mahmud, M.Pd
50 041 070

11

M.A

ﾷｾＧ｜ｽ＠
Dr.Atiq Susilo, M.A
NIP. 150 182 900

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

the name of Allah, the Beneficent and the Merciful. All praise be to Allah,
lord of

: world who has bestowed upon the writer the be:st grace and guidance in

writing

s 'skripsi'. Peace be to our Prophet Muhammad SAW, his descendants and

his fo]J.

;rs.
st of all, the writer would like to express her greatest appreciation to her

belovec

1rents, sister and brother, who have continuously given a motivation and

great st

)rt during her study.
; writer also would like to give her gratitude to DR.Atiq Susilo, M.A., her

advisor

io has given a precious advice and suggestion in writing this 'skripsi'. To

Drs.Na:

1 Mahmud, M.Pd., the Head of English Department, for his precise

thinkini

1d suggestions along the writer's period of study. And to all lectures who

have tai

t her.

d the writer also gives her special thanks to all her bestfriends who have
support

ler, shared their ideas, and spent wonderful time together: Pay, Indi, Ertin,

Yenni,

da, Jovi, Titin, Yuni and others that the writer could not mention one by

one.
wever, the writer realizes that this 'shipsi' is still far from being perfect.
Therefc

:he writer would like to accept any constructive criticism and suggestion to

make ti:

skripsi' better.
The Writer

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKl'

V\ILEDGEMENT ........................................................................... .

TABL

)F CONTENTS ..............................................................................

ii

LIST l

TABLE ..........................................................................................

v

CHAP

RI

1

INTRODUCTION ....................................................... .

A. Background of the Study ......................................... .

CHAP'

RII

B. Limitation and Formulation of the Study..................

3

C. The Objective of the Study.......................................

4

D. The Research Methodology......................................

4

E. The Organization of the Writing...............................

5

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................. .

6

A. PRONUNCIATION.................................................

6

1. The Definition of Pronunciation........................

6

2. The Goal of Teaching Pronunciation.................

7

3. Aspects of Pronunciation...................................

8

a. The Sounds of the Language ...........·..............

8

b. Stress and R11yth111.........................................

12

c. Intonation .....................................................

19

B. FACTORS AFFECTING THE
ACQUISITION OF A REASONABLE
PRONUNCIATION IN ENGLISH...........................

26

1. The Learner's Native Language..........................

26

2. The Learner's Age...............................................

26

3. The Learner's Exposure......................................

27

4. The Learner's Innate Phonetic Ability................

28

5. The Learner's Attitude and Sense ofidentity .....

28

6. The Learner's Motivation and Concern for Good
Pronunciation ......................................................

29

C. The English Pronunciation Teaching at the Second Year

CHAP

RIII

Students of SMA Darul Ma'arif................................

29

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS .

30

A. Research Methodology ............................... :............. .

30

·l. Place and Time of Study.....................................

30

.2. The Technique of Sample Taking.......................

30

3. The Technique of Data Collecting......................

30

4. The Instrument of Research................................

31

5. The Technique of Data Analysis.........................

31

B. Research Findings.....................................................

32

1. The Data Description ..........................................

32

2. The Data Analysis...............................................

32

CHAI

>RIV

BIBLI

:RAPI-IY

APPEl

lXES

3. The Interpretation of Data Analysis....................

40

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ........................ .

42

A. Conclusion.................................................................

42

B. Suggestion.................................................................

42

LIST OF TABLE

Table

List of Problem Area in The Aspects of Pronunciation .......... .

32

Table:

Frequency of Error in Vowels ................................................ ..

33

Table:

Frequency of Error in Consonants ............................ .' ............ ..

35

Table'

Frequency of Error in Word Stress ........................................ ..

36

Table:

Frequency of Error in Sentence Stress .................................... .

38

Table (

Frequency of Error in Intonation ............................................. .

39

Table'.

The Sequence of Aspects of Pronunciation
Problem Area Based on The Highest Frequency
ofSMA Darul Ma'arifStudents...............................................

40

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

A. Bai

1round of the Study

nguage plays a great part in our life. Among the languages that are spoken
today,

y few are even tolerably well known to science. One of them is English,

which

poken by more native speakers than any other ｬ｡ｮｧｵｾ･Ｎ＠
glish is the most widespread of languages. More than 300 million people in

the wo

speak English. Different authorities put the number of people who speak

Englisl

a first language at anywhere between 300 million and 400 million, and it is

still m

competently as a second language by perhaps as many as 400 million

globall

;l,lithout any doubt, English is the most important language in the world.
Indonesia, nowadays, English is taught as a foreign language since in the

play g1

) up to the university. The goal of teaching English is to enable students to

use En

h as a means of communication.
:cording to the curriculum of 2004, English language teaching includes four

langua

skills such as speaking, listening, reading, writing, that should be taught

integra

. The compo1)ents of language such as grammar, pronunciation and spelling

could 1

aught to support the development of those skills, not ｭ｡ｾｴ･ｲｩｮｧ＠

compo

tts themselves.

SMA da

>epartemen Pendidikan Nasional, Standar Kompetensi : Mata Pe/ajaran Bahasa Jnggris
A, (Jakarta : Pusat Kuikulum Balitbang Depdiknas, 2003), p. I 4

the language

1

2

ｾｩｮｧ＠

involv

able to speak English of course includes a number of sub-skills,
vocabulary,

grammar,

pragmatics,

etc.

