Songs to Improve the Studentsâ Achievement in Pronouncing English Words ( An Action Research of the Year Seventh Students of MTs ANNUR Jepara in the Academic Year 2006 / 2007 ).

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SONGS TO IMPROVE THE STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT

IN PRONOUNCING ENGLISH WORDS

(An Action Research of the Year Seventh Students of MTs

ANNUR Jepara in the Academic Year 2006 / 2007)

a Final Project

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan in English

by

Henny Ratnasari 2201903005

LANGUAGES AND ARTS FACULTY

SEMARANG STATE UNIVERSITY

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A good book is a great friend.

To

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the requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan in English at Semarang State

University. The writer realizes that this thesis could not be finished without the help

and support of other people who have sacrificed their valuable time in giving advice

to complete this thesis.

On this occasion, the writer would like to express her gratitude to:

1. Drs. Abdurrrachman Faridi, M.Pd., my first advisor, who has led and

provided invaluable and continuous guidance, advice, as well as

encouragement in making and completing this thesis.

2. Intan Permata Hapsari, S.Pd, M.Pd., my second advisor, who has read this

thesis carefully and given many useful suggestions and corrections for its

improvement.

3. All lecturers in English Department of UNNES who had been teaching and

sharing their knowledge since I began my study at UNNES.

4. My parents, sisters, brother and all friends who have given support to finish

my study.

Finally, the writer realizes that this final project is still far from being perfect.

Thus she would like to expect any suggestions for the improvement of it. She hopes

that it would be useful for the readers.

Semarang, 2007

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ANNUR Jepara in the Academic Year 2006 / 2007 ). Final Project. English Educational Program. Bachelor’s Degree, Semarang State University. Supervisors I: Drs. Abdurrachman Faridi, M.Pd., II: Intan Permata Hapsari, S.Pd., M.Pd.

Keywords: Songs, Pronunciation, Improvement.

The objective of this study is to describe how songs influence the students achievement in pronouncing English words. In constructing this study, the writer collected data from the classroom action research, which was carried out through five activities. The activities were begun from selecting focus, collecting data, analyzing and interpreting the data, taking action and find out the students’ reflection. The subjects of this study were 30 students of year seventh of MTs ANNUR in the academic year 2006/2007. In doing this study, the writer used an oral test method or sound of production. The action was done through teaching learning process. All of the teaching learning process were presented by the help of songs. Those songs were implemented in teaching listening for Building Knowledge of the Field (BKOF) of descriptive text.

The data analysis of this study was descriptive qualitative and a bit of quantitative measurement to find the mean. Based on the data analysis from each activity, it can be seen that there is a significant difference of the students’ achievement in the pretest and posttest. The students’ achievement in the posttest is higher than that of the pretest.

After the treatment by using songs in each cycle, the students’ achievement in pronouncing English words improved. This improvement is caused by the students’ interest of the songs given and the relevance between vocabularies that are presented in the songs used in this action research and the vocabulary that the students have already got, but they still get difficulties in pronouncing them.

Based on this study, it is found that the use of songs in teaching English is effective to improve the students’ pronunciation and very beneficial for the students in order to facilitate them in learning English.

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Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT…….……… ii

ABSTRACT………iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS………iv

LIST OF TABLES ...……….………..vii

LIST OF APPENDICES..………viii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study…….………1

1.2 Reasons for Choosing the Topic…….……….…………..…………..3

1.3 Statement of the Problems..……….………5

1.4 Objective of the Study……….………5

1.5 Significance of the Study……….………5

1.6 Outline of the Thesis……….……….…..5

II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 2.1 Characteristics of Junior High School Students…….………..7

2.2 Song as a Teaching Media……….……….9

2.2.1 Definition of a Song………….………….……….……….…10

2.2.2 Elements of Songs……….……..…..……….…….11

2.2.3 Selection of the Songs………...…………..………….……...12

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2.3.1 Elements of Pronunciation………...………..………….………..16

2.3.1.1 Segmental Features……….16

2.3.1.2 Supra segmental Features………17

2.4 Students’ Problems in Pronouncing English Words….…..…….………..18

2.5 Songs to Improve Achievement in Pronunciation…..……….……..19

2.6 Action Research……….22

III METHOD OF INVESTIGATION 3.1 Data Collection………..………26

3.2 Population and Sample………..………28

3.3 Research Instrument………….……….………28

3.4 Validity of the Test……….. 31

3.5 Action Plan……….………….………..31

3.6 Method of Data Analysis..………..………..34

IV DATA ANALYSIS 4.1Analysis of Pretest ….………..………..38

4.2Analysis of the Teaching Learning Activities……….………...………….40

4.2.1Analysis of the First Activities.…………..……….….…..……..41

4.2.2Analysis of the Second Activities..……….………...……...42

4.2.3Analysis of the Third Activities……...……….…..………..…..42

4.3Analysis of Posttest…..……….…….…43

4.4Analysis of the Questionnaires……..……….……….………..….…45

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4.4.3Tabulating the Data of Questionnaires…………..…………...…………47

