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.
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 theImplementation in the First Cycle ... 76
Appendix 5. The Error Percentage of the Students’ Pronunciation Intelligibility after theImplementation 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, / 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 / :/ like /kl :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:/, / :/, /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