But

m

the

process

of

comm

cation, pronunciation is paramount important in foreign language teaching,

since s

:essful communication cannot take place without correct pronunciation. 2
onunciation is definitely the biggest thing that people notice when someone

is spe<

,g English. Pronunciation is the aspect that most affects how the speaker is

judged

' others, and how they are formally assessed in other skills. The way the

speake

)Unds when he or she speaks a foreign language has a strong influence on

the ass

,ptions that people make about the speaker and the judgements they make

about 1

sort of the speaker is. 3
)nunciation is also the aspect of language that is most difficult to acquire.

Althou

some people with 'an ear for language' can 'pick up' pronunciation very

effecfr

r, for most it requires special training. Most learners are highly aware of this

and co:

mtly request further tuition in pronunciation.
spoken English, slight variations in sounds can present problems for ESL

learner

"hat is because some sounds and sound combinations that occur commonly

in Engl

may occur rarely or not at all in other language. 4
munciation teaching should not only focus on segmental features (teaching

specifii

•lmds) but also on suprasegmental features (stress., rhythm, and intonation).
tp://www .developingteachers.com/articles_ tchtraini ng/pronp(_dimitrios. ｨｴｭｾ＠
tp://www.antimoon.com/how/pronounc.htm
tp: //www. fo rma vision. com/ cate It/i t04000 5.htm l

3

Becau:

poorly pronounced segments and suprasegments may have the result of

disorie

Jg the listener and inhibiting comprehension. Of course, the notion of

correc·

iS

speake

)l'illS

with regard to pronunciation is not tantamount to adherence to native
or Received Pronunciation (RP) rules and General America (GA). 5

1e student who wishes to learn a second language well, especially if he will
use it

oral communication, must pay attention to some difficulties of mastering

pronur

tion. The teacher should understand some difficulties her students face and

should

. able to give specific help and guidance through proved techniques and

proced

s based on the scientific study oflanguage and language learning theory.
)111

difficu

B. Li1

the statements above, the writer tries to present the research about some

s encountered by high school students in learning English pronunciation.

ｾｴｩｯｮ＠

and Formulation of the Study

:munciation has three aspects such as sounds, stress and rhythm, and
intona1

. The writer limits herself to just focus on research of some difficulties

encour

ed by second year of high school students of SMA Darn! Ma'arif Cipete in

learnin

nglish pronunciation specifically in the aspects of pronunciation.
sed on the limitation above, the writer wants to formulate the problem of

the stu

as follows : "What are the difficulties encountered by high school students

in lean

i English pronunciation?"

'C

cit

4

C. TI:

)bjectives of the Study

ie objective of the study is to know some difficulties In the aspects of
pronm

1tion which encountered by high school students in learning English

pronu1

1tion. Beside that, the result of this research is expected to be an input and

consid

tion for English teacher in developing the teaching English pronunciation.

D. Tl1

lesearch Methodology

1is writing is based on two researches : library and field research. To find
the el1'

theoretical framework, the writer collected some books from the library of

UIN S

·if Hidayatullah Jakarta, the library of Tarbiyah Faculty UIN Jakarta, the

library

f American Corner UIN Jakarta, the library of American Indonesian

Excha

Foundation (AMINEF), and the library of British Council (now

perpus

aan Departemen Pendidikan Nasional). The writer also collected some

article:

)m the internet which related to the topic of discussion.
the field research, the writer conducted a research at the second year of

high

S·

ol students of SMA Darn! Ma'arif Cipete Jakarta Selatan. The writer gave

an ora

st to the students. Each student had to pronounce some individual words,

compc

:l words, sentences, and a dialogue. Then the writer made the record.

5

E. Tl

)rganization of the study

Jis 'skripsi' contains four chapters:
lmpter one is introduction. It consists of background of the study, limitation
and fo

ulation of the study, the objectives of the study, the research methodology,

and th

·ganization of the writing.
mpter two is theoretical framework. It consists of the definition of

promu

1tion, the goal of teaching pronunciation, aspects of pronunciation : the

sound:

·the language, stress and rhytlun, intonation, factors affecting the acquisition

of a re

·nable pronunciation in English : the learner's native language, the learner's

age, tl:

;arner's exposure, the learner's innate phonetic ability, the learner's attitude

and se

• of identity, the learner's motivation and concern for good pronunciation,

and th•

tglish pronunciation teaching at SMA Darul Ma' arif.
!apter three is research methodology and findings. It consists of place and

time o

e study, the technique of sample taking, the technique of data collecting, the

instrur

.t of research, the technique of data analysis, the data description, the data

analys

md the interpretation of data analysis.
iapter four consists of conclusion and suggestion.

CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

A. Pn

nciation
munciation is a language feature that most readily identifies speakers as

non-na

:. It is a filter through which others see them and often discriminate against

them.
I.

e Definition of Pronunciation
In some books which content about pronunc:iation, there are not any
:cific explanation about the definition of pronunGiation that given by the
hors of the books. Martin H. Manser and others in their dictionary define
1mmciation in general as "a way in which a language is spoken".
munciation is also "a way in which a word is spoken". 6
Michael Agnes and others define pronunciation as "the act or manner
pronouncing syllables, words, and phrases with regard to the production of
mds and the placing of stress, intonation, etc". Pronunciation is also "the
:epted or standard ways of pronouncing a word, etc". 7

Press, l 5

lartin H. Manser, Oxford Learner ·s Pocket Dictionary, (New York : Oxford University
, p.331

Inc, 200'.

