Students' English Intonation in Performing Reading Aloud Activities (A Descriptive Study in the Third Semester of the Department of English at Makassar Muhammadiyah University), under the thesis of the Department of English Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Makassar Muhammadiyah University (supervised by Sulfasyah and Abd Waris Hamid). In other words, the students of the English Department of Makassar Muhammadiyah University still have some difficulties in reading, especially in the correct use of English intonation. The writer hopes that this research will contribute to the development of students' reading skills, especially in the use of English intonation.
Based on the above background, the author formulated the following research question: "What is the English intonation of the students when reading?". The scope of the study was limited to the English intonation of the students when reading according to the rules: descending and ascending intonation.
INTRODUCTION
- Research Question
- Objective of the Study
- Significance of the Study
- Scope of the Study
To find the students' average test score, the writer used the following formula:. The result shows that most students still do not use rising intonation when reading the text. This means that most students were good at falling intonation but very poor at rising intonation.
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Concept of Reading
- Definition of reading
- Purposes of reading
- Kinds of reading
- Technique of reading
- Selection of reading materials
Reading aloud is a type of reading where a reader says each word in the text orally. The purpose of reading aloud is to improve students' ability to pronounce words, stress words and have a good intonation for each sentence in the passage. According to Kailan, reading aloud deals with the surface structure of reading ability in the sense that it focuses on the form of language (eg, vocabulary, sentence structure, and pronunciation) and the mechanics of reading.
Reading aloud in the foreign language can be justified as an excellent way for a student to improve his/her pronunciation in addition of course to targeted pronunciation activities and oral fluency tasks. Gardier in Kailani says that reading aloud as a language activity in the foreign language classroom is time-consuming, not actual reading, and does not help the learning process. Reading aloud can be justified as a useful skill - a skill for us in the classroom that aids the overall language learning process.
Reading aloud is also important from the point of view of the variety it brings to the classroom as an alternative form of exposure to the target language (Guler. According to Hiser in Melda (2013), the advantage of reading aloud is repeatable, so students can reassess at any time in the future that it is documented In addition, Sicola in Melda (2013) says that reading aloud can help build language reflexes, help the language adapt to sound combinations, and accustom the brain to word patterns.
Firstly, regular reading will slow down our reading speed, which we always emphasize to improve. Fourth, compared to conversation and discussion, the ability to read aloud has little practical value unless the learner will be the announcer in the future. Thus, if a learner has not had adequate training or has not practiced the surface structure of reading (i.e., reading aloud), he may get stuck on a particular word and cannot move forward until he has identified the word (Kailani.
Concept of Intonation
- What is intonation?
- Functions of intonation
- Types of intonation
- Importance of intonation
It is a fundamental part of how we express our thoughts and enables us to understand those of others. The voice goes up and down and the different notes of the voice combine to create melodies. English intonation is English; it is not the same as the intonation of any other language.
One of the particular problems that occurs in many pronunciation teaching and learning is the intonation problems. Intonation is grammatically important to distinguish one kind of sentence from another; and it is also important to indicate the attitude of the speaker in what he says (Syafei in Prasatya, 2010). Intonation can be defined as the variations that occur in the pitch of the musical note produced by the vibration of the vocal cords (Jones, 2009).
Intonation as 'the melody of speech' or 'Intonation is the musical speech pattern' Halliday describes intonation in terms of tonality, tonality and tone (Halliday, 2008). Intonation is used to emphasize certain words (by using a high or wavering pitch). Intonation is used to set words and information in the background (using a lower pitch than usual).
In today's world, English is the most widely spoken language and it is gaining more and more importance every other day due to the technological development and diplomatic reasons.
Conceptual Framework
This chapter deals with the description of the research design, research variables and indicators, population and sample, technique for data collection and technique for data analysis.
Research Design
First, the students were given a text containing sentences with falling and rising intonation. The students had to read a text containing sentences with falling and rising intonation. This was done to find out what the students' English intonation was like when reading aloud.