4.4.4Finding the Mean………....…..47

4.4.5Matching the Mean to a Criterion……...………..………..…….…47

4.4.6Concluding the Questionnaires Result…...………….……….…48

4.5 Effectiveness of Songs to Improve the Student’s Pronunciation………..…49

V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION 5.1 Conclusion………51

5.2 Suggestion………52

BIBLIOGRAPHY………...………..53

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Table page

4.1 Students’ Pronunciation Achievement on Pretest………. 39

4.2 Students’ Pronunciation Achievement on Pretest..……… 44

4.3 Score Per Item of the Questionnaires ……….……..… 46

4.4 Classification of Graded Scores……….……. ……. 46

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Appendix Page

1 List of the Words………..………… 55

2 Song Lyric: Mother How Are You Today……….. ………….. 56

3 Song Lyric: Old Mc Donald Had A Farm……….….. 57

4 Song Lyric: My Garden……….………. 58

5 Tabulating Data of Questionnaires……….…………. 59

6 Questionnaires………...……….…... 60

7 Analysis of Students’ Pronunciation Achievement on Pretest……..….. 61

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

1.1Background of the Study

Language is a very important means of communication in daily human life.

Human being uses language both in written and spoken forms to express their

idea. As stated by Ramelan (1992: 10), language is an arbitrary system of speech

sounds which is used in interpersonal communication by an aggregation of human

beings, and which rather exhaustively catalogs thing, process, and events in the

human environments.

English has become an international language. People of different countries

speak English to communicate. English is a key, which opens the door to

scientific and technological knowledge. The Indonesian government has chosen

English as the first foreign language to be taught in the schools.

English becomes one of compulsory subjects from Junior High School up to

University. Therefore, the government provides a curriculum as the guidance of

English teacher in teaching-learning process. In the English curriculum 2006, the

learning activities involve listening, speaking, reading and writing. The four skills

are taught cohesively. Although it is focused on the four skills, pronunciation is

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It is difficult for Indonesian students to pronounce English words correctly,

for example when they are asked to pronounce the word “umbrella” / ∂mbrel∂ /

they will pronounce /umbrella /. It is because of the differences between their

mother tongue and the English. The degree of difficulty in learning is also

determined by the degree of difference between the two languages. The greater

similarity between them, the less difficult it will be for the students to learn the

foreign language (Ramelan,1985:5).

Pronunciation is one of the most important parts of English to communicate

with others since there are differences between the symbol and its sounds. When

we communicate with other people we should not only have a good vocabulary

but also have good pronunciation. Therefore, it is important to teach

pronunciation. As stated by Harmer ( 2000: 183 ) that for all these people, being

made aware of pronunciation issues will be of immense benefit not only to their

own production but also to their own understanding of spoken English.

The students often find problem with pronunciation when they speak, read,

or listen to English words. It might be caused by some factors. Learning English

is very complex since there are many factors that determine the success or failure

of learners in language learning. There are two kinds of factors, which affect

someone in learning English: internal and external factors come from the learners

themselves, such as motivation, interest, aptitude, and intelligence, while external

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the environment, learning materials, and the teacher’s ability in handling the

English teaching and learning program.

Therefore, the teachers should have several special tricks to make their

students motivated to learn English. The learners need a way of teaching that is

enjoyable and practical so that finally they can integrate themselves into English,

for example singing English songs can get the students integrated to English. It is

assumed that they can contribute many things to improve student’s capabilities,

especially in their skill elements, such as vocabulary enrichment, listening and

speaking. Singing English song is believed to have direct influence on the

pronunciation skills. This thesis tries to find out whether songs can improve

achievement in pronunciation.

1.2Reason for Choosing the Topic

To teach language skill, it is not enough for a teacher just to give an explanation

to his / her students, but it is necessary for them to be brought in an experience in

practicing the language in a real situation. Therefore the teacher needs a way of

teaching that is enjoyable and practical so that finally they can integrate into

English.

There are some ways in the language learning, for example, using picture to

teach vocabulary and games to teach grammar. In doing this study, the writer uses

songs as the media to improve the students’ achievement in pronouncing English

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Song is a kind of poet sung with music accompaniment. Most people like

songs. It is believed that songs are like magic. People can cry, laugh, be sad or be

angry only by listening to songs. From songs, they can also learn a lot of things

such as culture and new words. Based on the reasons above, the writer believes

that songs can be used as an alternative way in the language learning.

In the curriculum 2006, the English learning activities involve listening,

speaking, reading, and writing. Most students get difficulties when they have

listening classes. It is difficult for them to memorize and comprehend what they

listen to. Therefore, it is better for the teacher to teach the students with

something interesting and valuable in the listening class. The writer thinks that

song is a valuable material because by listening to songs, students can learn

vocabulary, pronunciation, expression, and so on.

However, the teacher cannot bring all songs into the class. She/ he should be

able to select appropriate songs for the students. She/ he should think about the

level of the students, the theme, and the students’ interest of the songs.