fohael Agnes (ed), Webster's New World: College Dictionary, (USA: Wiley Publishing
'ourth edition, p. 1149

7

2.

le Goal of Teaching Pronunciation
Morley

has outlined four important

goals

for pronunciation

struction: functional intelligibility, functional communicability, increased
lf-confidence, and speech monitoring abilities. 8
Intelligibility is defined as spoken English m which an accent, if
esent, is not distracting to the listener. In other words, the aim of
onunciation improvement is not to achieve a perfect imitation of a native
cent, but simply to get the learner to pronounce accurately enough to be
sily and comfortably comprehensible to other (competent) speakers. 9
Attempting to completely eradicate a foreign accent in an EFL class is
unrealistic goal. It would be more reasonable to bring learners up to a point
lere they do not make pronunciation mistakes that would affect their being
.derstood.
Functional communicability is the learner's ability to function
ccessfully within the specific communicative situations he or she faces. By
amining the discourse our students will need to use in real life, we can see
lich features of pronunciation might be particularly important for them to
aster. 10

Heinle<

1arianne Celce Murcia (ed), Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, (USA :
ｾｩｮｬ･Ｌ＠
2001), Third edition, p.118

)id
'bid

8

Increasing self confidence to our learners is also needed. Learners
tve to gain confidence in their ability to speak and be understood.
Speech monitoring abilities is the learner's ability to pay attention to
r or his own speech as well as that of others. Speech monitoring activities
n help the learners to make better use of the input which they receive. 11
3.

:pects of Pronunciation
Teaching pronunciation involves tlu·ee aspects of pronunciation, they
,' .

The sounds of the Language
Each language has its own distinctive set of categories, and pmt of
the process of learning a new language is learning the significant sounds.
The person who begins the study of a foreign language is faced with the
problem of having to produce unfamiliar sounds. A system that would
represent each different sound with different symbol would help him
identify and imitate those sounds.
There are many different phonetics symbols that are used in some
pronunciation books and some dictionaries. In this 'skripsi', the writer
presents the American English phonetics symbols which mostly is used by
Indonesian high schools.

bid

9

American English has 40 (forty) sounds which consist of 16
(sixteen) vowels and 24 (twenty four) consonants. The sound system can
be demonstrated in the following terms. 12
1) Vowel sounds
In ordinary speech, a vowel is a voiced sound in the
pronunciation of which the air passes through the mouth in a
continuous stream, there being no obstruction and no narrowing such
as would produce audible friction. 13
Vowels are vocalic sounds, which mean that they are produced
with the voice. The vowels are divided into two major categories;
single vowel sounds (monophthongs) and combined vowel sounds
(diphthongs). 14
There are eleven monophthongs which can be distinguished in
the following list of words :

I i I

as in beat, feed

/a/

as in box, father

I

as in did, bit

l '.) I

as in bought, clog

I uI

as in book, good

I re I . as in bat, bad

/u/

as in student, food

/"I

I

I

as in but, mother

Pearson

\dam Gadsby (ed), Longman Handy Learner's Dictionmy of American English, (England:
1cation Limited, 2000), p. I

1960), 1'

1 edition,

)aniel Jones, An Outline of English Phonetics, (New York: Cambridge University Press,
p.23

'rank Fitzpatrick, A Teacher's Guide To Practical Pronunciation, (UK : Phoenix ELT,

1995), p

JO

I eI
I

;i

I

ｉｾ＠

as in bet, bed

I

as in shirt, murder

as in among, about
Diphthongs are combinations of two single vowel sounds.

These are two groups of diphthongs, each of which has a dominant
monophthong in the combination. 15 They are as follow:
•

Combinations with I
I

I

I

I

e1

/,1 I

I
•

ai

I

as in date, paid
as in boy, voice
as in bite, buy, cry, eye

Combinations with I u I

I au I

as in about, how

I

as in boat, road

OU

I

2) The consonants
A consonant is a sound accompanied or unaccompanied by
voice which there is either a complete or partial obstruction which
prevents the air from issuing freely from the mouth. 16
Consonants are produced by positioning the tongue, lips and
teeth in order to modify the passage of air through the mouth.

17

There

are many examples of this, and they can be paired as follows :

bid, p.9

da C. Ward, The Phonetics of English, (England: W,Heffor and Sons LTD., 1929), First

edition,
'rank Fitzpatrick, op cit, p. l 0

11

Unvoiced

p

f

8

t

s

tf

f

k

Voiced

b

v

0

d

z

d3

3

g

For example:
/p/

as in pack, happy

lb/

as in bad, back

I fl

as in fan, photograph

/v/

as in voice, van

/8/

as in thing, breath

101

as in then, breathe

I ti

as in tie

Id I

as in dog, die

Isl

as in sip, city, psychology

lzl

as m zoo, goes

I tf I

as in church, nature, watch

I d3 I as in jump, judge, major

If!

as in she, ship, machine

13 I

as in vision, measure

/k/

as in cat, came, key

lg/

as in got, game

This difference between voiced and unvoiced consonants can
be demonstrated to students by getting them to produce the two
contrasting sounds. The other consonant sounds can be considered as
miscellaneous. They can be distinguished in the following words :
/m/

as

111

man, some

Ir I

as in red, right

/n/

as

111

no, sun

/w I

as in week, wet

I 1J I

as in sing, ringing

/y/

as in yes, use, music

II I

as in leg, light

/h/

as in how, help

12

Stress and Rhythm
l) Stress
Stress is the relative degree of force used by a speaker on the
various syllables he is uttering. It gives a certain basic prominence to
the syllables, and hence to the words on which it is used. It is also
incidentally assists in avoiding monotony . 18
Stress is the term that speakers use to describe the point in a
word or phrase where pitch changes, vowels lengthen, and volume
increases: Stress is vitally important in conveying meaning in phrases
and sentences.

