Handling Two Kindergarten Children Who Had A Difficulty in Pronouncing English Words At High Scope Bandung.

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ABSTRACT

Tugas Akhir ini membahas tentang masalah yang saya alami pada saat saya magang di Sekolah High Scope di Jl. Dr. Sukimin No. 9,

Bandung. Masalah yang saya hadapi adalah menangani dua anak berusia 4 tahun di kelas TK A yang memiliki kesulitan dalam pelafalan kata-kata dalam bahasa Inggris. Dalam bab pertama saya akan membahas alasan saya memilih topik tersebut, hal-hal yang akan saya analisis, manfaat yang didapat dari tugas akhir ini, sejarah Sekolah High Scope, serta membahas subjek penelitian saya.

Saya menemukan beberapa penyebab dari masalah yang saya hadapi, yaitu saya kurang memiliki pengalaman dalam menangani anak yang kesulitan melafalkan kata-kata bahasa Inggris, dan yang terakhir kedua anak tersebut kurang memiliki motivasi untuk belajar melafalkan kata-kata dalam bahasa Inggris. Saya juga akan membahas beberapa akibat dari masalah ini, yaitu mereka mudah marah dan emosi pada saat mereka kesulitan melafalkan kata-kata tertentu dalam bahasa Inggris, dan adanya kesalahpahaman antara saya dan mereka. Selanjutnya, saya juga akan membahas beberapa solusi untuk masalah ini yaitu, saya akan mengajar pelafalan bahasa Inggris melalui lagu, saya akan mengulang kembali pelafalan kata-kata yang telah dipelajari, dan terakhir saya akan meminta bantuan kepada orang tua agar mendorong anak-anak mereka untuk belajar berbicara dalam bahasa Inggris di rumah. Namun, ketiga solusi ini juga memiliki dampak positif dan negatif.

Di bab terakhir yaitu pada bab keempat berisi tentang kesimpulan dari tugas akhir ini. Pada bab empat ini saya akan membahas mengenai solusi

terbaik yang akan saya gunakan untuk menghadapi masalah tersebut. Dalam bab ini saya juga akan membahas beberapa saran dalam

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

English is an important language for everyone to communicate

with foreign people. Basically, one of the key points in learning

English is pronunciation, as Szynalski believes that “good

pronunciation should be one of the first things that you learn in

English …” (par. 5). Pronunciation is important for people especially

for children who learn English as a foreign language. Good

pronunciation in speaking will help them to communicate well with

others. Szynalski said that, “Pronunciation is definitely the biggest

thing that people notice when you are speaking English …” (par. 1).

Since pronunciation holds an important part in speaking English, it

is better to learn English pronunciation since we are young, so we

can get used to pronounce English words correctly. Therefore, I

chose pronunciation as the topic of my term paper based on my

internship.

I did my internship at High Scope, a school for preschool and

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Cipaganti, Bandung, Jawa Barat. I did my internship as a teacher

assistant from 15 July until 26 August 2014. I handled fifteen

children from TK A in Yellow Room together with two teachers from

High Scope. I had to take care of the children and also helped

those teachers when the children learned about numbers,

alphabets, and many more. In High Scope I had to be able to

communicate with the teachers and children in English. However,

some of the children could not pronounce English words correctly.

So, I got this problem when I did my internship in High Scope.

Based on the above explanation, I had to deal with two 4 years

old kindergarten children who had a difficulty in pronouncing

English words, and they just started the school in this term in 15

July 2014. I felt confused when I communicated with them because

they could not speak English well, and they also made some

mistakes in pronouncing the English words. An example is when I

asked Noni, one of the children who had a difficulty in pronunciation

at my class, what the object in the picture was, she answered my

question that was a /pi:r/, but, actually the picture was a /peə/.

Another example is when I asked Khaleef, another child who had a

difficulty in pronunciation at my class, what he was making, he

answered my question that he made a /swa:rd/, I knew that actually

he meant /sɔːd/. At that time I knew those two children had bad

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I got a difficulty in handling them because those children made

the same mistakes over and over again, therefore I decided to

correct their pronunciation. As a teacher assistant I had to help

them, so that their pronunciation in English would be better. I

choose this topic for my term paper because I would like to find out

the solutions to teach pronunciation to them, and it is very important

for their speaking skill, as Hewings said that “it can be frustrating

and demotivating for students if they have repeated experiences

where communication break down because of problems with their

English pronunciation”(10). I will analyze my problem in this term

paper including the causes, the effects, and the solutions to solve

my problem.

B. Identification of the Problem

The problem can be formulated in the following questions:

1. Why did I have a difficulty in handling two kindergarten children

in Yellow Room at High Scope who could not pronounce the

English words correctly?

