Volume XX Nomor X Tahun 2023 Halaman XXXX- XXXX

ISSN: 2715-2723, DOI: [Link]/10.26418/jppk.v12i7.67866

[Link]

USING GOOGLE TRANSLATE APPLICATION TO TEACH ENGLISH

PRONUNCIATION

Windi Mustika Wati1, Ikhsanudin2, Syarif Husin3

Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Jurusan Bahasa dan Seni FKIP Untan
Article Info ABSTRACT
Pronunciation is an important aspect in English language. It is
Article history:
important for language learner to improve their pronunciation
Received: skill in early stage such as junior high school. This study aim to
Revised: solve the pronunciation problems found among the junior high
Accepted: school student in MTsN Ngabang. By implementing pre-
experimental research, this study aim to find out the efficiency
of utilizing Google Translate apps to teach student
Keywords: pronunciation especially in vowel and consonant by. This study
Google Translate apps; also measure the size effect of using Google Translate apps to
pronunciation; ASR teach pronunciation. The participant of this research is eight
grade students of MTsN Ngabang. The data was collected
through pre-test, treatment and post-test process. The students’
achievement in increasing with the interval score of Pre-Test
and Post-Test is 12,2. The significance difference of this
achievement can also proved by the t-test score (3,18) is higher
than t-table (2,06) at 5%. Therefore Null Hypothesis is
rejected and the Alternative Hypothesis is accepted. The
research findings reveal the effectiveness of using the Google
Translate application for teaching English pronunciation is high
with an effect size value of 0.9.
Copyright © 2023 Windi Mustika Wati, Ikhsanudin, Syarif Husin.

🖂 Corresponding Author:
Windi Mustika Wati
Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, FKIP Untan Pontianak
Email: windimustika@[Link]

