IMPROVING THE SECOND GRADE STUDENTS’ SPEAKING PRONUNCIATION OF SEKOLAH MENENGAH ATAS 2 NGAGLIK
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Olivia Kristanti Tiara Dewi Student Number: 031214113
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
IMPROVING THE SECOND GRADE STUDENTS’ SPEAKING PRONUNCIATION OF SEKOLAH MENENGAH ATAS 2 NGAGLIK
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Olivia Kristanti Tiara Dewi Student Number: 031214113
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
2009
ABSTRACT
Dewi, Olivia Kristanti Tiara. 2009. Improving the Second Grade Students’ Speaking Pronunciation of Sekolah Menengah Atas 2 Ngaglik. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
The research focused on how to improve the students’ pronunciation intelligibility in speaking. This research was aimed at finding out the problems of the students of XI/IPA 3 in the pronunciation intelligibility and proposing the appropriate method to improve the students’ pronunciation intelligibility. There were two problems in this research. The first was what the problems of the students of XI/IPA 3 in the pronunciation intelligibility were. The second was how communicative drill method improves the students’ pronunciation intelligibility.
The researcher discovered some problems in the students’ pronunciation intelligibility in speaking in class. The first problem was the students were not familiar with the English words. The students made some mispronunciations during the lessons. They did not know the correct English sounds of the English words. The second problem was the students’ limited knowledge on English phonetic features. There were different phonetic features between the students’ first language and the students’ target language. The students’ made some mispronunciations because of the different phonetic features of the languages. The researcher conducted Classroom Action Research to improve the students’ pronunciation intelligibility in speaking. The subjects were the students of XI/IPA 3. The number of the students in this research was thirty four students. The number of the participants was five out of thirty-four students of XI/IPA 3. Two cycles were conducted in this Classroom Action Research. The researcher used observation as the instrument in the research. The observation consisted of three instruments; recording observation, checklist, and rubric. The instruments were used to gain the data during the research.
In the beginning of the research, most of the students spoke unintelligibly. Five students were considered as low level students in the research and they were selected as the subjects of the research. The researcher employed communicative drill to improve the students’ pronunciation intelligibility. After employing the communicative drill, the five low level students made progress on their pronunciation intelligibility. Four students achieved high level and one student achieved medium level. The rest of the students also made progress on their pronunciation intelligibility. Henceforth, the researcher concluded that communicative drill was effective to improve the students’ of XI/IPA 3 pronunciation intelligibility in speaking.
ABSTRAK
Dewi, Olivia Kristanti Tiara. 2009. Improving the Second Grade Students’ Speaking Pronunciation of Sekolah Menengah Atas 2 Ngaglik. Yogyakarta: Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Penelitian ini menitikberatkan pada bagaimana cara untuk memperbaiki pelafalan siswa sehingga mudah untuk dipahami. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui masalah – masalah dari siswa kelas XI/IPA 2 pada pelafalan yang mudah dipahami dan mengusulkan metode yang tepat untuk memperbaiki pelafalan siswa sehingga mudah untuk dipahami. Dalam penelitian ini terdapat dua pokok permasalahan. Permasalahan yang pertama adalah apa masalah – masalah yang dihadapi oleh siswa kelas XI/IPA 3 pada pelafalan mereka. Permasalahan yang kedua adalah bagaimana metode pelatihan yang komunikatif memperbaiki pelafalan siswa sehingga mudah dipahami.
Peneliti menemukan beberapa permasalahan pada pelafalan siswa di dalam percakapan di kelas. Pertama, siswa tidak mengenal kata – kata dalam Bahasa Inggris. Para siswa banyak membuat kesalahan pengucapan selama pelajaran. Siswa tidak mengetahui bagaimana bunyi ucapan dari kata - kata Bahasa Inggris yang ada. Kedua, permasalahan terletak pada keterbatasan siswa pada macam – macam ilmu bunyi ucapan Bahasa Inggris. Disini terdapat perbedaan antara sistem bunyi ucapan bahasa pertama siswa dengan bahasa yang mereka pelajari. Para siswa banyak membuat kesalahan pengucapan karena perbedaan sistem bunyi ucapan dari kedua bahasa. Peneliti mengadakan sebuah penelitian yang disebut Penelitian Tindakan Kelas untuk memperbaiki pelafalan siswa di dalam percakapan sehingga mudah untuk dipahami. Jumlah siswa dalam penelitian ini adalah tiga puluh empat siswa. Jumlah partisipan adalah lima dari tiga puluh empat siswa dari kelas XI/IPA 3. Dalam penelitian ini terdapat dua siklus. Peneliti menggunakan observasi sebagai alat untuk mendapatkan data. Observasi terdiri dari tiga instrumen; rekaman observasi, checklist, dan rubrik. Alat – alat penelitian di atas digunakan untuk mendapatkan data selama penelitian.
Pada awal penelitian, sebagian besar dari siswa mempunyai pelafalan yang sulit untuk dipahami. Lima siswa masuk dalam kategori siswa dengan kemampuan yang rendah di dalam penelitian ini dan mereka dipilih untuk menjadi subyek dari penelitian. Peneliti menggunakan metode pelatihan yang komunikatif untuk memperbaiki pelafalan siswa sehingga mudah untuk dipahami. Setelah menggunakan pelatihan yang komunikatif, lima siswa yang memiliki tingkat kemampuan rendah membuat kemajuan dalam pelafalan mereka. Empat siswa mencapai tingkat tinggi dan satu siswa mencapai tingkat menengah. Selain itu, siswa yang lainnya juga membuat kemajuan dalam pelafalan mereka. Maka dari itu, peneliti membuat kesimpulan bahwa metode pelatihan yang komunikatif efektif untuk memperbaiki pelafalan dari siswa XI/IPA 3 di dalam percakapan sehingga mudah untuk dipahami.
Some dreams
May run on in time forever
Those dreams,
You want with all your heart
And I’ll do whatever it takes
Follow through with the promise I made
Put it all on the line
What I hoped for at last would be mine
If I could reach, higher
Just for one moment touch the sky
From that one moment in my life
I’m gonna be stronger
Know that I’ve tried my very best
Put my spirit to the test
If I could reach
Some days
Are meant to be remembered
Those days
We rise above the stars
So I’ll go the distance this time
Seeing more the higher I climb
That the more I believe
All the more that this dream will be mine
(Reach - Gloria Estefan)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank Jesus Christ who has given me strength and patience in completing this thesis. Without His grace and blessing, surely I cannot finish this thesis.
Second, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to my major sponsor, Ouda Teda Ena, S.Pd. M.Pd., who supported me with his patience, guidance,
corrections, and advice for my thesis during the thesis writing. Without his patience and guidance, surely I cannot complete this thesis. I would like to thank Mbak Dani and Mbak Tari for helping me in administrative matters.