Based on the explanation above the writer wants to show to English teachers

that there are actually many ways of English teaching, which are useful as the

alternative treatments for the students problem in teaching pronunciation. She

hopes that it will be a valuable contribution to the development of English

teaching in general and teaching pronunciation in particular. Gross errors of

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1.3Statement of the Problems

In order to make a systematic approach in solving the problems, the statement of

the problem is: are songs effective to improve the students’ achievement in

pronouncing English words?

1.4Objective of the Study

In line with the statement of the problems, the objective of the study is to find out

whether songs are effective to improve the students’ achievement in pronouncing

English words

1.5Significance of the Study

This study is expected to have a significant contribution in quality improvement

of the language teaching. In particular, it is expected to be a very useful input for

foreign language teachers in teaching pronunciation. It is also hoped that the

result of study can help the students to find alternative ways to improve their

pronunciation quality.

1.6Outline of the Report

In order that this study is easy to follow, it is organized within the five chapters as

follow. Chapter I deals with the Introduction. This includes Background of the

Study, Reasons for Choosing the Topic, Objective of the Study, Statement of the

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Chapter II includes Review of the Literature Related to The Characteristics

of Junior High School Students, Songs as a Teaching Media, The Definition of a

Song, The Elements of Songs, Songs in the Language Learning, Teaching

Pronunciation, The Elements of Pronunciation, Students’ Problems in

Pronouncing English Words and Songs to Improve Achievement in

Pronunciation.

Chapter III presents Data Collection, Population and Sample, The

Instrument of the Research,Validity, Action Plan and The Analysis Method.

Chapter IV presents Data Analysis. Chapter V presents the conclusions of

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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

To support this study, the writer does a literature review related to the topic of this

study that is about the Characteristics of Junior High School Students, Songs as a

Teaching Media, The Definition of a Song, The Elements of Songs, Songs in the

Language Learning, Teaching Pronunciation, The Elements of Pronunciation,

Students’ Problems in Pronouncing English Words, Songs to Improve Achievement

in Pronunciation.

2.1 Characteristics of Junior High School Students

According to Hurlock as quoted by Soeparwoto ( 2004: 62 ) that students of Junior

high school have some characteristics. They are as follows:

(1) The ages of the students are between 13 to 16.

(2) They can not be said as young children or adult.

(3) The students of these ages will have changes on their body and their

psychology and it will improve the way they think about something.

(4) The students of these ages are better in practice rather than in theory.

(5) They like to try new life style and decide what kind of attitude or character, as

they want.

(6) They are less self-confident and do not believe about their ability.

(7) They like to attract people’s attention because they want people realize about

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From the points mentioned above, it can be said that the students of these ages

do not like something formal and they usually like to show outright attitude.

Therefore, it is better for the teacher to bring the students into the real life rather than

to give them a lot of theory in the learning process.

Generally, the age of the students is very important for the teacher to decide

about what to teach and how to teach them. The different age levels of the students

will influence their competence in acquiring new languages. People say that children

are fast language learners than adults. However students of different age levels have

their own characteristics in learning a language. Harmer (2000: 38-40 ) divides

students into three age levels: young children, adolescents and adults. And the

students of Junior High school can be grouped into adolescents.

Students of Junior High School are very special, as they cannot be said as

children or adults. They are usually called as teenagers or adolescents. The students

of these ages have special characteristics as they are in a transitional age. Callahan

(1977:7) states that adolescence, including transition, is a period of change, of a new

experience, of learning new roles of uncertainty, and instability undoubtedly one of

the most trying times in life.

On the other hand, Harmer (2000: 37) states that adolescents are believed to be

unmotivated, surly, and uncooperative and therefore they make poor language. While

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less lively and humorous than adults, they are so much less motivated and they

present outright of discipline problems.

From the statements above, the writer concludes that students of Junior High

School level are usually less motivated and they also show contrast behaviors.

However, teenage students also could be the best language learners. Therefore, as the

teachers of teenage learners they should be able to plan the learning process that

would make the students involve in the learning activities without any pressure in

taking parts.

2.2 Songs as a Teaching Media

Media is derived from the Latin word ‘medium’ that means ‘between’. The term

refers to anything that carries information between a source and receiver. In general,

it is a means of communication. Media is also considered as instructional system of

teaching learning process. So instructional medium is also called teaching aid. It is

used in order to facilitate the teacher to achieve the goal teaching learning process.

The teacher can select the media from the traditional ones up to the modern ones. In

doing this study the writer uses songs as the media in improving the students’

achievement in pronunciation. And here the writer discusses more about songs first.

In our daily life, we are surrounded by songs. A song is like a magic that can

hypnotize us, therefore, when we hear the songs we could be brought into the songs.