INTRODUCTION
Pronunciation is one of the element in English speaking skill. In fact, one of the
hardest language acquisition skills is pronunciation (Sadeghi & Mashhadi Heidar, 2016).
English pronunciation requires more than just paying attention, and no real effort is made
to comprehend the significant importance of this crucial skill (Farhat et al. 2017). Some
teachers have avoided teaching pronunciation owing to a lack of time, lack of confidence,
and uncertainty regarding how to teach pronunciation (Derwing, T. M., 2015). Teaching
pronunciation has been neglected by some teachers due to lack of time, lack of confidence,
and, uncertainty about how to teach pronunciation.
Numerous exercises in pronunciation classes still rely on the teacher to monitor,
assess, and give feedback to pupils while also modeling proper pronunciation.
Additionally, teachers frequently use exercises or activities that require controlled
production, leaving little chance for students to express themselves freely or practice
communication skills. Students in this style of class are unlikely to benefit from outside
practice because lack of encouragement to learn techniques or methods for assessing or
monitoring their own pronunciation, and they have limited freedom to be creative. Thus,
the teacher has to find a new way to teach pronunciation. Fortunately, various digital
applications are available to support language learning such as ASR (Automated Speech
Recognition).
One of the ways to teach pronunciation is by using ASR (Automated Speech
Recognition) technology. ASR is known as device which receives acoustic oral speech
input from a speaker through a microphone then analyzes and decodes it and also produces
the output in the form of text transcription (Sari, 2020, p.79). Utilizing the ASR app in a
classroom environment is really meant to improve language learning and teaching.
Teachers and students can access target languages in a variety of professions with the aid
of ASR technology (Pourhosein Gilakjani et al., 2015). One of the media that can be used
to teach pronunciation is Google Translate application. Although it is primarily an
application for translation, Google Translation has a feature to input text through text or
voice. In this application, the user utters a word in English and then the application will
assess the pronunciation of the word. Hence, this has intrigued the researcher to use Google
Translate application to improve student pronunciation skill.
In MTsN Ngabang, the researcher found that the students had problem with English
pronunciation especially in vowel and consonant. The students seems to be struggle went
they are asked to pronounce consonant words like think, bright and brought. According to
Tambunsaribu & Simatupang (2021), this pronunciation problem has been faced by
students in different level even in the university level. This is because the Indonesian and
English language has major differences such as in pronouncing the silent letter like silent
„h‟ and silent „k‟. The students also tend to unable to differentiate between fricative and
affricative sounds. Therefore, the researcher will try to improve students’ pronunciation
skill by using the Google Translate Application.
In conducting this study, the researcher has reviewed several similar studies related
to the use of Google Translate Application in English language learning. For instance, Sari
(2020) has conducted a study on the utilization of Google Translate application to practice
pronunciation skills. The study was employed by using qualitative approach which is an
interview session. This study was conducted on 30 junior high school students assigned as
members of an English Club extracurricular program. Through this research, the researcher
found that Google Translate application can be a promising alternative that allow students
in learning English pronunciation. In addition, this study asserted that the features of
Google Translate application can facilitate the pronunciation modeling which allow
students to learn and practice their English independently.
Another study on Google Translate application in improving students pronunciation
was also conducted by Dian (2017). The study was conducted in SMA Swasta Pemnas
Pagar Merbau. By using classroom action research, the student was treated in a few cycle.
Based on the oral test score, students score keep improving in every test. In pre-test, the
mean score was 55,3, in the first cycle test the mean score was 72,3, and the second cycle
test the mean score was 85,9. The result findings of this study conclude that teaching by
using direct method assisted by Google translate voice improved the students
pronunciation. Both of these previous researches do not measure the effectiveness of using
Google Translate application in junior high school level. Therefore, the researcher wants
to measure the effectiveness of Google Translate application to improve students’
pronunciation skill by conducting a pre experimental study in MTsN Ngabang.
Due to the problems faced by students and realizing the usefulness of Google Translate
application, the researcher was interested in investigating the effectiveness of using Google
Translate applications on improving students' pronunciation. The researcher will use
quantitative research through pre-experimental design as a research design so that
researchers can measure how affective the ASR application is to improving students'
pronunciation. For this reason, the researcher wants to submit a study entitled "Use of
Google Translate Application for teaching English pronunciation"
Teaching pronunciation is an important part of ESL/EFL although it has a very
complicated aspect. Pronunciation is very important for the process of a communication
because accurate and precise pronunciation is needed for effective communication.
According to (Jahan, 2003), people can easily misunderstand the speaker's intent due to
poor English pronunciation. Shojaee (2019) asserts that teachers can impart knowledge of
pronunciation both consciously and unconsciously. The beginners and younger students
tend to benefit more from subconscious pronunciation training without any prior
instruction, straight to the point of pronunciation, without any explanation or guidance.
Proper sound pronunciation is one of the most challenging areas for English second
language learners to traverse, according to (Baluran, 2013). Pronunciation is often
considered the least effective skill to teach when learning a second language because it is
more difficult to develop. An important part of teaching pronunciation is using the correct
teaching materials that are well chosen. According to Shing et al. (2017).
The use of technology in language classes has been highly recommended when
comparing the efficacy of various learning approaches because it can increase students'
motivation and language skills. The use of technology is one of them. Giorgis and Johnson
as cited in Baluran (2013), note that since students encounter visual and audio material in
their daily lives and are expected to continue to use, interpret, and think critically about the
importance of what they hear and viewing, movies and television, and smartphones are
very helpful resources to educate and prepare them for learning assignments.
Pronunciation is an important element in speaking. In fact pronunciation can be defined
as the way of a word being spoken. In addition, pronunciation means that sound that
conveys meaning in the environment where the sound is used (Dalton, 2014). According
to Handayani (2017), pronunciation is an action or how to pronounce words. In conclusion,
the definition of pronunciation can also be interpreted as a certain method of pronouncing
a word, especially one that is already known or well understood.
According to Tambunsaribu & Simatupang (2021), pronunciation has two main
features called phonemes and suprasegmental.. Phonemes is refer to consonant and vowel
sound. A consonant sound is one in which the air flow is cut off, either partially or
completely, when the sound is produced. In contrast, a vowel sound is one in which the air
flow is unobstructed when the sound is made. Meanwhile, Lindsay added that the
characteristics of supra-segmental pronunciation are as follows: language intonation,
sound, language emphasis, and rhythm (Jahan, 2003). By using the right voice, language
emphasis, rhythm, and intonation, pronunciation is defined as a method of speaking that
can be recognized and understood in general. This is an important element for learning a
language and using it (Olenka, 2016). People who don't pronounce words correctly run the
risk of being misunderstood by others and being labeled as uneducated, lacking in
knowledge, or lacking in understanding. Moreover, even if learners have perfect grammar,
they will still find it easier to understand if they have clear pronunciation.
Google Translate application is one of the applications developed by Google, a
website that allows users to access information from all over the world at any time and
from anywhere. It was first developed by Google in 2007 using a system known as
SYSTRAN. Then, in 2010, Google moved to a new platform of machine translation
according to the principle of "Statistical Machine Translation" (Nguyen et. al, 2021, p.253).
As a machine translation, Google Translate are known for its function to translate a text
through different ways like typing, writing or speak.
According to [Link], this application is capable of translating between 108
languages by typing, translating 59 languages though offline, 94 languages through instant
camera translation, 90 languages through import photo, translating bilingual conversations
on the fly for 70 languages and so on. This languages are included main language around
the world like English, Arabic, Chinese Russian, German to local language around the
around such as Afrikaans, Marathi, Hebrew and even Javanese. Until recent, Google
Translate Application is available on platform like Playstore and Google store to be
downloaded for free.