2. How did this problem impact the children and I?

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C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study

The objectives of my study are to find out the causes, the effects,

and also the solutions for my problem. The benefits of my study for

the teachers in High Scope are they can learn how to handle the

children who have a bad pronunciation, they can get some ideas

how to teach the children pronunciation in fun way, and they can

make the children have better English skills, especially in speaking.

The benefit for the readers is they can know how to deal with the

children who have a bad pronunciation in English. Furthermore, for

me personally, I can learn how to handle and help the children in

pronouncing English words in the future.

D. Description of the Institution

Based on the brochure, High Scope School in Bandung was

established on 26 July 2006. High Scope is located on Jl. Dr.

Sukimin No. 9. According to High Scope Website, the vision of this

school is to be the world’s innovative and barometer of education in

Indonesia. The mission of this school is to help Indonesian children

develop totally – in academic, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and

physical area – and be competitive internationally. High Scope has

programs for children ages of 18 months until 6 years old. The

programs are toddler, preschool, pre-kindy, and kindy. The motto of

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matters”. The facilities in this school are security system,

playground, classroom with various educational materials,

assembly hall, and school car service. High Scope Bandung now

has 60 children, 11 teachers, and 1 teacher assistant. High Scope

also has annual program like, Costume Day, Cooking Project, Field

Trips, and Guest Visit. (Source: High Scope Brochure and High

Scope Website:

http://www.akupintar.info/sekolah/high-scope-indonesia-cipaganti-bandung-7347)

E. Method of the Study

I got the data for my study from my observation in High Scope

during my internship and from an interview with one of the teachers

in High Scope. Then, I found the data and theory from the electronic

resources and also from books. The data that I got were used to

analyze the causes, the effects, and the solutions of my problem.

F. Limitation of the Study

The subjects of my study are two 4 years old kindergarten children

in a class called Yellow Room, Noni and Khaleef, and I. The study

is based on my internship in High Scope Bandung as a teacher

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G. Organization of the Term Paper

My term paper starts with the Approval Page, Abstract,

Declaration of Originality, Acknowledgements, and Table of

Contents. Then, it is followed with the first chapter as Introduction

which contains Background of the Study, Identification of the

Problem, Objectives and Benefits of the Study, Description of the

Institution, Method of the Study, Limitation of the Study, and

Organization of the Term Paper. The second chapter is problem

analysis that describes the causes and the effects of my problem.

The third chapter explains three potential solutions, the potential

negative effects of the solutions, and the potential positive effects of

the solutions. The fourth chapter is Conclusion. The next part is

Bibliography. This term paper also has Appendices which are a

flowchart, transcript of the interview, a brochure of High Scope

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CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

In this chapter I would like to discuss the chosen potential solutions for my

problem in handling two kindergarten children who had a difficulty in

pronouncing English words at High Scope Bandung. There are three causes

of my problem, they are the two children learned English as a foreign

language, I were lacking of experience in teaching pronunciation, and those

two children were lacking in motivation to learn pronunciation. Then, the

effects of my problem are those two children became emotional and they got

angry when they could not pronounce the words correctly, and there was a

misunderstanding between me and the children. There are three possible

potential solutions for this problem. The first potential solution is I will teach

pronunciation by using songs, the second potential solution is I will keep

repeating the correct English pronunciation to them, and the third is I will ask

help from their parents to encourage them to speak English more at home.

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The best solutions for this problem are the combination of the two potential

solutions. By using all of those two potential solutions, the children can learn

pronunciation effectively. The first potential solution is using songs to teach

them pronunciation. They can learn pronunciation in fun and relaxed way by

singing a song. After that I will use my second potential solution that is

repeating the words day by day until they remember the correct way to

pronounce the words, so they can continue practicing their pronunciation at

school. On the other hand, I decided not to prefer the third potential solution

because there are possibilities of some parents who cannot speak and teach

English to their children. However, I cannot deny that there are some parents

who are able to speak and teach English well to their children. Therefore, I

did not put the third potential solution as the chosen solutions. But, I hope by

applying the first and second potential solutions, the children will be able to

learn pronunciation in English and their pronunciation will be improved.

I hope all of those potential solutions will be useful for the children and

also the teachers in learning pronunciation. The teacher in High Scope should

be more creative to find some songs or activities related to pronunciation for

the children. Therefore, I believe if the teachers use various ways to teach

them, they will be more interested to learn pronunciation. The children will

enjoy learning English more. I also believe the children in kindergarten must

learn in a fun way to master English pronunciation, so they will not easily get

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Printed Sources

Hewings, Martin. Pronunciation Practice Activities. Cambridge: The

University Press, 2004.

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