For example, when someone is listening to a song, he can be brought into the story of

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Sometimes we did not realize that we could sing the songs without learning how

to sing the songs in a certain way. From the songs we can learn many things, for

example we can get some more new words, and we also could learn how the words

are pronounced. As songs are having magical effects, we can use songs in the

learning process. Harmer (2000: 242) states that music is a powerful stimulus for

student engagement precisely because it speaks directly to our emotions while still

allowing us to use our brains to analyze it and its effects if we so wish. Songs are a

good resource for English teaching. First, they are funny. Second, they promote

mimics, gestures, etc. associated to the meaning. Third, they are good to introduce

suprasegmental phonetics (stress, rhythm and intonation). Fourth, students play a

participative role. Fifth, they can be applied to comprehension stages (listening) or

production (singing). Sixth, there are songs for all levels and ages. Seventh, students

learn English very easily, through echoic memory.

2.2.1 Definition of a Song

Before talking about the effectiveness of songs as a media in learning language, here

the writer quotes some definitions of a song from some sources:

(1) Jamalus (1988: 5) states that songs can be said as art works if they are

sounded (sung) with the accompaniment of musical devices.

(2) Song - a short musical composition with words; "a successful musical must have at least three good songs"

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(3) Song - a set of words, short poem, etc. to be sung, usually with accompanying

music.

(http://www.allwords.com/query.php?SearchType=3&Keyword=song&goquery=

Find+it%21&Language=ENG&v=65646309)

(4) Hornby, AS (1995) defines song as a short poem or a number of verses set

into music and intended to be sung.

(5) The Encyclopedia of Americana (1998) defines song as a short musical work

set to a poetic text, with equal importance given to the music and to the words. It

may be written for one or several voices and is generally performed with

instrument accompaniment.

From the definitions of song above the writer concludes that song is a kind of

arts work that are intended to be sung either with or without instrumental

accompaniments

2.2.2 Elements of Songs

When a song is played, the listeners will not only listen to its lyrics, but also its

melody. They enjoy the harmony, the expression and the rhythm. It means that a song

is a unity of some music elements. The elements of music are divided into two

categories (Jamalus, 1988: 7); those are main elements and expression elements.

The first category is the main elements. It consists of rhythm, melody, harmony,

and lyrics. Rhythm is the stretch of movement of the sounds. It becomes the base

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short and there can be a pause too. It means that rhythm is how to step the music.

Melody is the arrangement of stretch sound. And harmony is the unity of two or more

tones that have different level played together. The last is lyrics, it can be said as

musical sentences.

The second category is the expression elements. It is the way of the musicians

express their mind and feeling that consists of tempo, dynamic, and voice color. All

the elements above are needed when someone creates a song.

2.2.3 Selection of the Songs

When the teacher will apply songs in her / his teaching learning process, she /he

should know what kind of song she would bring into the class. This is the problem if

the teacher wants to use songs to her class. Harmer ( 2000: 243 ) suggests two ways

to solve the problem about the way in selecting the songs to be brought into the class:

the first is to have students bring their own favorite songs to class. If they do this,

however, the teacher may want to have time ( a day or two ) to listen to the songs and

try to understand the lyrics, the second way is to use older songs, to ask students

whether they still have merit, whether they like them, despite their antiquity. Teachers

then can choose songs, which they like and appropriate to the topic and subject

matter.

In this case, the writer uses the second way. She takes three songs related to the

topic. Based on the curriculum 2006, the text types for the first grade of junior high

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grade are self identity, family, school life, profession, things around us, shopping, and

hobbies. The objective of the English subject in Junior High School is that the

students can communicate through written or spoken form to solve their daily

problems. In doing this study, the writer chooses the songs about description with the

themes family, profession and hobby.

The subject of the study is the student of the first year. From the characteristics

of the first year students of junior high school explained above, it seems that they are

not children anymore, but they are also not fully teenagers. So, the writer thinks that

the songs Mother How Are You Today, Old Mc Donald and My Garden are

appropriate for them. Those three songs are not too childish and not too complex.

However, it is also better for the teacher to use the songs that can describe about the

culture of people English spoken language.

2.2.4 Procedure in Applying the Songs

To apply songs in the classroom, the teacher should also plan application sequence of

the songs. In applying songs, the writer offers two procedures suggested by Ur and

Wright and Haycraft.

(1) The procedure suggested by Ur and Wright (1993 : 77-78) as follows:

(a) Preparation: select a tape recording of a song so that you can sing it. Prepare

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(b) Procedure: first, play the song on a tape or sing it to yourself; second, show

the words of the song; third, ask the students to follow the words; fourth, sing

while you play it again.

(2) The procedure suggested by Haycraft (1983 : 93), he suggested some

variations using songs recorded on tape as follows:

(a) Play the tape as many times as necessary and ask questions.

(b) Get the class to use line by following the tape.

(c) Divide up the class and have a group, each singing a line. Reply the tape as

often as necessary. Find out who has a good voice and try to get solos. Bring

out a student to conduct different combination until the song is familiar.

(d) Play and sing whenever you want to revise. It is good to play songs at the

beginning of class, while everyone is setting down.

In doing the study the writer will use both the procedure suggested by Ur and

Wright and Haycraft.