Diagram 1 Google Translate Application

Google Translate Application for teaching pronunciation

Google Translation is a productive tool to assist individuals in learning and teaching

in the field of specialized English-mediuminstruction subjects (Nguyen et. al, 2021, p.253).
According to Sari (2020, p.78), Google Translate are digital websites which can be utilized
to assist pronunciation practice. Due to the feature of Google Translate App of Automated
Speech Recognition feature, it is possible for the user or leaner to pronounce the word
through the microphone. This feature of Google Translate application also show the role as
a it as a device which receives acoustic oral speech input from a speaker through a
microphone then analyzes and decodes it and also produces the output in the form of text
transcription. Thus, this has opened the possibility for educator to teach pronunciation by
using Google Translate App.
 As the explanation above, Google Translate is simple and instant translation tool that
offers translations in any of its 109 available languages, ranging from the impressive to the
comical. Despite of all the advantages, this application has also its own weaknesses.
According to Nguyen et. al (2021, p.254), Google Translate has several strength. First and
foremost, it is a free application that can be easily downloaded through smart phones or
laptop. The users just need to access through the browser or download the apps in their
widget to use the app. Second, the application can be accessed offline and online. This will
help the students to learn especially for those who are in the area that lack of internet
connectivity. However, the users have to download the file that is required for the
application to be used offline. Third, the features on the application such as photo
recognition make it easy and time efficient to be used. The user just needs to take a picture
of the word or text and then let the tool do the job.
Although there are benefits in using the application as mentioned above, there are
still limitations to its function. Firstly, Google Translate offers no security or confidentiality
for the user data. Everything translated through Google Translate is stored and analyzed by
Google in accordance with their terms of service. In term of learning English, the
application is conversational for its inaccurate translation for a long text or sentence.
Google Translate the word by word in case of a long sentence or a paragraph. In addition,
Nguyen et. al (2021, p.254) also asserted that Google Translate does not have a grammar
function, so it cannot process grammatically correct sentences. Another limitation of this
tool is that there is no context. This can cause misunderstandings in word choice.