19

Unlike vowel and consonant, which are single speech sounds,
suprasegmental features (stress, rhythm, and intonation) normally
stretch over more than a single segment, possibly a syllable, a
complete word or phrase, whole sentences or even more. 20
There are two types of stress : word (lexical) stress and
sentence (syntactical) stress.

oger Kingdon, The Groundwork of English Stress, (Great Britain : Western Printing
1958), p. I

Services I

I Bristol,

Third edi·

remy Hanner, The Practice of English Language Teaching, (England : Longman, 200 I),
. p.32

Canada :

everley Collins and Inger M.Mees, Practical Phonetics and Phonology, (USA and
tledge, 2003), p. I 09

13

a) Word stress
The smallest domain in which the contrast between stressed
and unstressed syllables surfaces in the word. The characteristic
patterning of these two kinds syllables is commonly called word
stress. 21
Word stress 1s the relative degree of force used in
pronouncing the different syllables of a word of more than one
syllable. Monosyllables cannot be said to have word stress. In
English, word stress is usually considered to occur in three degrees
which have been given various names by different authorities : I.
Primary, strong, main or principal. 2. Secondary, half strong or
medium. 3. Weak or unstressed. 22
Word Stress Rules

There are many different ways to show stress and stress
rules in some pronunciation books, but the writer presents only one
kind of stress rule to focus the research in the next chapter.

Press, 19

N Candlin and H G Widdowson (ed), I'ro111111ciatio11, (New York : Oxford University
p.38
oger Kingdon, Joe cit

14

Rogerson and Gilbert shows a set of clear headings helps to
avoid the proliferation of confusing detail about word stress.

23

They use capital letters to show the stress.

(1) Stress on first syllable
Most two syllable nouns and adjectives have stress on the
first syllable. 24 More than 90 percent of all English nouns of
two syllables are stressed on the first syllable. For example :
- butter

= BUTter

- culture

= CULture

(2) Stress on last syllable
Most two syllable verbs have stress on the last syllable.

25

More than 60 percent of all English verbs are stressed on the
second syllable. For example :
- produce

=proDUCE

- begin

=beGIN

(3) Stress on penultimate syllable (second from the end). 26

=>

Words which end in 'ic', for example :
- static

= STAtic

N Candi in and H G Widdowson (ed), op cit, p. I 02
)id, p. I 03

,;d
,;d

16

Often such words contain a prefix (as with 'inter' and
'anti' above), and this prefix has a secondary stress (this is
common with many long technical words).
(6) Compound words

=>

If the compound word is a noun, the stress goes on the

first part. 29 For example :

=>

- greenhouse

= GREENhouse

- blackbird

=BLACKbird

If the compound word is an adjective, the stress goes on

°

the second part. 3 For example :

=>

- bad - tempered

= bad - TEMpered

- old - fashioned

=old - FASHioned

If the compound word is a verb, the stress goes on the

second part. 31 For example :
- understand

= underSTAND

- overlook

=overLOOK

b) Sentence stress
Sentence stress is the relative degree of force which is
given to different words in a sentence. Sentende stress may differ
bid
bid
?id

17

from word stress in either of two ways : Monosyllables may take
sentence stress if they play an important enough part in the
utterance, and words of more than one syllable may be unstressed
if their function in the sentence is sufficiently unimportant. 32
2) Rhythm
Rhythm 1s a product of word stress and the way in which
imp01iant items are foregrounded through their occurance on a strong
beat, and unimportant items are backgrounded by their occurance on a
weak beat. 33
The Stress - timed rhythm ofEnglish

English is a stress-timed language. In a stress-timed language,
there is a tendency for stressed syllables to occur at regular intervals.
The amount of time it takes to say a sentence in a stress-timed
language depends on the number of syllables that receive stress. For
example :
The birds will

eat the worms.

When the speaker says each of these sente111;:es, the same tlu·ee
syllables are stressed 'birds', 'eat', and 'worms'. Although the

toger Kingdon, foe cit

'oanne Kenworthy, Teaching English Pronunciation, (New York : Longman Publishing,
1987), p

18

sentences become increasingly longer in terms of the number of
syllables, it takes approximately the same amount of time to say them.
Placement ofstress in sentences

For students to produce sentences that have the appropriate
stress pattern and thus the appropriate English rhythm, it is necessary
that they know which words of a sentence are stressed and which are
not stressed.
English words can be divided into two groups : content words
and function words. Content words are those that express independent
meaning. Included in this group are; nouns, main verbs, adverbs,
adjectives, question words, and demonstratives. Content words are
usually stress. 34
Function words are words that have little or no meanmg m
themselves, but which express grammatical relationship. Function
words

include;

articles,

prepositions,

auxiliaries,

pronouns,

conjunctions, and relative pronouns. Function words are usually
unstressed, unless they are to be given special attention. 35
Stress in connected speech is determined by the meaning that
the speaker wants to convey through the content or information words

overley Collins and Inger M.Mees, op cit, p.115
id

19

in the utterance. 36 For example, in the following situation, the speaker
wishes to stress his or her concern for the other person by giving
strong advice :
- You really SHOULD see a doctor a.bout that cough !
Intonation
Intonation is the rises and falls in tone that make the 'tune' of an
utterance. It is an imp01iant aspect of the pronunciation of English.
Intonation often makes a difference to meaning or implication. 37
Intonation is often called the melody of language since it refers to
the pattern of pitch changes that speakers use when they speak.
Functions ofIntonation in English