My deepest gratitude goes to (the late) Dra. M.I. Indriani for giving me chances to study pronunciation.
My sincere gratitude is addressed to BAPPEDA Kab. Sleman which give me permission to conduct the research. My gratitude also goes to Suyoto, S.Pd., the principle of SMA 2 Ngaglik and Hj. Is Ponisah, S.Pd., the English teacher of SMA 2 Ngaglik, who had permitted me to conduct this research. I also would like to thank to all the students of XI/IPA of 3 of SMA 2 Ngaglik for their participations as participants in this research.
My deepest gratitude goes to my beloved parents, Dr. Djoko Lelono, M.Pd. and Dra. Endang Septi W. who always give me encouragement, support,
and pray. I would like to thank Victoria Parwitasari K., S.Psi. Psi. and Bima Satria Agung. Life will be empty without my sister and my brother.
I would like to thank Yustinus Sigit Purwono (Plethot) for his love, extreme patience, guidance, care, support and pray in my hardest time in completing this thesis.
I would also thank all of my best friends, Dhionisius Bambang Gumilang, Vina Winanti and Raymond Stefanus “Menthok”. They always
give support and care in my life. My life will be empty without all of my best friends.
My deepest thank also goes to Um Adit who always support me. Without his corrections and critic, I surely cannot finish my thesis.
My great thank goes to my friends, Bernadeta Ajeng S.P. S.Pd., Dera Estuarso, S.Pd., Jojo, Endah, Sigit “Pak Koci”, Mas Ledheng, Mas Irwan
“Lenchung”, Om Dedi, Deni, Teguh “Pak Guru”, Om Iwan “Davoz”,
Songket Reggae Band, entire Mapasadha “Pondok” members, entire Bengkel
Sastra members, Mas Ompong and Lisa. They have been part of my life. I hope
our friendship will never end.
I also thank all my Empire Conqueror and CS partners, King Plethot, Hudi “Paladinho”, Ronald “Rocker”, Om Dodo, Om Dude “Kenthir”, Tejo
“Diponegoro”, Habilius “CR7” and Eka “Lurah”. Life is a war.
May God always bless them all.
Olivia Kristanti Tiara Dewi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE ...i
APPROVAL PAGES ...ii
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ...iv
ABSTRACT ...vi A. Research Background ... 1
B. Problem Formulation ... 3
C. Problem Limitation ... 3
D. Research Objectives... 4
E. Research Benefits... 4
F. Definition of Terms... 5
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Theoretical Description ... 8
1. The Teaching of Speaking ... 9
a. Speaking... 9
1) Exercise in Communicative Performance... .11
2) A Contrastive Emily Post Approach to Language Teaching ... .11
b. Teaching Speaking for The Second Grade Students of Senior High School... 11
1) Interview ... .12
3) Discussions and Conversations ... 13
4) Games ... 14
2. The Teaching of Pronunciation ... 14
a. Pronunciation ... 14
b. The Pronunciation Intelligibility ... 16
c. Phonetic... 17
d. Description and Classification of Speech Sounds... 19
1) Vowel ... 20
2) Consonant ... 20
3) Gliding Vowel or Diphthong ... 20
e. Teaching Pronunciation ... .21
1) Selection and Presentation ... .22
2) Recognition of the New Sound and Discrimination... .22
3) Production of the Sound Feature... .22
4) Use the Sound in a Communicative Situation .... .23
5) Sound Symbol Correspondence ... .23
3. Drilling Method As an Aid To Pronunciation ... 23
a. Mechanical Drills... 24
b. Meaningful Drills... 25
c. Communicative Drills ... 25
4. Classroom Action Research ... 26
B. Theoretical Framework ... 28
CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY
A. Research Method ... 31
B. Research Participants ... 32
1. Research Setting... 32
2. Participants... 32
C. Research Instruments ... 33
1. Observation ... 33
a. Recording Observation ... 34
b. Checklist ... 34
c. Rubric... 34
D. Data Gathering Technique ... 35
E. Data Analysis Techniques ... 36
1. Analysis on the Students’ Pronunciation Intelligibility . 36 2. Analysis on the Cycles ... 38
F. Research Procedure ... 38
1. Observation ... 38
2. Reflection ... 38
3. Planning ... 39
4. Action ... 39
CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS A. Research Findings and Discussions ... 40
c. Planning ... 54
d. Action... 54
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS A. Conclusions ... 60
B. Suggestions ... 62
REFERENCES... 64
APPENDICES... 66
LIST OF TABLES
Page Table 4.1.The Students’ Words Pronunciation Intelligibility Errors before
and after the Implementation of the First Cycle ... 49 Table 4.2.The Number of the Students’ Pronunciation Intelligibility Errors
before and after the Implementation of the First Cycle ... 52 Table 4.3.The Students’ Words Pronunciation Intelligibility Errors after
the Implementation of the First Cycle and after the Implementation of the Second Cycle ... 56 Table 4.4.The Number of the Students’ Pronunciation Intelligibility Errors
after the Implementation of the First Cycle and after
the Implementation of the Second Cycle ... 58
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
2.1 The Action Research Cycle... 27 2.2 Sagor’s Action Research Cycle ... 28
LIST OF APPENDICES
Page
Appendix 1. Letter of Inquiry to Conduct a Research ... 66
Appendix 2. Students’ Unintelligible Pronunciation ... 69
Appendix 3. The Error Percentage of the Students’ Pronunciation Intelligibility before the Implementation in the First Cycle... 74
Appendix 4. The Error Percentage of the Students’ Pronunciation Intelligibility after the Implementation in the First Cycle ... 76
Appendix 5. The Error Percentage of the Students’ Pronunciation Intelligibility after the Implementation in the Second cycle………..78
Appendix 6. The Students’ Pronunciation Intelligibility Product... 80
Appendix 7. Syllabus ... 111
Appendix 8. Lesson Plans... 114
Appendix 9. Teaching Materials... 125
Appendix 10. Pronunciation Level ... 131
Appendix 11. Checklist ... 132
Appendix 12. Rubric ... 134
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This study seeks to improve students’ pronunciation intelligibility in speaking of the second grade students of SMA 2 Ngaglik. In this part the researcher presents a brief discussion, on the research background, problem formulation, problem limitation, research objectives, research benefits, and definition of terms.
A. Research Background
English becomes an important part in Indonesia’s education nowadays. English is one of the primary subjects in school and is equal to Math and Indonesian in the National Final Test. English is taught from the basic grade, or known as Elementary School, until the highest grade, or known as Senior High School. There are four basic skills that are taught in English, those are listening, speaking, reading, and writing. This is stated in (Ministerial Education Regulation [MER], 2006).