METHOD
Design and Samples, This research is designed with pre-experimental, a quantitative
research design. It aims to determine the effectiveness of using Google Translate apps to
teach pronunciation to eigth grade students in MTsN Ngabang. Instrument and Procedure
Data collection is an important aspect of any type of research study. In this research, the
data was collected in three steps :Pre-test, A pre-test provides a measure on some attribute
or charactheristic that you assess for participants in an experiment before they receive a
treatment (Creswell, 2008). At the first meeting, the researcher gave pre-test to the students.
This test was given in order to know how far the student’s ability in English pronunciation
skills.
Treatment, For the treatment phase, the researcher will use Google Translate app to
teach pronunciation skill. First, the researcher will give instruction during the teaching and
learning process in the class followed by introduction of the application. The students will
be asked to download the Google Translate application on Google Playstore or App Store,
and the researcher is responsible make sure the application can use the application. Second,
the researcher will teach pronunciation by using drilling method.
Post-test, The last method used to collect data is post-test. Post-test is a measure of
several attributes or characteristics that are assessed by participants after conducting
experiments (Creswell, 2008). Post-test is a research of this plan that is counting the number
of words in the text. The researcher took the final step to complete the planning of this
research, namely by making an assessment rules. The calculation of the score is follows:
the correct pronunciation will get a score of 1 (one), while the wrong pronunciation will
get a score of 0 (zero). Then the number of correct pronunciations will be divided by the
maximum score after which is multiplied by 100.
The research instrument refers to what equipment is used to collect data. As an
experimental research, the instrument used in this research is a test. According to Ary,
(2016) Test is a set of stimuli given to individuals obtain responses on the basis of
numerical scores can be given. There are two kinds of tests in this study, namely pre-test
and post-test. The pre-test is intended to measure the students' pronunciation ability before
being given treatment, while the post-test is to measure the students' pronunciation ability
after being given treatment. The test is a subjective test of pronunciation material to
measure students' pronunciation skills.
After all the data has been collected, then the data is processed and analyzed. Next, a
hypothesis test is carried out, to find out the hypothesis that has been made is accepted or
rejected. Thus, the research results can be interpreted and concluded. Data processing at
the final stage of this research uses statistical formulas with the help of the SPSS for
program [Link] Analysis, The data analysis technique is a step used to simplify the
data that has been collected accurately. Data that were obtained from research results,
namely data were obtained from the results of the pre-test and post-test, which were
identified first, and then analyzed. Furthermore, after the pre-test and post-test data were
obtained, the average pre-test and post-test were calculated in the experimental class.
Calculations were carried out to determine the average pronunciation ability of students in
the experimental class.
This research will use quantitative data analysis. Quantitative data is a type of data in
research that can be measured, calculated, and describe using numbers. The data analysis
is a one-group experiment in this research, using pretest and posttest. Data analysis in this
research use t-test. The T-test is a type of inferential statistic used to determine whether
there is a significant difference between before and after using the test equipment, which
may be related to certain features. The t-test formula is used to analyze the data and
determine whether there is a significant difference between before and after using the
Google Translate application.
Researchers will use the T-test by Kuder-20 as follows:The researcher will find the
average or the mean score of the pretest (x) and posttest (y), Mean score of Pre-test
∑𝑥
X̄ = =
𝑛
Mean score of Post-test
∑𝑥
Ȳ = =
𝑛
Then, the researcher will finds the meaning of the pre-test and post-test differentiation,
Then the researcher finds the number of squared deviations or varian value Variance value
of Pre-test:
𝑥 − 𝑥2
𝑆𝑥 2 = Σ
𝑛−1
Variance value for Post-test
𝑦 − 𝑦2
𝑆𝑦 2 = Σ
𝑛−1
After that the researcher finds the standard deviation
Standard deviation of pre-test:
Σ(𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥̅ )2
𝑆𝑥 = √
𝑛−1
Standard deviation of post-test
Σ(𝑦𝑖 − 𝑦̅)2
𝑆𝑦 = √
𝑛−1
Furthermore, the researcher count the correlation value
𝑛(Σ𝑋𝑌) − (Σ𝑋)(Σ𝑌)
𝑟= =
√[𝑛(Σ𝑥 2 ) − (Σx)2 ][𝑛(Σ𝑌 2 ) − (Σ𝑌)2 ]
The researcher count the tratio
𝑥̅ − 𝑦̅
𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 =
𝑠12 𝑠22 𝑠1 𝑠
√ + − 2𝑟 ( )( 2 )
𝑛1 𝑛2 √𝑛1 √𝑛2
The researcher will look for the value of ttable
df=n-1
1. The researcher compares between the ttable and tratio
2. If 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 is bigger than 𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 , it means that 𝐻 0 is rejected and 𝐻 𝑎 is accepted. and if
𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 is bigger than 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 , it means that 𝐻 0 is accept and 𝐻 𝑎 rejected.
3. And last the researcher will count the Effect Size (ES)
𝐸𝑆 = 𝑡 1
𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡√ =
𝑛
According to Cohen (2007), an effect size can range between 0 and 1. The following
are the definitions for each range:
0.00–0.20 = weak effect
0.21–0.50 = modest effect
0.51–1.00 = moderate effect
>1.00 = strong effect
In the last step of the analysis, the hypotheses of this research will be tested. If Ho is
accepted, the result means there is no significant difference in the students' pronunciation
before and after implementing Google Translate Application, while if Ha is accepted
means there is a significant difference in the students' pronunciation before and after
implementing the use of Google Translate Application. If Ho is accepted, it means that the
use of Google Translate Application is not effective, and if Ho is rejected and Ha is
accepted, it means Google Translate Application is effective in improving students'
pronunciation.