2.3 Teaching Pronunciation

Pronunciation is defined as the way in which a language is spoken (Hornby, 1995:

497). On the other hand, Dalton ( 1998: 3) defines pronunciation as the production of

significant sound in two senses. First, sound is significant because it is used as a part

of a code of a particular language. Second, sound is significant because it is used to

achieve meaning in contexts of use. From the definitions, it can be concluded that

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Most of nonnative speakers of English have learnt English as a part of their

formal education, and as a result, all of them are literates. They are able to write and

read. This is really different from the condition found in English speaking countries.

They learn the pronunciation, intonation, and other suprasegmental features first then

finally they learn the spelling of the words.

Although the nonnative speakers of English are literate enough; however, it

does not mean that they are literate enough in English language. Therefore, the

learners of English as foreign language should also need to learn about how to

pronounce the words of the target language. Harmer (2000: 183) states that

pronunciation teaching not only makes students aware of different sounds and sound

features (and what these mean), but can also improve their speaking immeasurably.

Concentrating on sounds, showing where they are made in the mouth, making the

students aware of where words should be stressed – all these things give them extra

information about spoken English and help them.

On the other hand, Dalton ( 1998: 6 ) also states about the importance of the

students to be aware the pronunciation elements. When it comes to a language

teaching, it is important to note that there is a difference between what is effective as

appoint of reference or set of bearings for learning (let us call this a model) and what

is presented as an attainable behavioral target (let us call this a norm). The task of

pronunciation teaching, as in the teaching of any other aspect of language, is (in these

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From the statements above, it is important for the teacher to teach pronunciation

and to make the students aware of pronunciation features because it can improve their

production of spoken language and listening comprehension.

2.3.1 Elements of Pronunciation

When learning English we will find two kinds of speech features

(Ramelan, 1985: 22).

(1) Segmental features, which refer to sound units, arranged in a

sequential order; or it is about consonant and vowel.

(2) Suprasegmental features refer to stress, pitch, length intonation and

other features that always accompany the production of segmental.

2.3.1.1 Segmental Features

English segmental system includes vowels and consonants. The classification is

based on the differences in their functions in an utterance and their ways of

production.

Vowels are sounds which are made without any kind of closure to the escape of

air through the mouth (Syafei, 1988: 11).English vowels are divided into two kinds of

vowels, long vowels and short vowels. Long vowels consist of / i: /,/ ∂: /,/ a: /,/ u: /,/

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Beside the two kinds of vowels above, there are also diphthongs. Diphthong is a

sound composed of two vowels pronounced in close succession within the limits of a

syllable (Syafei, 1988: 13). There are nine English diphthongs, / ei /,/ ai /,/ oi /,/ au /,/

o∂ /,/ i∂ /,/ au /,/ u∂ /,/ e∂ /. The English consonants consist of twenty-four. Those are

/ p /,/ b /,/ t /,/ d /, / k /,/ g /,/ f /,/v /,/ θ /,/ δ /,/ s /,/z /,/ ∫ /,/ з /,/ h /,/ t∫ /,/ dз /,/ m /,/ n /,/

η /,/ l /,/ r /,/ w /, / y /.

It is quite different with the condition in Indonesian. There are only 5 vowels,

21 consonants and 3 diphthongs. It is possible if the students find difficulties when

they learn English.

2.3.1.2 Supra segmental Features

Supra segmental features are like the style used in words or sentences. There are four

kinds of supra segmental features. The first is stress. Stress is meant the degree of

force or loudness with which a syllable is pronounced so as to give it prominence

(Ramelan, 1985: 25). Stress can be classified into a word stress and sentence stress. A

word stress within a word and a sentence stress is the stress within a thought group or

a sentence. Stress has an important role in English because different stress will

differentiate meaning and intention.

Second is pitch and intonation. Speech is produced with a sort of musical

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28). For example if someone is getting angry, he will speak in a high tone. But when

he is sad, he will speak in a low tone.

The third is pause. English is spoken in groups of words, which are separated by

pause. There are two kinds of pauses, a short one and a final one (Syafei, 1988: 30).

Fourth is rhythm. It means the beat of language. In English, rhythm is stress-timed.

This means that the time between two primary stresses is the same. If there are many

words between the two primary stresses, then these syllables will be pronounced fast;

if, on the other hand, there is only small number of syllables between the primary

stresses, then these syllables will be pronounced slowly and more clearly (Syafei,

1988: 33). For example “Can you see the van?”; the words see and van take primary

stressesfor special purposes.

2.4 Students’ Problems in Pronouncing English Words

Our mother tongue has some differences with English in pronunciation. In our

language, there is no difference between its writing and its sound. But we find it

different in English. Sometimes we sound differently from the writing. For example,

the word here is pronounced / hi:∂ /; however, in Indonesian we pronounce / here /. It

is not denied that students often make mistakes in learning foreign language;

however, doing such mistake is a part of learning the language itself.