To communicate is the ability to understand and / or produce the oral and written text in the interactional discourse, which been realised in the four skills, that are listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The four skills are used to respond or produce an interactional discourse in the society. English is aimed to develop the skills in order to make the graduated students able to communicate in the interactional discourse at certain literary stage.
Speaking is one of the basic skills taught in English besides listening, reading, and writing. To create a good English learning, the basic skills are taught integratedly in class.
Students mostly communicate in English by speaking. Students have to master the speaking skill in order to be able to speak English communicatively. This skill includes the ability of having intelligible pronunciation. Intelligible pronunciation means that students are able to produce understandable pronunciation in communication. Pronunciation is one of the important elements in study language beside grammar and vocabulary. It is stated in (Ministerial Education Regulation [MER], 2006), “The supporting competences are the liguistic competence (grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation) ”.
In spite of the fact, the second grade students’ of SMA 2 Ngaglik pronunciation is low because of their unintelligible pronounciation. Unintelligible pronunciation happens because of some problems, such as limited English vocabularies, limited mastery of English pronunciation and students’ first language.
All of the problems occur because of different system of pronunciation features between the first language and the target language. As we know that the features of English words and Indonesian words are different. This makes the Indonesian students unfamiliar with the features of English words. In English /e/ has different pronunciation in every word. For example; the word bad is pronounces /bæd/, and the word bed is pronounces /bed/. In Indonesia there is no /æ/ vowel, Indonesia only has /a, i, ʊ, e, ɒ/ vowel.
In order to increase students’ pronunciation inteligibility, sufficient attention to pronunciation mastery needs to be given. Communicative drill is conducted in class during the English lesson. Communicative drill method will give sufficient attention to pronunciation mastery of the students.
It will be hard for the students to communicate if they do not have intelligible pronunciation in their speaking. This is because if students do not state clearly the English words, it will be difficult for the listeners to know their message. This should make the teacher aware in teaching English, especially in speaking. Based on this assumption, the researcher attempts to improve students’ pronunciation intelligibility. The improvement will make the students able to speak English intelligibly and communicativelly.
B. Problem Formulation
This is a problem to be solved in this research:
1. How communicative drill improves pronunciation intelligibility of XI/IPA 3 students?
C. Problem Limitation
This research is limited on its subject and its purpose. Those who were involved in this research were only the students of XI/IPA 3 of SMA 2 Ngaglik. The students of XI/IPA 3 were chosen because they have to attend English class, which involves speaking in the teaching-learning activities. The main purpose of this research is to improve students’ pronunciation intelligibility of XI/IPA 3 SMA
2 Ngaglik. Intelligible pronunciation helps the students of XI/IPA 3 to communicate clearly and communicatively.
D. Research Objectives
This research has an objective.
1. To find out the technique to improve the XI/IPA 3 students’ pronunciation intelligibility of SMA 2 Ngaglik.
E. Research Benefits
There are several benefits that can be obtained from this research. As stated in the Problem Formulation, this research is intended to find students’ problems in pronunciation intelligibility in English class and solve the problems by giving a method that can improve students’ pronunciation intelligibility. It is expected that there will be valuable contribution for the people as follows:
1. The Researcher
From this research, it is expected the researcher will acquire a new teaching strategy to teach pronunciation in speaking in the class.
2. The Students
For the students of XI/IPA 3, understanding their pronunciation intelligibility problems will encourage them to speak actively since they understand the problems and already know how to answer the problems by applying the given method. This will make the students have better pronunciation and make them able to speak English communicatively.
3. The Teacher
By understanding the problems faced by the students of XI/IPA 3, it is hoped that the teacher will be able to create a better teaching strategy and to use the method to improve students’ pronunciation intelligibility. The teaching strategy and method which are conducted in this research will be an alternative in solving the problems faced by the students of XI/IPA 3 in the pronunciation intelligibility.
F. Definition of Terms
The following part is to define significant terms used in this research. The purpose is to avoid misunderstanding in perceiving some important terms in this research.
1. Pronunciation
According to Nunan (2003: 112) pronunciation is sounds we make while speaking. The sounds we produce are used as a communication tool. Pronunciation is related to use the words, paraphrases, and sentences in communication. In this thesis, pronunciation is defined as the ability to have a good English spelling. Pronunciation is related to sounds production of the target language.
2. Intelligibility
Intelligible in pronunciation means that students are able to produce understandable pronunciation in communication (Jones, 1985: 4). Understandable
does not mean to have a correct pronunciation but more on the clear delivery of the language. Intelligible pronunciation helps the students to communicate clearly. From the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (1995: 652), intelligibility is something that can be easily understood. In this thesis, it is related to the act of having understandable pronunciation. Understandable pronunciation will make the listener easier to catch the messages from the speaker.
3. Speaking
Speaking is the productive or oral skill (Nunan, 2003: 48). Speaking is referred to as productive. People produce words to the listener. Speaking is different from the other skills because speaking happens in real time and the speakers cannot edit and revise what the speakers wish to say, like in writing. From the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (1995: 1140), speaking is stated as to know and to be able to use language. In this thesis, speaking is defined as a skill which is used by the students to communicate in English.
4. Senior High School
Senior High School is defined as a unit form of further education after Junior High School which runs three years education program. Only students who have graduated from Junior High School have the right to join this education. This research takes place in Sekolah Menengah Atas 2 Ngaglik, Sleman.
5. Phonetic
Phonetic is the study of speech sounds of a language (Sahulata, 1988: 1). In brief, phonetic helps the learner to know the aspects of the sounds which are necessary for conveying the message of what is being said. In this research,
phonetic is used as knowledge which makes the students familiar with the English sounds.
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
This chapter consists of two parts, namely theoretical description and theoretical framework. The theoretical description presents the detailed discussions about the teaching of speaking, the teaching of pronunciation, drilling method as an aid to pronunciation and Classroom Action Research (CAR). The theoretical framework presents the synthesis of the important concepts that are used as the basis for this research.
A. Theoretical Description
In this section, the researcher discusses the theories that underlie the topic of this research. There are four related theories in this research. The first part is the teaching of speaking. It includes the definition of speaking and teaching speaking for the students of Senior High School. The second is theory that underlies this research is the teaching of pronunciation. It includes the definition of pronunciation, pronunciation intelligibility, phonetic, description and classification of speech sounds, and the teaching of pronunciation. The third part is drilling technique as an aid to pronunciation. The fourth part is Classroom Action Research (CAR). Classroom Action Research discusses the method used in this research and the stages in Classroom Action Research.