Intonation has four important linguistic functions, they are :
1) Focusing function, by which the speaker focuses on the most
significant information by means of the location of the nucleus. The
nucleus .is typically at the end of the intonation group, and shift to an
earlier syllable is often used to hightlight some information elsewhere
in the utterance. 38
This can easily be demonstrated, nucleus shown in bold type :

'rank Fitzpatrick, op cit, p.42

Univcrs

:>enny, U.R., A Course in Language Teaching (Practice and theo1y), (London : Can1bridge
'ress, I 996), p.49
leverley Collins and Inger M.Mees, op cit, p.124

20

Sophie adored her gorgeous new motorbike. (Not the old one)
Sophie adored her gorgcons new motorbike. (Not the horrid one)
2) Attitudinal fonction is what allows speakers constantly to superimpose
an attitude on top of the bare semantic content of what is being said. 39
Neve1iheless, two tones -fall-rise and rise-fall- seem noticeably
attitudinally marked, these tones are inherently laden with ce1tain
implications :
Fall-rise

->

doubt, correction, reservation, appealing to the listener to
reconsider.

Rise-fall

->

impressed, arrogant, confident, self-satisfied, mocking,
putting down.

3) Grammatical function, which permits speakers to distinguish certain
syntactic relationships, for example phrase and clause boundaries,
question versus statement. 40 One occasional example of the
grammatical function of intonation in Eng!i:lh is where a grammatical
statement is conve1ied to a question.
You're going to Canterbury.
You're going to Canterbury?

'bid, p.125
'bid

21

4) Discourse function, which covers diverse matters as the organization
of conversation between two or more speakers (e.g. signals for turn
taking), the indication of speaker or listener relationship (e.g. in
relation to power and authority) and the indication of new versus old
information. 41 For example :

ｾ＠

a) What is your name ?

ｾ＠

•

b) what is your name ?
In sentence a, the speaker uses falling pattern which tends to
sound distant and businesslike. It would not be inappropriate for a
policeman interviewing a suspect. In sen1ence b, the speaker uses
rising pattern which sounds far more friendly, as opposed to
interrogation, and could quite easily be a stage in ｭｾｬ､ｮｧ＠

a date.

Type of basic intonation pattern in the utterance

1) Statements
Falling tunes are most frequent with statements. 42 For example:

Ibid, p.125-126
Ibid, p.127

22

/\____
(When did John leave ?) A month or so ago.
In other book, rising-falling intonation is used with a statement
or a simple declarative sentence. For example :

•

Susan bought a new sweater.
The pitch of the speaker voice rises at the major sentence stress, the
first syllable of the word 'sweater', and falls over the second syllable
of this word. When the voice falls to the bottom of the pitch range, it
usually indicates that the speaker has finished speaking.
If a rising intonation is used with a statement, an element of

non-finality is imposed on the utterance. Sometimes it will imply that
the speaker is questioning a statement. For example :

----<

It's well worth a visit? (well, I don't think so).

2) Commands
Commands are often said with a falling pattern. This is
particularly the case if a superior is talking

i:o

an inferior (e.g. teacher

to student), and if there is no possibility of discussing the issue. For
example:

ｾ＠

Shut the window !

23

Rising-falling intonation is also used with commands. The
pitch rises at the major sentence stress and falls over the remaining
part of the sentence. For example:

Give her a sweater !
Commands are also said on a rising nucleus to express a
gentler, warmer tone, with a kind of deference to the other person's
feeling. The discourse effect given is one of non-finality, that
something will soon follow. For example :

ｾ＠

Don't worry. (It'll be alright.)

3) Wh-questions
If the utterance is neutral or business-like, the most common

pattern for wh-question is a fall tm1e-often al.ow fall. For example :

•
How can we possibly pay this bill ?
Rising-falling intonation is also used with wh-questions. The
pitch rises at the major sentence stress and falls over the remaining
part of the sentence. For example :

24

•
- What do you want to do with it ?
Wh-question frequently have rising tunes. As in the case of
commands, a rise makes the utterance friendlier and more intimate.
For example :

•

- How can I help you ?
4) Yes-no questions
The most common pattern for yes-no questions is a rise tune.
For example :

•

Is he still married to Lisa ?
If yes-no questions are said on a falling pattern, they give the

impression of being more like exclamatory statements. For example :

ｾ＠

Do we have any choice? (it doesn't look as we have)
A simple statement can be turned into .a yes-no question
through the use of rising intonation. In this case, the speakers are
expressing some doubt regarding the truth of the statement, indicating
to the listener that a response is required. For example :

25

John left town ?
5) Tag question
If the tag rises, the implication is that the speaker is not really

certain of the statement (perhaps 60 per cent). In meaning terms, it is
equivalt;nt to a true question. For example :

Peter has seen a jaguar, hasn't he?
If the tag has a fall pattern, this indicates a far greater

confidence in what the speaker is saying (perhaps 90 per cent). The
falling tag here is not so much a true question as a request for
confirmation of the statement. For example :

Peter has seen a jaguar, hasn't he ?
Tag question with rising-fallingfotonation are very often used
to begin conversation. The speaker is not demanding an answer to a
question but rather opening the lines of communication. For example :

Lovely day, isn't it?