The writer presents the students' English intonation in reading, which consists of falling and rising intonation. Therefore, for the clear explanation about students' English intonation when reading aloud, it can be seen below. The result shows that most of the students have good ability to use falling intonation when reading the text.
This shows that students are good at using falling intonation and very poor at using rising intonation. Based on table 4.1, the total percentage of students' points is dominated by points that are classified as good. Based on Table 4.2, the total percentage of students' scores was dominated by scores that were classified as very poor scores.
Improving the students' reading comprehension through self-questioning strategy (A classroom action research among the second-year students of SMPN 5 Bontomatene Selayar).
Research Variables and Indicators
Population and Sample
- Population
- Sample
The population of this study was the third semester students of the Department of English at Makassar Muhammadiyah University in the academic year 2014/2015. The total population of third semester students in the Department of English at Makassar Muhammadiyah University was 363 students from 10 classes. The writer chose them as the population of her research because they were studying the use of intonation when they were in the second semester.
Based on this consideration, the writer concluded that they had a basic knowledge of using English intonation. It was taken by giving the number of students, then it took the number up to 54 students.
Research Instrument
Technique of Data Collection
Technique of Data Analysis
Sudjana in Jaya 2007: 27) Based on the formulas above, the author knew and also presented the individual score, average score and percentage score of the students through reading test. The findings of the research deal with the answer to the research question which aims to describe the English intonation during reading by the third semester students of the English Department at the Makassar Muhammadiyah University in the academic year 2014/2015. This means that the students understood the patterns of fall intonation in sentences such as statements, WH-Question, exclamations, serious commands, etc.
This means that the students did not understand the patterns of rising intonation in sentences such as Yes-No questions, question tags, greetings, direct address, summary of items, and so on. After calculating the data that included all the students' score and the average, the result showed that the average correct falling intonation was higher than rising intonation. The result indicated that most of the students were able to read the given text with good falling intonation, but some of them were very poor at performing rising intonation in reading.
The students can improve their reading skills by practicing or finding more references about intonation in reading skills. The ability to use the pronunciation of second semester students of the STKIP PGRI Banjarmasin Academic Year 2010/2011 English Department. Improving students' speaking skills through community interaction activities (a classroom action study among the sophomores of SMA Negeri 1 Sinjai Selatan Kabupaten Sinjai).
Soon the rest of the class poured in, and a chorus of similar remarks could be heard.
FINDING AND DISCUSSION
Discussion
The term intonation refers to the way the voice rises and falls in pitch when we are speaking. The sentence that most students got wrong when reading with rising intonation is "Isn't that a bit unusual?" (Yes-No questions) and "That's because all the other jeans you wear are brown, black, green, brown, or gray" (counting items). Based on the research findings and discussion in the previous chapter, the writer has come to the conclusion.
The conclusion is that third semester students at the English Department of Makassar Muhammadiyah University in the academic year 2014/2015 have a good understanding of using falling intonation, but very poor in rising intonation. This was proven by the mean score for falling intonation being 8.40 and rising intonation being 4.40. It was rated as good at using fall intonation and very poor at using rise intonation.
Angela Williams, the class' self-proclaimed fashion expert, raised her hand and spoke without waiting to be called. This was the annoying day of the week when he had to get his kids to their gym class first thing in the morning.
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
Suggestion
Based on the conclusion that has been made above, the author really suggests the following implication and a recommendation for further related research. As students in the English department, their reading ability should be increased, especially through the use of intonation. The teacher can use this research as an essential reference to search all methods and techniques for teaching reading, especially in the use of intonation.
For the further researcher, the writer recommends that other researchers can use this research as a reference to do similar research studies or conduct a further research. Silent and oral literacy: Which is the best predictor of reading comprehension in Turkish elementary students. El said as he finished writing the morning assignments on the board for his fourth graders.
I wear Levi's jeans almost every day and this is the first time anyone has even noticed.” He opened the door to the faculty room as he watched the last kid in line disappear into the gym.