1. The Teaching of Speaking
There are four basic skills of English that are taught in schools. They are listening and reading, as the receptive skills, and writing and speaking, as the productive skills (Nunan, 2003: 48). Speaking as one of the productive skills has the characteristic of generating the language. Speaking generates the language through the oral action. According to Paulston and Bruder (1976: 56) the communicative competence, here is speaking, is taken to be the objective of the language teaching. The objective is the production of students’ competencies to communicate in the target language.
a. Speaking
As stated in School Based Curriculum, there are four basic skills that are taught in school; listening, reading, speaking and writing. Those basic skills help students as the learners of the second language in mastering English. The four basic skills cannot stand by themselves, because they complete each other and work together. It will be hard for the students in mastering English if the completely English lessons are only listening and writing or reading and speaking. Teachers can give an integrative learning for students, means that teachers integrate the four skills into one teaching – learning activity. Teachers also need to consider on the elements of the language that support students in study English. The language elements that are support students’ study in English are pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar (Nunan, 2003: 109). The elements of language help students in mastering the second language. Students can either enrich their vocabularies or have the correct grammar and pronunciation.
Speaking becomes one of the primary subjects in English which is taught in schools. Teachers and students mostly do the interaction and communication in classroom by the oral language, which is used in speaking. Different with other language skills, speaking is the only skill that uses the oral language (Bygate, 1985: 14). The oral language plays an important role in the part of study English. Through the oral language, or usually called spoken language, teachers can easily teach English. For the students they can communicate each other using English.
To master the target language the students need to practices a lot in the target language, here is English. From the experiences, most of the time students practice English by speaking in the class. Speaking helps the students to be familiar with English and accustomed to use English in active communication.
In speaking, teacher needs to give students a lot of practice on the pronunciation. The goal of teaching speaking is to make the students have the competence to talk intelligibly to others (Syafei, 1988: 1). Intelligibility plays an important role in students’ speaking. The more intelligible on the pronunciation the more the students consider having a good speaking.
Teachers have to give students a big opportunity in developing their speaking skill. Teacher should consider that the students’ first language is Indonesia or Java. Therefore, it is natural if the students make errors and misspelling in the pronunciation. Teachers must provide students with fluency-building practice and realize that making errors is a natural part of learning language (Nunan, 2003: 55). The opportunities given to the students will increase their courage in practice speaking.
Intelligibility in speaking is related to the pronunciation of the students. It is very important to have an intelligible pronunciation because the listeners could easily understand the students’ speaking. Intelligible pronunciation will help students to deliver clear messages to the listeners. Therefore, the students should pay attention on the intelligibility of the language they use.
Paulston and Bruder (1976: 59) stated that there are two basic classes of communicative interaction activities.
1) Exercise in Communicative Performance
In one kind of exercise, the teaching point is to be able to communicate some referential meaning in the target language (Paulston and Bruder, 1976: 59). In this phase, at least the students are able to use some referential meaning of the target language for communication. By understanding the referential meaning, the students will be able to communicate actively using the target language.
2) A Contrastive Emily Post Approach to Language Teaching
The teaching point in this exercise is getting meaning across in a socially acceptable way (Paulston and Bruder, 1976: 59). This exercise typically contains social interactional rules. There will be interactions when the students using the target language. In the interactions, the students should be able to use the target language for communication.
b. Teaching Speaking for The Second Grade Students of Senior High School
Speaking is one of the standard competences that students should acquire. In the curriculum, the basic competence of speaking is using kind of the language variations in an accurate manner and fluent in daily life. From the basic
competence, the students at least should be able to communicate using English in daily life.
In schools, the students practice a lot in speaking in order to be able using English for communication. The teacher can assess speaking using kind of the assessments set. According to Brown (2004: 167 – 175), there are four kinds of speaking assessments that can be implemented in class.
1) Interview
Interview is in a sense an oral questionnaire which the interviewee gives the needed information orally and face-to-face (Best & Kahn, 1986: 186). There is an active interaction between the interviewee and the interviewer. In the interview, the teacher faces the students and proceeds through a protocol of questions and directives.
Every effective interview contains a number of mandatory stages. Canale (1984) suggested the interviewer will perform the best if they lead through four stages: warm up, level check, probe, and wind-down.
a) Warm up
The interviewer should bring the test-taker in a comfortable situation. The interviewer can give a mutual conversation or a little time for introduction. In this stage there is no scoring.
b) Level Check
In this stage, the interviewer graded the test-taker’s level in this stage. The interviewer graded based on the test-takers’ ability. This is important because the
result of the interview can bring the test taker into an appropriate interview based on the test-taker’s level.
c) Probe
In this activity, there are active interactions between the interviewer and the test-takers. The interviewer lists the probe questions based on the information needed. Through probes items, the interviewer discovers the limitations of the test-taker’s proficiency. Responses to probe questions may be scored.
d) Wind-down
Wind-down is the final stage in interview. In this stage, the interviewer encourages the test-taker to relax with some easy questions, set the test-taker’s mind at east, and provides information about when and where to obtain the result of the interview. This phase is not scored.
2) Role Play
Role play helps students to express and map what they wanted to say. In role playing students do interactive communication activities in class. Students are given roles in the target language (Nunan, 2003: 57). They communicate each other naturally using their English ability.
3) Discussions and Conversations
In discussions and conversations, students actively use English to express their ideas (Brown, 2004: 175). Students are required to using English in the interaction. The using of English in the discussions and conversations make the students familiar with the target language. Students learn how to speak and how to
listen others’ ideas. In discussions and conversations, the students are able to recognize their mistakes and correcting the mistakes.
4) Games
Games are similar to role play. Games also require active communication. In this assessment, students follow the rule of the game while they learn English, especially in speaking (Brown, 2004: 175). In games, the teachers score based on the students’ activities.
B. The Teaching of Pronunciation
To be able to have a successful communication, the speaker of a language needs to be able to understand each other with relative ease (Nunan, 2003: 112). It means that the students have to be able to deliver clear messages to the listeners. Here, pronunciation plays an important role for a speaker in delivering a clear message to the listener.
a. Pronunciation
Nunan stated pronunciation as the sounds we make while speaking (2003: 112). In brief, pronunciation is a part of speaking skills. The speaker of a language cannot separate pronunciation from speaking. Good speaking requires good pronunciation. There will be success speaking when the speakers have good pronunciation.
Pronunciation is taught in school, but it does not take important role in English subject. Pronunciation is only a part of the supporting elements or supporting competences of English besides vocabulary, grammar and discourse in
the classroom (Nunan, 2003: 109). There are two fundamental principles in the general strategy of pronunciation teaching: (1) pronunciation has to be integrated with other skills and with other supporting competences and (2) pronunciation has to be isolated for practice of specific items (Syafei, 1988: 1). Pronunciation cannot be separated with the other skills and competences. Pronunciation should be taught integrated with the other skills and competences in the class.
