ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is to find out the ability of the eighth semester students of the English Department of UNNES in the academic year 2004/2005 in pronouncing English fricatives and the factors which might influence the achievement of the students’ pronunciation.
The population of this study is the eighth semester students of English Department of UNNES in the academic year 2004/2005. The total number of the population was 153 students. Using proportional random sampling, 24 students (15.68%) were chosen as the sample of the study.
To collect the data of this study, a recorded pronunciation test was administered to the students. The pronunciation test consisted of 24 sentences which contained 12 fricative /f/, 18 fricative /v/, 15 fricative //, 32 fricative /ð/, 18 fricative /s/, 24 fricative /z/, 13 fricatives /∫/, 15 fricative //, 17 fricative /r/, 10 fricative /h/. Each of the students was asked to read the pronunciation test. Their pronunciation was recorded on a cassette using a tape recorder. The students’ pronunciations, as the primary data, were then transcribed into phonetic transcription referring to Hornby’s Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English.
The result of the data analysis shows that the students of the eighth semester of the English Department of UNNES in the academic year 2004/2005 was “Poor” in pronouncing all kinds of English fricatives. The total percentage of various mistakes in pronouncing English fricatives is 35% from the total pronunciation 4320. There were four major pronunciation mistakes made by the students: //, /v/, /ð/, /z/. The percentage of the students’ mistakes in pronouncing English fricative // is 79.44%, the percentage of the students’ mistakes in pronouncing the fricative /v/ is 65.97%, the percentage of the students’ mistakes in pronouncing the fricative /ð/ is 65.625%, the percentage of the students’ mistakes in pronouncing the fricative /z/ is 38.19%.
In the writer’s opinion, the factors that might influence the students’ pronunciation achievement in pronouncing English fricatives are: the students’ lack of knowledge of correct pronunciation and the meaning of English words, the students’ tendency to pronounce a word the way it is spelled, the students’ inability to recognize the words in a sentence readily, the usage of the students’ mother tongue in pronouncing English words, the students’ inability in joining each sound of a sequence on to the next.
Based on the result of the research, it could be suggested that the students should have good self awareness in motivating themselves to speak English everyday with correct pronunciation. A lot of drills and practice would be very good in improving their pronunciation. The aim of this study is to find out the ability of the eighth semester students of the English Department of UNNES in the academic year 2004/2005 in pronouncing English fricatives and the factors which might influence the achievement of the students’ pronunciation.
The population of this study is the eighth semester students of English Department of UNNES in the academic year 2004/2005. The total number of the population was 153 students. Using proportional random sampling, 24 students (15.68%) were chosen as the sample of the study.
To collect the data of this study, a recorded pronunciation test was administered to the students. The pronunciation test consisted of 24 sentences which contained 12 fricative /f/, 18 fricative /v/, 15 fricative //, 32 fricative /ð/, 18 fricative /s/, 24 fricative /z/, 13 fricatives /∫/, 15 fricative //, 17 fricative /r/, 10 fricative /h/. Each of the students was asked to read the pronunciation test. Their pronunciation was recorded on a cassette using a tape recorder. The students’ pronunciations, as the primary data, were then transcribed into phonetic transcription referring to Hornby’s Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English.
The result of the data analysis shows that the students of the eighth semester of the English Department of UNNES in the academic year 2004/2005 was “Poor” in pronouncing all kinds of English fricatives. The total percentage of various mistakes in pronouncing English fricatives is 35% from the total pronunciation 4320. There were four major pronunciation mistakes made by the students: //, /v/, /ð/, /z/. The percentage of the students’ mistakes in pronouncing English fricative // is 79.44%, the percentage of the students’ mistakes in pronouncing the fricative /v/ is 65.97%, the percentage of the students’ mistakes in pronouncing the fricative /ð/ is 65.625%, the percentage of the students’ mistakes in pronouncing the fricative /z/ is 38.19%.
In the writer’s opinion, the factors that might influence the students’ pronunciation achievement in pronouncing English fricatives are: the students’ lack of knowledge of correct pronunciation and the meaning of English words, the students’ tendency to pronounce a word the way it is spelled, the students’ inability to recognize the words in a sentence readily, the usage of the students’ mother tongue in pronouncing English words, the students’ inability in joining each sound of a sequence on to the next.
Based on the result of the research, it could be suggested that the students should have good self awareness in motivating themselves to speak English everyday with correct pronunciation. A lot of drills and practice would be very good in improving their pronunciation.