RESULT AND DISUSSION

Pronunciation is an important aspect in English language. It is important for language
learner to improve their pronunciation skill in early stage such as junior high school. This
study aim to solve the pronunciation problems found among the junior high school student
in MTsN Ngabang. By implementing pre-experimental research, this study aim to find out
the efficiency of utilizing Google Translate apps to teach student pronunciation especially
in vowel and consonant by.
This study also measure the size effect of using Google Translate apps to teach
pronunciation. The participant of this research is eight grade students of MTsN Ngabang.
The data was collected through pre-test, treatment and post-test process. The students’
achievement in increasing with the interval score of Pre-Test and Post-Test is 12,2. The
significance difference of this achievement can also proved by the t-test score (3,18) is
higher than t- table (2,06) at 5%. Therefore Null Hypothesis is rejected and the
Alternative Hypothesis is accepted. The research findings reveal the effectiveness of using
the Google Translate application for teaching English pronunciation is high with an effect
size value of 0.9.

CONCLUSION
In this final chapter, the author provides some conclusions and suggestions for using the
Google Translate application to teach English pronunciation, especially to Grade VIII
students of SMP MTsN Ngabang. Based on the previous chapter, the conclusion can be
drawn as follows: 1) The students’ achievement on Pre-Test range from 85 as the highest
score and 40 as the lowest score with the total score is 1510. The mean score of Pre-Test is
60,4 which based on Harris’ criteria, the mean score of the students Pre-Test is qualilfied
average to good. 2) The students’ achievement on Post-Test range from 50 as the lowest
score and 95 as the highest score with the total score is 1815. The mean score of Post- Test
72,6 which based on Harris criteria, this result of the student’ Post-Test is categorized as
average to good. 3) The students’ achievement in increasing with the interval score of Pre-
Test and Post-Test is 12,2. The significance difference of this achievement can also proved
by the t-test score (3,18) is higher than t-table (2,06) at 5%. Therefore Null Hypothesis is
rejected and the Alternative Hypothesis is accepted. 4) The effectiveness of using the
Google Translate application for teaching English pronunciation is high with an effect
size value of 0.9.
After finding research facts about using the Google Translate Application, some
suggestions need to be given: Other than pronunciation, Google Translate can be used to
improve student reading skill. Research can be conducted to prove the effectiveness of
using Google Translate in improving students’ reading skill

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