In the class, pronunciation does not teach separately with the other skills. Pronunciation is taught integrated with speaking lesson. Pronunciation is usually taught in repetition in speaking lesson. Most of the teachers in Indonesia still allow their students in making incorrect pronunciation, because they consider on the students’ first mother tongue.
Pronunciation becomes an important part in making the dialogue or speech successful. Therefore, students need to have a good pronunciation in English. The importance is on the listener, because the listener has to interpret or perceive the speaker’s sentences. Good pronunciation helps students to communicate clearly in class.
Every language in this world has its own features of language including pronunciation or speech sounds. There are no two persons of the same nationality pronounces their own language exactly (Jones, 1987: 11). Every person has different pronunciation although his or her mother tongue is in the same language with the person from the same mother tongue.
English has different accents of pronunciation. In general, there are British English or known as SSB (Standard Southern British) and American English or
known as GA (General American) (Poedjosoedarmo, 2003: 12). There are no clear standard to judge that the pronunciation of each language is good or bad. The standard of English pronunciation is ‘Received Pronunciation’ (RP) (Jones, 1972: 12). This kind of pronunciation is considered equally “good” pronunciation. English is one of the languages in this world which has its own characteristic features of language. The characteristics of the features make us easier to recognize the sounds of the language. For example: the word “class”, British English pronounces with the vowel /ɑ:/ like /klɑ:s/ and American English pronounces with the vowel /æ/ like /klæs/. Although American English has the similar pronunciation to the British English, listeners could directly recognize the sounds from British English.
b. Pronunciation Intelligibility
In a communication a speaker should speak clearly in order to successfully deliver the messages he or she wants to convey to the listener. Pronunciation becomes an important part in communication, because a good pronunciation will help the speakers to deliver the message clearly. In the classroom, teachers and the students should pay attention to the pronunciation. Bad or wrong pronunciation will make any interference in the communication.
From the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (1995: 652), intelligibility is the state of something that can be easily understood. Whether in this paper, it is related to the act of having understandable pronunciation. Thus, pronunciation intelligibility is the way of the speaker produces the proper sounds of a language.
The research requires the proper sounds of the words for an intelligible pronunciation. The errors in pronouncing the sounds were allowed, as long as it is still understandable to the listener.
In the class, the students should have the competence to talk intelligibly to others (Syafei, 1988: 1). A speaker who has fulfilled the requirements of having intelligible pronunciation can be considered as a good language learner. Teacher and students need to have an intelligible pronunciation because they have to communicate each other using the target language. Intelligible pronunciation will helps the students to deliver a clear message to the listener and also will help students to be success in study the target language.
c. Phonetic
When the learners of the second language study the target language, it means they also study the elements of the language. Language elements cannot be separated from a language because language is built from language elements. Use other language for communication means that the speaker uses the sounds of the language to deliver the message. The sounds of a language here refer to the spoken language which is produced by the speaker. The speaker is not only using the language, but he or she also has to know the sounds that are related to the language. It will be hard to use a language for communication if the speaker does not know the sounds of the language.
In using the language to speak or understand the sound produced are related by the language system which comprise a limited set of sounds (Sahulata,
1988: 1). The knowledge that students have is related to the sounds of the language. This refers to phonetic. Thus, phonetic is the study of speech sounds (Sahulata, 1988: 1). Phonetic helps students as the learners of the second language to be familiar with the sounds of the target language. Students will be able to differentiate which sounds belong to the target language and which sounds do not belong to the target language. The students are also able to pronounce the correct sounds on the target language.
Sahulata (1988: 1) divided the study of phonetics in three different ways that are: (1) Acoustic phonetics is the study of how speech sounds are transmitted, (2) Auditory phonetics is the study of how speech sounds are heard, and (3) Articulatory phonetics is the study of how speech sounds are produced by the human speech organs. Those three approaches of phonetic help the teacher to have deeper understanding of the target language phonetic system and to know how to help his or her students in producing the intelligible pronunciation.
Speech organs play an important role in speech production because sounds are produced by the organs of speech. If one of the organ speeches is damaged, it can be sure that the speech production will be disturbed. The organs of speech are: (1) tongue, (2) upper teethridge, (3) hard palate, (4) soft palate, and (5) vocal cords (Syafei, 1988: 5).
Every sound in a language has its own acoustic effect. Acoustic phonetics is the study of how vocal tract produces the sounds of the language (Jones, 1987). The acoustic effect will bring an effect of the sounds toward the listener. The acoustic effect can be an impression made on the listeners’ ear.
Limited understanding on phonetic makes students faces difficulties in study the target language. Students might produce the wrong sentence or pronounce the wrong words because of this lack. Sahulata (1988: 1) stated that to students of a language, the practical study on phonetics helps them to know the correct sounds of the target language. The knowledge of phonetic is important for students of a foreign language because it will make them easier to correct the wrong pronunciation when they have known the correct sounds of the language. The study of phonetic also helps students of the second language learner to have a better pronunciation in the target language. Students will get accustomed to the correct sounds and the correct articulations of the sounds. More practices on the correct sounds and correct articulations will decrease the errors in the pronunciation. By the decreasing of the errors, students will be able to speak clearer and more correct.
d. Description and Classification of Speech Sounds
Speech sound is one of the successions of sounds. Speech sounds are certain acoustic voluntarily produced by the organ of speech; they are the result of define actions performed by these organs (Jones, 1987: 1). There are two classes of speech-sounds called vowel and consonant. The distinction between vowel and consonant is not an arbitrary psychological condition, but more on the relative sonority or carrying power of the various sounds (Jones, 1987: 23). Some sounds are more sonorous than the other that differentiates one word to another.
Daniel Jones (1987: 29 – 48) classified the English speech sounds.
1) Vowel
A vowel is sound which is made without any kind of closure to escape of air through the mouth (Syafei, 1988: 11). There are 12 vowels in English according to the International Phonetic Alphabet. International Phonetic Alphabet is the symbols that are used to represent the pronunciation of English in most good dictionaries (Poedjosoedarmo, 2003: 18).
There are two kinds of vowel, they are short and long vowels. Short vowels are like /ɪ/, /e/, /æ/, /Λ/, and /ʊ/. Long vowels are like /i:/, /ɜ:/, /u:/. Long vowels do not normally occur in a syllable closed by /ŋ/ (Indriani, 2003: 57). Short vowels may occur in all positions in the word, including the syllable /ŋ/ or other words behind the short vowel.