According to Julian Edge on ‘Mistakes and Correction’ as quoted by Harmer

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mistakes which students can correct themselves once the mistake can be pointed out

to them), ‘errors’ (mistakes which they cannot correct themselves – and which

therefore need explanation), and ‘attempts’ ( that is when a student tries to say

something but not yet know the correct way of saying it) . From the three categories,

it can be said that error is the most important thing for the teacher to be concerned

because the students cannot correct themselves instead of the teacher’s help.

There are two kinds of mistakes that might cause the students to make mistake:

L1 interference and developmental error. Ramelan (1985: 6-7) states some reasons

about why students make mistake in their pronunciation are because they face such

problems as follows:

(1) The existence of a given sound in the latter, which is not found in the former.

(2) Sounds which have the same phonetic features in both languages but differ in

their distribution.

(3) Similar sounds in two languages which differ only slightly in their phonetic

features.

(4) Sounds that have the same qualities in both languages may constitute some

learning problem if they occur in a cluster or sequence of sounds.

2.5 Songs to Improve Achievement in Pronunciation

Phonemic awareness is not the same thing as phonics. Phonemic awareness deals

with sounds in spoken words, whereas phonics involves the relationship between

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and is associated with print. Most phonemic awareness tasks are purely oral -- Wiley

Blevins in Phonics from A to Z: A Practical Guide

(http://www.songsforteaching.com/phonemicawareness.htm).

From the statement above, the writer concludes that teaching pronunciation is

done orally. One very effective thing to teach students’ pronunciation is by having the

students train themselves in their daily lives through their own interests. Some

students probably prefer to play games to enrich their vocabulary, other may sing or

listen to English songs or may be read poetry to improve their listening ability,

pronunciation and the English fluency. Paul (1996: 7) states that if she is singing or

playing something she really enjoys, and suddenly encounters a word or structure she

does not know, but which she feels she needs in order to sing or play successfully,

she will feel an emotional need to learn. It means that someone will learn something

when they need to learn. No one can force him/her to learn something if he/she does

not want to learn.

If we want our young learners to achieve something, we should not teach them

formally. The more we teach, the less children learn. By using song, we may keep

them emotionally involved in the learning process and keep them interested in

making sense of this fascinating world of English. The aim is for the children to feel

excited by getting better at English (Paul, 1996: 8). So it is better for the teacher to

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There are two kinds of listening activities that can be done by the students.

Those are extensive listening and intensive listening. Extensive listening usually

takes place outside of the classroom. It can be done at home or any places that the

students want to have listening activities. They can also choose the way and the

material they want. For example, the students may have songs or English news on the

radio as the listening materials. While intensive listening is usually done in the

classrooms, and the teachers usually have the materials and the way of listening

activities for the students. Intensive listening can be done in some ways, by using

taped material and life listening. It can be in the form of reading aloud, story telling,

or conversation. Both ways are very important to improve the students acquisition of

the language.

Songs as one of listening materials can be applied in both ways. While the

students listening to the music or song, they will learn many things, such as learning

grammar and pronunciation. They also could train themselves for the listening

comprehension. When they are listening they will not realize that they are improving

their achievement of the language. While listening to the songs, the students may

follow to sing the songs. So they can train their pronunciation ability unconsciously.

From the statements above, we can say that songs are relaxing. They provide

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2.6 Action Research

In dong this study, the writer uses classroom action research. Classroom action

research is one of methods used in doing a study by having activities in the

classroom. This study is usually used to revise a method or a curriculum in order to

make it better. According to Gall (2003: 579) action research in education is a form

of applied research whose primary purpose is the improvement of an educational

professional’s own practice. We use the term action research to include what is

sometimes called practitioner research, teacher research, insider research, and

(usually when carried out by teacher educators on their own practice) self study

research. Teacher conducts much of the action research in education.

In summary, action research is a study that needs practical concerns to solve the

problems. It is a simply form self-reflection of the subject of the research toward the

action given.

Action research is different to other researches because in the action research,

the researcher could greater self-knowledge, fulfillment, and professional awareness

among practitioners. Here are the characteristics of action research according to Elliot

( 1978a ) as quoted by Mc Kernan (1998: 31) :

(1) It examines problems, which are deemed problematic by practitioners.

(2) These problems are deemed solvable.

(3) Such problems require a practical response.

(4) Action research suspends a full definition of the situation until exploratory

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(5) The goal is to deepen the researcher’s understanding of the problem.

(6) Action research uses case study methodology in an attempt to ‘ tell a story ‘

about what is going on and how events hang together.

(7) The case study is reported in terms of the perceptions and beliefs of those

setting- teachers, children, etc.

(8) Action research uses the language of everyday discourse employed by the

participants.

(9) Action research can only be validated in unconstrained dialogue by the

participants.

(10) There must be a free flow of information within support groups and between

actors in the project.

According to Denise Dabisch in Gall ( 2003:588 ) there are six stages in doing

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Select a focus

Continue/ modify Collect data

Analyze and Reflect interpret data

Take action

Source: Action research: an educational leader’s guide to school improvement (Glanz, 1998: 27).