26

B. F

ors Affecting the Acquisition of a Reasonable Pronunciation in English
ｾ･ｮｷｯｲｴｨｹ＠

acqui
1.

provides the variables that seem to impede or enhance the
)n of a reasonable pronunciation in English. 43 They are :
earner's Native Language
He Native Language is an important factor to consider in learning
nglish pronunciation. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that a foreign
;cent has some of the sound characteristics of the learner's native language.
l1ese are often obvious enough to make a person's origins identifiable by
1trained as well as trained people. 44
Mother tongue transfer is generally more systematic, pervasive, and
:rsistent in the area of pronunciation (the foreign accent) than it is in
ammar or lexicon. The more differences there are, the more difficulties the
arner will have in pronouncing English.

2.

1e Learner's Age
We commonly assume that if we learn a second or foreign language in
:iJdhood, we generally learn to speak it fluently and without a foreign
cent. If we le.arn in adulthood, though we may attain considerable fluency
cl versatility, it is very unlikely that we will ever attain a native accent.

1ese two scenarios of the exact age-related limit on the mastery of
:munciation in a second or foreign language is stilJ debatable.
loanne Kenworthy, op cit, p.4
'bid

27

Eric Lenneberg in his book, The Biological Foundation of Language,
.aims that linguistic ability is innate in humans. Innate behaviors have a
·itical period associated with their emergence. This theo1y based on this
1enomenon is called the "Critical Period Hypothesis"(CPH). 45
Research on the acquisition of authentic control of the phonology of a
•reign language supports the notion of a critical period. Most of the evidence
dicates that persons beyond the age of puberty do not acquire what h2.s come
be called authentic (native speaker) pronunciation of the second language.
Conversely, Emil Flege strongly rejects the CPH. He cites many
Jdies showing adults often produce or perceive second language sounds as
ell as or even better than children. 46 Adult learners can succeed in acquiring
1ative-like pronunciation with theirs efforts and artificial instructions.
3.

ie learner's Exposure
Another factor is the amount of exposure to English learner receives. It
tempting to view this simply as a matter of whether the. learner is living in
English speaking country or not. If this is the case, then the learner is
n·ounded by English and this constant exposure should affect pronunciation
ills. Conversely, many people live in non English speaking countries but
e English in many areas of their lives, such as work or school. It is not

Wesley

i. Dough las Brown, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, (New York : Addison
gman Inc, 2000), p.58

ittp://ccwf.cc. utexas. edu/-birdsong/classnotes/CNFal 12003/psy34 Ik/age_effects2Asup.htm

28

ierely exposure that matters, but how the learner responds to the
pportunities to listen to and use English. 47
4.

he Learner's Phonetic Ability
Some people simply have more skill at or aptitude for imitating and
:oducing sounds and sounds patterns that are new to them. This skill has
variously termed 'aptitude for oral mimicry', 'phonetic coding ability' or
ｾ･ｮ＠

:uditory discrimination ability'.
One study has indicated that those with good phonetic abilities benefit
om pronunciation drills, tasks in which particular sounds are heard and the
arner has to imitate again and again. Because of the compiexities involved,
is seems a factor which is very much out of the control of the teacher. We
:n only operate on the assumption that our learners have the basic equipment
1d provide a variety of tasks so that something will suit the needs and
1ilities of each learner. 48
5.

1e Learner's Attitude and Identity
It has been claimed that factors such as a person's sense of identity

:d feelings of group affiliation are strong determiners of the acquisition of
curate pronunciation of a foreign language. 49

foanne Kenw011hy, op cit. p.6
rbid, p.7
rbid

29

In many studies of attitude and motivation in language learning, it has
een shown that those who show positive feeling towards the speakers of the
ew language tend to develop more accurate, native like accents. 50
6.

he Learner's Motivation and Concern for Good Pronunciation
Some learners seem to be more concerned about their pronunciation
an others. When we talk in terms of strength of concern for pronunciation,
e are really pinpointing a type of motivation. The desire to do well is a kind
·achievement motivation. 51
Learners may also be unconcerned because they simply are not aware
at the way they speak is resulting in difficulty, irritation or misunderstand

ir the listener.

C. Th

:nglish Pronunciation Teaching at the Second Year Students of SMA

Darul

1

1

arif

1111e features of pronunciation can only be learnt with the aid of a teacher,
and th

thers can be learnt from the books. In English pronunciation teaching, the

teache1

ies not use a book which has a phonetics symbols theory. The students only

use a '

ksheet as their source in English learning. Beside, the teacher corrects the

studen

1hen they do mispronounce.

bid, p.8
bid

CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS

A. Re

1.

rch Methodology
ace and Time of Study

The research took place at SMA Darul Ma'arif which is located in JI. RS
Fa1

wati No.45 Cipete Jakarta Selatan. The writer conducted the research at

Slv

Darul Ma'arif on December 1" 2005.

•2.

te

Technique of Sample Taking

SMA Darul Ma'arif has 451 students. They are divided into 12 classes; 5
cla

; of the first year, 4 classes of the second year, and 3 classes of the third

yez

fhe total number of the second year students is 156. But the writer only

tak

10 students or about 20 % of the population as the sample of the research ..

3.