2) Consonant
A consonant is the speech sound which is produced with some kind of closure in the mouth, restricting the escape of air (Syafei, 1988: 16). There are 24 consonants according to the International Phonetic Alphabet.
3) Gliding Vowel or Diphthong
The word diphthong comes from Greek di (two) + phthongos (sound). This indicates that there are two vowels, that is, the initial and final vowels (Wise, 1985: 95). In brief, an English diphthong has been defined as two vowels pronounced in quick, unbroken succession within a syllable, and connected by a gliding series or related sounds (Wise, 1985: 95).
A diphthong or gliding vowel is a sound composed of two vowels pronounced in close succession within the limits of a syllable (Syafei, 1988: 13).
Some people do not consider /oʊ/ as a diphthong, because it is included in the long vowel u:/ (Indriani, 2003: 88). According to the International Phonetic Alphabet there are 8 typical of English diphthongs, but in America the ones most used are [aɪ, aʊ, eɪ, oʊ, ɪə] (Wise, 1958: 96). All of the diphthongs most spoken in America are the raising diphthongs.
e. Teaching Pronunciation
According to Paulston and Bruder (1976: 82) one objective in teaching pronunciation is not to let students’ fluency outrun his comprehensibility. Students’ comprehensibility is influenced by some variables such, willingness to understand, familiarities on the sound system, and the experience with the speaker. Henceforth, the goal of teaching pronunciation is the production of a sound system which does not interfere with communication either from the speakers’ or listeners’ point of view (Paulston and Bruder, 1976: 82). From the goal of pronunciation, we can conclude that at least students need to have an intelligible pronunciation in speaking. Intelligible pronunciation will make the conversation between the speaker and the listener communicative. In the communicative speaking there are less interfere and less wrong perception. In the communicative speaking, the speakers, here are the students, are able to deliver the clear messages to the listeners.
According to Paulston and Bruder (1976: 94 – 95) there are five basic steps of pronunciation lesson.
1) Selection and Presentation
The first step in actual classroom procedure is to introduce the sound (Paulston and Bruder, 1976: 94). This step is conducted to focus the students’ attention on the teaching point. The teacher should not introduce more than one thing at a time. The teacher should also avoid complications of new stress and intonation patterns. This is because students will learn effective if the teacher gives the material one material per meeting. Learning too much materials will not be useful because students easier to forget the differences between materials. 2) Recognition of the New Sound and Discrimination
In this step students need to recognize the sound (Paulston and Bruder, 1976: 94). In the general guideline, it is profitable to enable students to identify and discriminate between the sounds and get familiar with the similar sounds (e.g.: /s/ and /z/). The main point of this step is the students are able to identify and to discriminate the sounds. The students need to identify the sounds because there are differences between the first language sound system and the target language sound system. The differences will be barrier for the students in learning pronunciation if they cannot differentiate between those two language sound systems.
3) Production of the Sound Feature
In the production step of the lesson, the basic procedure is that the teacher becomes a model to the utterance. The teacher will be a model for the students to imitate. Once the students have demonstrated that they can distinguish the new sound. After distinguishing the new sound, students must learn to produce it
(Paulston and Bruder, 1976: 94). First, they produce the new sound in isolated words and phrases, later in sentences, and finally in communicative utterances. 4) Use the Sound in a Communicative Situation
The final step in pronunciation lesson is using the sound of the target language in communication (Paulston and Bruder, 1976: 94). Students practice the new sounds they had obtained from the communication. The communication can be in the form of discussion or conversation.
5) Sound-Symbol Correspondence
After the students have learned to produce a new sound, they are given the various sounds spellings in rules and generalizations (Paulston and Bruder, 1976: 94). Students are not asked to memorize the rules; instead, they do sufficient practices in class so they can read such words without interference.
In pronunciation lesson, there will be a lot of mistakes made by students. These mistakes should be corrected immediately by the teacher. In correcting the mistakes, the teacher models the correct form and the students imitate (Paulston and Bruder, 1976: 115). There are three basic ways to get students to achieve a decent pronunciation if imitation is not sufficient: (1) giving linguistic description, (2) comparing the sound in the native language, and (3) modifying another English sound.
3. Drilling Technique as an Aid to Pronunciation
In speaking, a teacher involves pronunciation as one consideration of the successful communication. The teacher does not directly teach pronunciation in
class, but more on practice or drill in class during they teach speaking. According to Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary (1995: 355) drill is defined as repeated exercises. In drilling, the teacher repeats the exercises to build students’ language habits on the target language. To the lower level students’ drill method is highly effective because the pattern of drill is emphasizing on repetition action. In drill technique, the teacher acts as the model in the exercises. In the exercises, the students mostly depend on the teacher in class. Therefore, the teacher needs to have the appropriate skill in pronunciation.
Paulston and Bruder (1976: 4 - 10) argue that there are three classes of drills.
1) Mechanical Drills
Mechanical drill is defined as a drill where there is complete control of the response, where there is only one correct way of responding. Complete control of the teacher makes the students do not have to understand the drill, although they respond correctly. The examples of mechanical drill are repetition drills and substitution drills.
There are two kinds of mechanical drills, they are: (1) mechanical memorizing drills and (2) mechanical testing drills. The main purpose of mechanical memorizing drill is to help students memorize the pattern. Whether the main purposes of the mechanical testing drill are to provide feedback for the students and the teacher and help the students to organize the information they have learned during the lesson.
Paulston and Bruder (1976: 12) defined repetition drill as just what they sound like, plain repetition of the cue. There are two purposes of repetition drills; very useful in building up “kinetic memory” and developing auditory memory. The teacher should understand that for the beginner students, a lot of exercises through repetition drills on the target language words are very effective. In this kind of drill students are asked to repeat the teacher’s model as accurately and as quickly as possible (Freeman, 2000: 48).
2) Meaningful Drills
Meaningful drill is defined as drilling the students with grammatical analysis (Paulston and Bruder, 1976: 6). This kind of drill is more complex than mechanical drill because the students have to develop their habit formation on the target language using the grammatical analysis.
Teacher : She is outside. Student 1 : Where is she? Student 2 : She is outside. 3) Communicative Drills
Different with the two classes of drills, the purpose of communicative drills is normal speech for communication (Paulston and Bruder, 1976: 9). Students do not only learn to habit their formation on the target language, but also learn the language patterns to appropriate situations. Students are not fully controlled by the teacher, but they are free to express what they want to say. In this kind of drill, there are interaction activities between the students to the teacher and the students to the other students.
The researcher uses communicative drill in this research. Communicative drill will be implemented consistently during the research. Different with other kinds of drill, communicative drill is the only drill technique which has purpose for communication. in speaking, the students need to have intelligible pronunciation in their speech. Henceforth, the communicative drill method is implemented to improve students’ pronunciation intelligibility in their speaking.
