14 The intensification of a syllable of an English word could be the change in
pitch, length, andor loudness. Pitch is the most discernible feature of stress compared to length or loudness Fry as cited in Ashby, 2011: 160. These distinctive
pitch, loudness, and duration are all caused by the amount of energy allocated into a syllable of a word Katamba, 1996; Roach, 1998; McMahon, 2002; Gordon, 2011;
Ladefoged Johnson, 2011; Yavas, 2011. Stress is relative, which means that not all syllables carry the same amount of stress. There is always a secondary stressed
andor an unstressed syllable Giegerich, 1992: 179.
b. The Importance of Stress
According to Syafei 1988, stress is an inseparable element of English pronunciation since it is something by which the accuracy of pronunciation is
measured p. 23. Therefore, ignoring the appropriate stress placement means having unintelligible pronunciation, which results in mispronunciation. English
stress is influenced by the morphological element of the word. Consequently, a morphologically modified word sometimes denotes different stress placement,
depending on the derivational affixes, as in recorda ˈbility Apoussidou, 2011: 98.
Indonesian EFL learners will stumble on the challenge to pronounce English words accurately because there is no stressing in Indonesian. Stress in Indonesian does not
affect either lexical categories or meaning. Therefore, if EFL learners cannot produce intelligible word stressing, native
English speakers will have a hard time understanding what they are talking about Kenworthy, 1988: 3. This difficulty, according to Syafei 1988, is caused by
15 irregular spelling of the English wo
rd itself or is due to students’ first language interference p. 1. The language interference that is being discussed is the
difference in vowels, diphthongs, and consonants. The phonemes that are problematic for Indonesian learners are i:, u:, æ,
ʌ, and ɔ: because these phonemes are a bit different from Indonesian a, i, u, e and o Syafei, 1988;
Dardjowidjojo, 2009. To help students overcome phonological constraints, an English teacher
needs to introduce English sounds and morphology to the students so that they understand how to pronounce morphologically related words. Although Kenworthy
1987 argues that a native-like pronunciation is not something a language learner should aim, h
e states that “word and sentence stress, rhythm, and intonation are very important in highlighting the important bits of message” pp. 13-14. He also
notes that learners need to have awareness of being able to stress properly since they will have a hard time recognizing the word said by a native speaker if they do
not store it in their mental dictionary pp. 27-28.
c. The Nature of Stress