1e Technique of Data Collecting

In collecting the data, the writer used an oral test. This test was aimed for
the

;ond year of SMA Darul Ma 'arif students as a sample. The writer gave 20

ite1

that had to be pronounced by the students. Then the writer recorded each

stu

.t. The test focused on the difficulties in the aspects of pronunciation.

31

4.

te Instrument of Research

In this research, the writer gave an oral test to the second year students of
Slv

Darul Ma'arif. This test was focused on the aspects of pronunciation;

seg

ntal features (sounds; vowels and consonants), and suprasegmental features

(sti

and rhythm; word stress and sentence stress, and int01ption in different

utt<

tee types).
The instrument of the research for the SMA Darul Ma'arif students was

cor

led from Pronunciation by CN Candlin and HG Widdowson (ed), Longman

Arr

can English Dictionary, and Practical Phonetics and Phonology by Beverly

Coj

> and Inger M.Mees.

5.

c Technique of Data Analysis
The writer analyzes the data by using quantitative descriptive technique. It

wil

described in the table percentage and the formula as follows :
P =

F x 100
N

No1
P

)ercentage

F

ｾｲ･ｱｵｮ｣ｹ＠

N

of wrong answer
\fumber of sample

32

B .. Re

1.

.rch Findings

ie Data Description
The writer gave an oral test which is focused on the aspects of
)nunciation as mentioned above. 20 items of the words consist of 10 words,
:entences, and a dialogue which consists of 5 sentences. These four tables
low will show the problem area of each aspect of pronunciation.

Table 1
List of Problem Area in the Aspects of Pronunciation

Aspects of
fo.

1.

Problem Area

Pronunciation

Sounds

Vowels; monophthongs, diphthongs
Consonants

2.

2.

Stress and Rhythm

Word stress and Sentence stress

3.

Intonation

6 different utterance types

e Data Analysis
The tables below are the result of data that will be analyzed by the
ter.

33

Sounds
I) Vowels

Table 2
Frequency of Error in Vowels
Problem Area

;,

Correct

Incorrect

. Frequency of
Error

/r/asin:
pretty (pnti)

8

22

73.3 %

live (hv)

12

18

60%

9

21

70%

-

30

100 %

16

14

46.6%

24

6

20%

20

10

33.3 %

•

I
ｾＯ｡ｳ＠

critical

in:
ＨｫｮｴＱｾｬＩ＠

/a/asin:
antibiotic (rent1baiat1k)

/u/asin:
put (put)

/e/asin:
ever (evil--)

/u/asin:
moved (muv)

/11/asin:

34

some (sAm)

'

-

11

36.6%

19

11

36.6 %

-

30

100 %

12

18

60%

3

27

90%

19

he I as in:
last (ires)

Im I as in :
.

reliability (nla1ab1lati)

I e1 I as in :

train (trem)

/au/asin:
house (liaus)

Total

218

-

60.53 %

The phoneme I a I and I a1 I in the word 'antibiotic' (rent1bma
t1k) and 'reliability' (nla1abilati) become the items with the highest
frequency of error that reach up to 100 %. The students seem can not
pronounce the phonemes correctly. They transferred the phonemes
into their native language. It proves that the students have not got the
knowledge of English monophthongs and diphthongs.

I

35

2) Consonants
Table 3
Frequency of Error in Consonants

).

Problem Area

Correct

Incorrect

Did not

Frequency of

pronounce

Error

/I/as in:
28

-

2

6.6%

milk (milk)

25

-

5

16.6 %

static (stret1k)

26

4

-

13.3 %

25

-

5

16.6%

Shop (fop)

13

17

56.6 %

international

16

14

-

46.6%

6

24

-

80%

2

28

-

93.3 %

Total

87

12

41.2 %

milk (mrlk)

/k/asin:

/t/asin:
train (trern)

If I as in :

!tf/asin:
cheese (tf iz)

/z/asin:
cheese (tfiz)

36

There were 28 or 93.3 % students who made error in pronouncing
the phoneme I z I in the word 'cheese' (tfiz). The students pronounced the
phoneme I z I as I s I (tfis). It shows that the students pronounced the
phoneme I z I in the word 'cheese' like their mother tongue I s I for the
word 'es'.
Stress and rhythm
1) Word stress
Table 4
Frequency of Error in Word Stress

Problem Area

Stress on first syllable, as in; pretty =

Correct Incorrect

Frequency
of Error

30

-

0%

30

-

0%

30

-

0%

PRETty

Stress on last syllable, as in; begin=
beGIN

Stress on penultimate syllable (second
from the end), words which end in 'ic'
as in; static = STAtic

Stress on penultimate syllable (second
from the end), words which end in
'sion' and 'tion' as in; television=

.

24

6

20%

37

teleVIsion

Stress on ante-penultimate syllable
(third from the end), words which end

12

18

60%

2

28

93.3 %

18

12

40%

9

21

70%

29

1

3.3 %

12

18

60%

Total

104

34.66 %

in 'cy, 'ty, 'phy, 'gy, as in; reliability
=

reliaBility

Stress on ante-penultimate syllable,
words which encl in 'al', as in; critical
=

CRitical

Compound word that is a noun, the
stress goes on the first part, as in;
greenhouse = GREENhouse

Compound word that is an adjective,
the stress goes on the second part, as

. in; bad-tempered = bacl-TEMperecl
Compound word that is a verb, the
stress goes on the second part, as in;
.

understand = unclerSTAND

Polysyllabic words, as in;
international antibiotic = interNational
antibiOtic

38

The table above shows that the highest frequency of error
comes at problem area number 6 with 93 .3 %. The word of number 6
is 'critical' which should be stressed the third from the encl, as
'CR!tical '. Twenty eight students stressed the first syllable from the
end.
2) Sentence stress

Table 5

Frequency of Error in Sentenc1e Stress
Frequency
Problem Area

Conect

Inconect

of
Error

Jimmy bought a house near Bogor.
JIMMY BOUGHT a HOUSE near
BOGOR.