4. Classroom Action Research ( CAR )
The researcher uses Classroom Action Research method to improve students’ pronunciation intelligibility in speaking. According to Mcniff and Whitehead (2002: 15), action research is a particular way of researching his or her own learning. Action research involves learning through action and reflection. In action research, people who do the research are called the practitioners. The practitioner can conduct action research in many fields, such as social field, science, education, organization, and management. Action research is usually to do with learning, and learning usually to do with education. That is why action research usually regarded as education research. Action research helps the researcher or the practitioner to define the problems in the field and later he or she is able to find the evidence to support the claims, improve it and produce action that can improving the practice. In this research the researcher defines the problem of students’ pronunciation intelligibility, finds the evidence of the problem, improves students’ pronunciation and finally shows the evidence that the practices have been improved.
Figure 2.1 McNiff and Whitehead’s Action Research Cycle
(Mcniff and Whitehead, 2002: 40)
Krathwohl (1998: 600) defines action research as research done by the practitioner to improve practice. In the action research, the practitioner evaluates the practice, gives conclusions and improves the practice. Action research was done by practitioner and during the research practitioner has the power to control the research.
Action research is a process of inquiry conducted by the practitioner and for those who takes the action (Sagor, 2000: 1). The primary reason in action research is improving the practitioner actions. According to Sagor, there are four stages in the action research. (1) clarifying vision and targets. In this stage, the practitioner defines the goal of the research, clarifies each attributes that can help to success the goal, and specifies the criteria that can be used with validity and reliability to improve the document. (2) articulating theory. The practitioner plans the process that involves examining and incorporating all the relevant factors or variables in realizing the goal. (3) implementing action and collecting data. In this
stage, the practitioner carries on the basic theory for the action research while compiling the data. This is the stage where practitioner determines what is being accomplished, and the relationship between the action and the result being obtained. (4) reflecting on the data and planning informed action. This is the final stage of the first lap around the action research cycle. In this stage the practitioner returns and revisits the target or goal in the first stage, and does the stage 2 and stage 3 for the second action research cycle until the goal is achieved.
Figure 2.2 Sagor’s Action Research Cycle (Sagor, 2000: 7)
B. Theoretical Framework
According to School Based Curriculum, there are four basic skills that are taught in school, they are listening, reading, speaking and writing. English teacher
also includes the elements of English in the class; they are vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. English are taught integrated in class.
In this research, the researcher finds that the students face difficulties in pronunciation intelligibility in their speaking. The difficulties cause the students having an unintelligible pronunciation in their speaking. Syafei stated that the goal of teaching speaking is to make the students have the ability to speak intelligibly to others (1988: 1). Therefore, the researcher tries to improve students’ pronunciation intelligibility in speaking of XI/IPA 3 of SMA 2 Ngaglik. The improvement brings the students to be good English speakers.
The researcher includes the theory of speaking and pronunciation as the basic theory of the research. The theory of speaking and pronunciation will be the guidance for the researcher in having an intelligible pronunciation. Using the theory in the research will be very important because one of the problems in this research is related to the lack of knowledge of the English pronunciation. The theory of speaking and pronunciation help the researcher in finding the proper method to be implanted in the class.
The researcher uses Classroom Action Research as the method in improving students’ pronunciation intelligibility in speaking. In this research, the researcher uses Mcniff and Whitehead Classroom Action Research cycle (Mcniff and Whitehead, 2002: 40). There are two cycles in this Classroom Action Research, each of the cycle consists of four steps. Those steps are observation, reflection, planning, and action. Each of the steps will be conducted in class until the research is done.
The researcher uses communicative drill in the research. Communicative drill is different with the other kinds of drill in the teaching. Communicative drill is the only drill which has communication purpose. In communicative drill, the students do a lot of exercises in the communication. Hopefully, by employing the communicative drill, the students of XI/IPA 3 of SMA 2 Ngaglik can improve their pronunciation intelligibility. The researcher believes that the technique will help the students to have better pronunciation intelligibility in speaking.
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the methods of the study to solve the problems stated in Chapter I. This study intended to observe the pronunciation problems in English and the method that helped students increasing their pronunciation intelligibility in English. This chapter presents the discussion of the research method, research setting and participants, research instruments, data gathering technique, data analysis technique and research procedure.
A. Research Method
The researcher employed the Classroom Action Research method in this research to answer the problems stated in Chapter I. Action Research is not focused on the development of the theory or general application, but it is focused on immediate application (Best & Kahn, 1986: 22). Its purpose was to improve school practices and also to improve students’ practices; habits of thinking and research processes. This method was used by the researcher to answer the problem of how to improve students’ pronunciation intelligibility of the eleventh grade of IPA 3 of SMA Ngaglik 2. Krathwohl (1998: 600) defines action research as research conducts by the practitioner to improve practice. In the action research, the researcher does his or her own research (Mcniff and Whitehead, 2003: 15). The role of the researcher in the action research is very important to control the research. The role of the researcher in action research is researcher as
the observer. The researcher followed the class activities and observed the students at the same time. Action research was held through action and reflection. This means, after doing the research, the researcher had to make reflection of the practice. The reflection helped the researcher in deciding which parts of the research need improvement.
Action research was used in this research to improve the problems arose in the students’ pronunciation intelligibility. In this research, the researcher gave treatments to the students. This research used communicative drills to improve students’ pronunciation intelligibility. Besides drilling the students, the researcher also recorded the students’ pronunciation. The recorded pronunciation became valid data to measure students’ pronunciation intelligibility.
B. Research Participants
1. Research Setting
The research took place in SMA 2 Ngaglik Sleman which is located in Desa Sukoharjo, Kecamatan Ngaglik, Kabupaten Sleman, Yogyakarta.
2. Participants
The subject of this research was the students of XI/IPA 3 of SMA 2 Ngaglik Sleman. The basic languages of the subjects are Javanese and Indonesian. Subjects used English only when English was taught. Subjects’ pronunciation was considered as low and there still some unintelligible pronunciation in the class. The subjects were divided into 3 levels of pronunciation achievement. Those three levels were high, medium and low. In this research, the researcher intended to
give the treatment for the subjects who were considered as the low level students. The researcher divided the subjects based on the teacher’s recommendation and the observation.
The researcher chose XI class because the students of this grade were considered of having a higher English level than the X grade. The XI class students had richer vocabulary than the X class students. In the other hand, XII class students had to prepare themselves for the National Final Test.
C. Research Instrument
The researcher employed one instrument in the research, namely observation. This instrument was employed in order to get reliable and valid data from the research.