Select a focus is selecting what or who will be the subject of the study, those are

the problems and the subject of the study. For example, the teacher conducts a

classroom action research about the methodology used on the teaching-learning

process, so s/he might selects the students as the focus of the study. Collect data

could be done before the researcher does an action. The data collection could be done

through an observation or recording. Analyze and interpret data mean that before

taking the action, the researcher takes a certain pretest to know the students’

competence before they and the researcher do the action. Take action means that the

researcher implements the plan that s/he has made before. Reflect means that the

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influences the students. Continue / Modify, after taking the action and analyzing the

result then the researcher, if the researcher is not satisfied, will modify or revise the

plan that will be used in the next cycle.

All the research designs have their own purpose and advantage. The purpose of

action research is to combine the research function with the teacher growth in such

qualities as objectivity, skill in research processes, habits of thinking, ability to work

harmoniously with others, and professional spirit. It means that the researchers could

use their own thinking or their own way in conducting the research. The researchers

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CHAPTER III

METHOD OF INVESTIGATION

In this chapter the writer discusses about data collection, population and sample. The

instrument of the research, action plan and the analysis method will be presented

accordingly.

3.1Data Collection

Data are facts we have about people, situations, events, things, and relationships

(Tripp, 1996: 15). Like other researchers, in carrying out a classroom action research

one has to collect the data containing some information for one’s undertaking. In

doing research ( Walker, 1985 ) and in A Teacher’s Guide to Classroom Action

research ( Hopkins, 1985 ) as quoted by Mc Niff ( 1992: 76 ) there are various

methods of data collection: field notes, audio tape recording, pupil diaries, interviews

and discussions, video tape recording, questionnaires, goniometry, documentary

evidence, slide/ tape photography, case study.

All the techniques have the advantages and disadvantages. In order to make it

clear, here is the taxonomy of the techniques:

Techniques Advantage(s) Disadvantage(s) Use(s)

Field notes Simple, on going, personal

Subjective, need practice •

Specific issues • Case study • General

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Techniques Advantage(s) Disadvantage(s) Use(s)

Pupil diaries Provides pupils perspective

Questionnaires Highly specific,

easy to

Illuminative Difficult to obtain, time consuming •

Time consuming • Comprehensive overview of an issue

• Publishable format

In doing this study the writer obtained data by using test, questioner, and field

notes. She also used audio tape recording to record the data obtained because by

audio tape recording technique an accurate and detailed data is needed to gain the

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asserts that the use of a tape recorder has the advantage of allowing the researcher to

record accounts that are both detailed and accurate.

3.2 Population and Sample

The subjects of this study are the students of year seventh of MTs ANNUR Jepara in

the academic year 2006/2007. There are 130 students who are divided into 4 classes.

Since the study is a classroom research, the writer then took one class as the sample

of the study. The selection of the sample was done randomly, all the classes had a

chance to be chosen. The writer wrote the name of the class on small pieces paper

then she rolled the paper and put it into a bottle. She then shook the bottle and let the

one rolled paper out. Finally, she got class VII C as the sample of the study. There are

30 students in class VIIC.

The choice of the sample is based on the following considerations: (1) the

students of year seventh of MTs ANNUR have been studying English when they

were in Elementary school. However, their ability in pronouncing English words is

still poor (2) the writer wants to improve the students’ ability in pronouncing English

words.

3.3 Research instrument

To get the empirical data of the students’ achievement in pronouncing English words,

the writer used a test of sound production. The pronunciation test belongs to a valid

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valid test of pronunciation, it would not be a valid test grammar or vocabulary

because it does not test grammar or vocabulary. The instruments used in this study

are:

(1) Songs

In doing this study, the writer selected three songs: Mother How Are You Today?,

Old Mc Donald, and My Garden. Those three songs have themes and kinds of text

related to the English curriculum 2006. The writer implemented the songs in teaching

Building Knowledge of the Field ( BKOF) through listening activities.

(2) Test

The objective of the test was used to identify the students’ achievement in

pronunciation related to intelligible pronunciation through spoken words. Harmer

(2000: 184) states that if intelligible is the goal then it suggests that some

pronunciation features are more important than others. Harris (1969: 81) also asserts

that pronunciation analysis includes the segmental features (vowels and consonants)

and the suprasegmental features (stress and intonation pattern).

Based on the statements above, the writer made the analysis on three important

pronunciation features; vowels, consonants and word stress. The writer did analysis

on vowels, consonants and word stress. The standard pronunciation used in this study

was the standard pronunciation of Oxford Learner’s Dictionary.

(3) Questionnaire

Questionnaire is a number of written questions used to get information from

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closed questionnaire. It means that the respondents answer the questions by choosing

one of answered given by the researcher. In this study, the writer used questionnaire

to get additional information about the students’ reflection toward the learning

activities by using songs. There were five information questions about five things.

They are:

(a) The students’ interest in some songs that were given by the teacher during the

learning process.