29

1

3.3 %

10

20

66.6 %

29

1

3.3 %

.

Put it on the table!
PUT it on the TABLE!

Where do you live?
WHERE do you LIVE ?

'

Can you get a packet of milk and
some cheese from the shop?
can you GET a PACKET of MILK

39

Iand some CHEESE from the SHOP? I

16

14

46.6%

Total

36

'29.95 %

In sentence stress problem area, the highest frequency of error of
SMA Darul Ma'arif students is at command sentence with 66.6 %. Most
of the students stressed the preposition in "Put it ON the table!'' It was
known that the students have not understood which word should be
stressed.
Intonation
Table 6
Frequency of Error in Intonation
No.

L

Problem Area

30

-

0%

12

18

60%

5

25

83.3 %

21

9

30%

I'es-no question = rise

)id he ever tell you about it ?

4,

of error

:;/uestioning a statement =rise
fomi has moved to London ?

3.

Frequency

Statement = fall
fomi has moved to London.

2,

Correct Incorrect

W'h-question = fall
When did he leave ?

40

5.

Command = fall
Put it on the table !

6.

30

-

0%

9

21

70%

73

40.55%

Tag question= rise
He missed the train, didn't he ?

Total

Yes-no question becomes the item with the highest frequency of error

.t reach up to 83.3 %. 25 students used the falling tune in the yes-no
estion "Did he ever tell you about it ?" It proves that the students have not
derstood yet the pattern of intonation for yes-no question. They regard that
I-no question has the same pattern with wh-question.
3.

e Interpretation of Data Analysis
After analyzing the data, the sequence of aspects of pronunciation
iblem area based on the highest frequency of error is seen from the
lowing table.

Table 7
The S

1.ence of Aspects of Pronunciation Problem Area Based on the Highest
Frcquence of SMA Darul Ma'arif Students ,
lo.

Aspects of Pronunciation

Frequency ofEiTor

I.

Sounds

50.86 %

2.

Intonation

40.55 %

3.

Stress and Rhythm

32.30 %

41

From the data analysis, there are some problems made by the students

tt can be found. First, the common problem is most of the students did not
ow the difference between phonetic symbols with spelling rules. They used
: spelling rules to pronounce English words. Therefore _the students seem
counter some difficulties in pronouncing some English words. Second, lack
students' knowledge of suprasegmental features has brought them to have
ne difficulties in determining which word should be stressed and what
onation pattern should be used in connected speech.
Beside the lack of students' knowledge, the teacher's qualifications for
ching pronunciation (such as ear training, training for control of the organ
:ech, and knowledge of theory) should be one of other factors why the
dents did not have a good pronunciation. Of course the teacher cannot
rays be blamed for this problem. There are some factors that affecting the
1uisition of a reasonable pronunciation. One of them is the student
tivation and concern for good pronunciation. It may because the students
re not aware that the way they speak have brought misunderstanding to the
cner.

CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A. 'Co

usion

· accomplishing the research, it can be concluded that SMA Darul Ma'arif
stuclen1

iacle error up to 60.53 % in English sounds that is vowels, which is divided

intd t\\

terns; monophthongs and diphthongs. This problem area takes the highest

freque1

of error.

B. Su:

stion

sec! on the result of the research, the writer would like to offer some
sugges

1s, both for the students and the teacher. Phonetic symbol is different from

spellin:

t is necessary for the students to know a distinction between the English

phonet

ymbols and the English spelling rules. Therefore, the students should study

the phc

ics symbols.
e students must also accustom themselves to the sounds, not only in the

orclinar

peech of different people but in systematic exercise devised for the purpose.
side, the students must be able to use the clictionar·y in pronouncing some

words.

this case, they have to know the authors and publisher background, whether

the dic1

1ary is used for American English, British English, or anything else.
ess, rhythm, and intonation are a complex system that operates at all levels

of exp

:ion. The inappropriate use of certain suprasegmental features rules can

43

cau:ie

understanding, particularly in formal situations or when it is important to

1

sound

lite. As a result, students need to be aware of and concerned about

supras<

1ental features and will need a lot of practice in producing them. Therefore,

a lot of

:-training will be required in this area.
teaching pronunciation, the teacher should have a segmental features

(phone

symbols) and suprasegmental features (stress, rhythm, and intonation)

knowle

: and know how to use them in connected speech. His theoritical

knowle

: and practical skill will enable him to devise exercises to get rid of wrong

and tea,

:orrect sounds in the quickest time possible.
1ddition, it is essential for a teacher to have an ear-trained to recognise fine

distinct

s in speech sounds if the teacher is going to correct pronunciation.
ally, based on the data, the core conclusion and suggestion the writer gives

to this

ｾ｡ｲ｣ｨ＠

is that the competency of English pronunciation of the second year

student:

f SMA Darul Ma'arif Cipete in certain aspects of pronunciation is still

poor. i

refore the teacher and the students must struggle to improve their

pronum

ion especially in sounds.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brow1

I. Douglas, Principles of Lang