1. Observation
Observational studies are experiments that use very few subjects, sometimes only one subject, but they intensively observe the subjects prior to, during, and after the intervention (Best & Kahn, 1986: 159). Observation became an important part in the Classroom Action Research method since it effectively helped the researcher during the research. The researcher did the observation from the beginning of the research until the end of the research.
In this research, the researcher’s position was as an observer. The researcher entered directly to the class and got herself involved in the activities during the research. Through the observation, the researcher got valid information for the research, because the researcher saw directly the condition of the class and
monitored the activities. The observer compared the subjects’ condition in the beginning and the end. The comparison was useful to help the researcher in seeing the effectiveness of the treatment.
a. Recording Observation
“Recording observation helps to minimize the errors that results from fault memory (Best & Kahn, 1986: 162)”. Recorded observation was a long term memory that helped the researcher in memorizing what were happens during the observation. Later on, the researcher interpreted the observation from the recorded observation.
b. Check List
“Check list helps to ensure the consideration of the important aspects of the subjects or act observed (Best & Kahn, 1986: 163)”. The researcher used check list in order to seek some important information needed in the research. By making the use of the checklist, the researcher intended to check the subjects who were being observed in the research. The researcher checked the progress of the subjects’ pronunciation in the research.
c. Rubric
“Rubric is the most commonly used method for scoring, evaluating, and grading a performance assessment (Blaz, 2001: 23)”. The researcher used rubric in the research in order to grade the pronunciation intelligibility of the students. The researcher knew the grade of the students and piloted the best method to increase students ‘pronunciation intelligibility. The rubric contains specific
standards which students will be held accountable (Blaz, 2001: 23). The rubric also showed the progress of the students in their pronunciation intelligibility.
There were two kinds of rubric; they are holistic and analytical rubric. In this research, the researcher used the analytical rubric. Analytical rubric breaks down the performance into different levels of behavior expected, assigning each a point value, and which totaled for a quantitative measure (Blaz, 2001: 27). Analytical rubric helped the researcher in valuing the students’ grade and achievement of pronunciation intelligibility. The analytical rubric consists of points which measure the students’ performance in the pronunciation intelligibility.
D. Data Gathering Technique
This section illustrates how the researcher gathered the data from the subjects. Firstly, the researcher selected the vocabulary from the materials to be drilled in class. The vocabularies were taken from the topic in the students’ English book.
After selecting the vocabulary, the researcher did the observation in the classroom. The observation was intended to find the real condition of the subject and to help the researcher to see the progress of the research. The researcher’s position in this research is researcher as the observer.
Next, the researcher recorded the observation. Recording observation helped the researcher in memorizing and analyzing the data. Recording observation was the long term memory and became valid data for the research.
The researcher could minimize the errors of memorizing by looking at the recorded data.
The third instrument was checklist. Checklist helped the researcher in finding the progress of the research process. Checklist gave valid information of the subjects’ pronunciation progress.
The last instrument is rubric. Rubric helped the researcher in grading and valuing the students’ pronunciation intelligibility. The rubric was the guidance of the successfulness of the research and the measurement of students’ achievement in the research.
After doing the observation and knowing the problems of students’ pronunciation intelligibility, the researcher analyzed the data and graded the students’ pronunciation based on their level. In this research, the students graded in three levels; high, medium and low level. The students with the pronunciation intelligibility errors more than 30% considered as low achievers and got the treatment. The treatment increased students’ pronunciation intelligibility from low level up to medium level.
E. Data Analysis Technique
The researcher provided two analyses in this section. The first was analysis on the students’ pronunciation intelligibility. The second was the analysis on the cycle of the method that is Classroom Action Research.
1. Analysis on the Students’ Pronunciation Intelligibility
The researcher analyzed students’ pronunciation intelligibility in this research. As stated by Szynalski and Wocjik (2001), there were three levels of students’ pronunciation intelligibility: high level, medium level, and low level. In this research, the students with the low level were expected to be able to achieve at least the medium level. The standard medium level of this research were:
a. Understandable with few errors in the pronunciation. b. Unpleasant sounds of English pronunciation.
c. The errors made in the pronunciation 15% - 30%.
In this research, the researcher made the standard achievement in the pronunciation intelligibility. The low level students should decrease the errors in pronunciation intelligibility from 100% until at least 30%. The researcher used the formulation to count students errors in pronunciation. The formulation was the guidance for the researcher in stopping the cycle.
The students’ pronunciation intelligibility errors percentage was formulated in this way:
Σ X
P = ____ x 100% Σ N
Note : P : the percentage errors in students’ pronunciation intelligibility Σ X : the number of unintelligible pronunciation the students had made
Σ N : the sum of words or sentences in the pronunciation material
2. Analysis on the Cycle
In this research, the researcher used Classroom Action Research. There were four steps in the cycle, they were observing, reflecting, planning, and acting.
F. Research Procedure
This research used Classroom Action Research. There were four steps in this research: observation, reflection, planning, and action. The steps in the research presented in form of cycle.
1. Observation
The researcher did not only act as the observer in class, but also as the teacher. First, the researcher as the teacher in class selected the vocabularies from the materials to be drilled in class. After selecting the vocabularies, the teacher asked the students to pronounce the vocabularies individually. Pronouncing the words individually gave information to the teacher about students’ pronunciation intelligibility. In the observation, the teacher made notes of the students’ difficulties and students’ mistakes and also graded students’ pronunciation.
2. Reflection
In the next step, the researcher tried to analyze the data. First, the researcher analyzed the students’ difficulties and mistakes in pronunciation. By analyzing the difficulties and mistakes in pronunciation, the researcher knew the appropriate method to improve students’ pronunciation. Furthermore, the researcher decided which parts of the mistakes to be improved. Next, the
researcher graded the students based on their pronunciation intelligibility. There were three levels; high level, medium level, and low level. The students got the treatment in the research. In this research, students with low level ability should achieve at least the medium level. The low level students should have achieved at least 70% of intelligible pronunciation words. After the low level students achieved the medium level, the researcher stopped the cycle.
3. Planning
In this step, the researcher made plans after knowing the students’ result. The researcher looked for the technique and approach to solve the problems in the research. The technique and approach should fit with the students’ condition. 4. Action
Acting is the last step on the cycle. In this step, the researcher applied the appropriate techniques in class. The researcher taught the students with the techniques to improve students’ pronunciation intelligibility.
After that, the researcher continued to the next step, observation. The researcher asked the students to use the vocabulary in speaking and to pronounce the vocabulary individually. Then, the researcher came to the next level, reflection. In reflection the researcher decided the appropriate technique to improve students’ pronunciation intelligibility. When the students had achieved the results of stopping the cycle, the researcher stopped the cycle.