(b) The advantages that the students’ gained after the teacher presented the songs

to improve their pronunciation.

(c) The students’ motivations in taking part the learning activities.

(d) The relevance between vocabularies that were presented in the songs used in

this action research and the vocabulary that the students ever got but they still

get difficulties in their pronunciation.

(e) The sustainability the program in the action.

(4) Field notes

The field notes in this study was used to know the activities during the

teaching-learning process, such as how the teacher carried out the material and the students’

response. In using field notes, the writer systematically kept notes of the classroom,

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(a) Students’ participation.

In this study, the writer analyzed the students’ participation in the teaching

learning activities by using songs, whether they followed all the activities or

perhaps they only followed some of the activities.

(b) Students’ interest and motivation

In doing this study, the writer took notes of the students’ interest and

motivation in learning English by using songs. If the students enjoyed the

activities and liked to the songs given, the writer concluded that the students

were interested and motivated in learning English by using songs.

(c) Students’ improvement in pronouncing English words.

Before and after the writer presented the songs, she took some notes about the

students’ ability in pronouncing the words of the song.

3.4 Validity of the Test

Harris (1969: 89) states that empirical validity is used to prove that scores have a high

correlation to some outside criterion such as mark they get at the end of the course.

This study deals with the students’ pronunciation achievement. So, the writer did not

make statistical computation to check the empirical validity. To get the empirical data

on students’ pronunciation, the transcription of students’ pronunciation was made by

playing the recording several times to make it clear. She also consulted the

transcription to an English teacher. The teacher’s educational background is S-1

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3.5 Action Plan

The writer planned six steps of action research in doing the action. The step was

begun from selecting focus until continue or modify. In order to be clear, the writer

would like to present the Glanz’s model of action research as interpreted by Denish

Dabish in Gall ( 2003: 586 ).

Select a focus Step 1

Continue/ modify Collect Data

Step 6 Step 2

Analyze and Reflect Interpret data Step 5 Step 3

Take Action Step 4

Source:The six stages of action research by Glanz in Gall ( 2003: 586 )

Based on the model above, here are the implemented plans of the research:

(1) The first step was selecting focus. The focus of this study was the students of

class VII C of MTs ANNUR Jepara.

(2) The second step was collecting data. The writer collected the data on January

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done through sound production test and followed by 30 students. The writer asked

the sudents to read the 75 words taken from the songs used in the research. She

also recorded the students’ sound to get the empirical data. The objective of this

test was used to know the students’ achievement in pronouncing English words

before they took the program.

(3) The third step was analyzing and interpreting the data. To get the empirical data, the writer not only made the analysis on the students’ pronunciation herself

but also consulted the result of the analysis to the English teacher where the writer

did the action. The analysis was done by transcribing students’ pronunciation.

After making the analysis, the writer interpreted the result of the analysis by

describing the pronunciation problems encountered by the students.

(4) The fourth step was taking action. The action activities were teaching learning process by using songs. The teaching learning activities were done on three

meetings. The first meeting was on January 30, 2007, the second meeting was on

January 31, 2007 and the third meeting was on February 3, 2007. On each

meeting, the writer used different songs. The songs used were Mother How Are

You Today?, Old Mc Donald and My Garden. The writer implemented the songs

in teaching description text through spoken cycle. Here are the activities during

the teaching learning process:

(a) The writer distributed the lyrics of the song to the students. Before the

students listened to the song the writer asked the students to read the

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(b) The writer played the song and the students listened to the song.

(c) The writer asked some questions about the song played.

(d) The writer and the students discussed about the content of the song.

(e) The writer played the song once again while the students listened

attentively to the song and to the word pronunciation of the lyric.

(f) The students sang the song together with the music accompaniment.

(g) The students worked in-group and then tried to retell the song.

(h) Before the class ended, the writer asked the students to read the

underlined words once again.

(5) The fifth step was reflection. To know the students reflection toward the program, the writer gave a posttest and questionnaire. The material and the way of

taking the test were same as those on pretest. The writer conducted a posttest on

February 5, 2007. The objective of the posttest was used to know whether the

students made improvement on their pronunciation or not after listening to the

songs. The questionnaire was used to know the students reflection toward

learning English by using songs.

(6) The last step was the continuation / modification. After conducting a posttest and giving questionnaire, the writer made the analysis. As the writer only took

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3.6 Method of Data Analysis

In his book, Syakur (1995:85) states that there are nine possible methods that can be

used in research. One of them is descriptive method. This kind of method is used to

describe what actually happens in a certain situation or condition. It provides the

analysis of certain facts, for instance, the analysis of test result. The research

conducted by the writer in this study is a descriptive research. The writer chose this

method because it represented the effectiveness of song used to improve

pronunciation achievement of the year seventh students of MTs ANNUR Jepara

Arikunto (1998:102) states that a descriptive research can be carried out at

school, factory, family, hospital, society, etc. The writer conducted the research at

MTs ANNUR Jepara.