SYNOPSIS
“ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION PROBLEMS FOR STUDENTS
SPEAKING SKILLS AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE”
OLEH:
HAFIFAH DWI LESTARI
11810422524
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND TEACHER TRAINING
STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF SULTAN SYARIF KASIM RIAU
2020
“ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION PROBLEMS FOR STUDENTS
SPEAKING SKILLS AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE”
A. Background of the Problem
It is beyond doubt that pronouncing a language properly is a key aspect when
understanding and making ourselves understood. In the English as a Foreign
Language (EFL) teaching and learning process pronunciation should play
determining role since it is directly related with the development of students’
communicative competence and thus to language proficiency and comprehensibility.
Spoken communication is grounded on the communicability not only determined
by correct grammar and profuse vocabulary but also on the correct interplay between
the segmental and suprasegmental features making up pronunciation. As Burns
(2003) concedes, despite minor inaccuracies in vocabulary and grammar, learners are
more likely to communicate effectively when they have good pronunciation and
intonation. Nowadays, as Pourhosein (2012, p.120) states, despite the “emphasis on
the importance of meaningful communication and intelligible pronunciation, it is not
enough to leave pronunciation teaching and training to pronunciation classes only”; it
is determining that the relatively few hours devoted to this purpose in the curriculum
are planned and devised to make the most of them, giving students the tools to
continue improving on their own and the voice to express in which ways they learn
the best. Inspite of this, “researchers in applied linguistics have paid little attention to
learners’ perceptions of pronunciation instruction in L2 contexts” (Kang, 2010) so
that this article has tried to deepen on students’ perceptions and feelings about
English pronunciation issues in general and about the English pronunciation subject
EA0910 “Pronunciation and comprehension of oral English” in particular in order to
make a diagnostic analysis of the situation which will ideally lead to an improvement
in their pronunciation skills.
With this objective in mind, with a series of questionnaires designed ad hoc –and
according to my own observation and experience– I have tried to determine students’
perceptions, needs, demands and feelings regarding English pronunciation and
comprehension and their views about the materials, instruction methods, tools and
contents used and/or included in a regular English pronunciation class in an EFL
high-education context. Students’ specific suggestions have finally been analysed in
order to be able to pose improvement proposals devised from first-hand experience.
It is not a secret in the Indonesian EFL teaching context that pronunciation is a
great hurdle for most Spanish students who do not feel comfortable or at the same
proficiency level of other European counterparts with the way they pronounce
English. In fact, as Coe (1987 in Swan and Smith) states "Indonesian speakers, in
particular, probably find English pronunciation harder than speakers of any other
European language". Moreover, as Pourhosein (2012) concedes, limited
pronunciation skills can affect learners’ self-confidence by decreasing it, also
restricting social interactions, and thus negatively affecting estimations of a speaker’s
credibility and abilities, which obviously negatively influences the EFL instruction
process. In fact, as Jones (2002) states, pronunciation teaching methods should
address the issues of motivation and exposure by creating awareness and stressing the
importance of sound pronunciation. In this very same sense, Pourhosein (2012) lists a
series of factors affecting the learning of English pronunciation among which we
find: attitude, motivation, instruction and exposure to target language.
That pronunciation is a rather problematic aspect for most Indonesian students is
(regretably) a fact, but the reasons and solutions may be varied in nature and in
effectiveness. Traditionally, most Indonesian-speaking countries have tended (and
still tend) to neglect the teaching of pronunciation in EFL settings, focusing instead
on grammar, reading and writing skills.
Pronunciation is a key aspect in the development of oral skills. Proper
pronunciation is inherent to any competent speaker but this competence can (and
must) be trained in any non-native speaker. The review of previous literature on the
topic shows that with careful preparation and integration, pronunciation can play a
significant role in supporting the learners’ overall communicative skill (Pourhosein,
2012, p. 119). Nonetheless, the idea that learners should speak and sound like native
speakers is not the trend nowadays, apart from being a rather unrealistic idea. In fact,
it is rare that L2 adult learners achieve native-like speech patterns (Moyer, 2004;
Scovel, 2000). Moreover, it is difficult to achieve native-like pronunciation in typical
ESL classrooms after childhood (Kang, 2010). As Ur (1996) concedes, the aim of
pronunciation is not to achieve a perfect imitation of native accent, but to get the
learner to pronounce accuratel enough to be easily and comfortably comprehensible
to other speakers. In fact, as scholars such as Derwing and Munro (2005) or Goodwin
(2001) argue that it is teachers’ role to help ESL learners to set realistic goals for
pronunciation instruction and these goals do not normally target native-like accents.
According to Burns (2003), it is far more important for speakers to be able to
achieve intelligibility (the sound patterns produced by the speaker are recognisable as
English) comprehensibility (the meaning of what is said can be understood by the
listener) and interpretability (the purpose of what is said can be understood by the
listener). Moreover, many studies from an English as a second language perspective –
such as Howlader’s (2010)– found that mutual intelligibility, comprehensibility and
neutral accent can promote better oral communication. In fact, from the perspective
of World Englishes, mutual intelligibility is a key issue for both listeners and
speakers (Kang, 2010).
According to the background above, the writer interests in carrying out a research
entitled: “ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION PROBLEMS FOR
STUDENTS SPEAKING SKILLS AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE”
B. The Identification of The Problem
The researcher specifies the problem discussed in the following formulated
questions as follows:
1. How is the students’ speaking skill mastery?
2. How is the students’ pronunciation?
3. What are the students’ difficulties in pronunciation mastery and speaking skills
between students’as a foreign language?
4. Is there any significant correlation between students’ pronunciation mastery
when students' speaking?
C. Limitation of The Problem
Based on the identification of the problem above, it can identify that are many
problems and need to limit in order to get specific problem, therefore, the writer
focuses on the English Pronunciation Problems For Students Speaking Skills as a
Foreign Language by using orall or speaking skills.
D. The Formulation of the Problem
The problem of this research is fomulated in question below :
1. What are the students’ difficulties in pronunciation mastery and speaking
skills significant correlation students’ in communication?
2. How is Pronunciation Problems For Students Speaking Skills as a Foreign
Language?
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