TEACHING PRONUNCIATION THROUGH AUDIO LINGUAL

METHOD TO THE EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS OF SMP

AL MUFLIKHIN CIREBON

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study

We never stop learning language-from the babbling of babies to the

vicarious preschool years, from our early encounters with print and our first
attempts at writing through to the secondary textbooks and then beyond to
the new demands of the adulthood, where we still continue to learn and
refine the language needed in every new situation in which we find
ourselves. (Derewianka, 1990:3).
People use language to express their mind, wishes, and ideas. Language
is a means of communication people use to share ideas with others.
Language predicts attitude and wishes of the users. Ramelan (1992:14) says:
the use of language enables the members of
a social group to cooperate with one another for their own
benefits. Language has to be learned and used in a social
community, without which the existence of language is beyond
understanding.
Language is not only used for daily conversation but also used in
education, research and science both spoken and written. Considering those
functions of language, people study language both formal or in the class and
informal or outside the class.
English is one of the widely used international languages. Both as a
means of oral and written communication, including the broadcasting and
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the writing of newspaper, magazine and technological as well as scientific

books. Therefore, people who want to be acquainted with technology and
scientific advances have to master this language well since it is much used
in science and technology in almost all countries
In Indonesia English is taught at SMP (junior high school), SMU
(senior high school), in University, many courses and it has also been taught
at SD (elementary school). Knowing that English is quite significant for
Indonesia in the future, the government always makes efforts to improve the
quality of English teaching. By improving the quality of teachers and other
components in educational process, hopefully the English teaching can be
improved. One of the improvements of the English teaching deals with the
syllabus which is reflected in the materials given to the students.
According to Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan 2006 (KTSP,
2006:278) the aim of the English teaching in Indonesia especially teaching
English to junior high school is to enable students to have the ability in
developing communicative competence in both oral and written form in
achieving functional literacy level, to have the awareness about the essence
and the important of English in increasing competition in global community,
and

the

last

is

developing

the

students comprehension

about

interrelatedness between language and culture.

Learning English means learning all aspects of it. It involves listening,
speaking, reading, and writing. Besides the four skills, it also involves some
booster factors include pronunciation. Pronunciation has sometimes been

referred as the poor relation of the English Language Teaching (ELT)

world. It is an aspect of language which is often given a little attention, if
not completely ignored, by the teacher in the classroom. This may due to the
teachers lack of any proper training in phonetics or, if the teacher is not a
native speaker, to uncertainty over the acceptability of his own
pronunciation as a model of imitation. Some teachers also find difficulty to
the way of delivering pronunciation materials.
Variation of techniques in teaching pronunciation is needed here to
reduce the lack of attention in learning it. According to Nagaraj (1996:79)
the Audio-lingual method can be traced back to the language teaching
programs devised in America during the Second World War. Its focus was
on the learners ability to gain the communicative skills required in
everyday discourse, particularly the skills of listening and speaking in the
target language. Meanwhile William Moulton, as quoted by Nagaraj
(1996:79) enumerated five slogans which formed the basis of the Audiolingual Method is as follow :
(1) Language is speech, not writing (2) A
language is set of habits (3) Teach the language, not about the
language (4) A language is what native speakers say not what
someone thinks they ought to say (5) Languages are different.
As the writer said in the previous paragraph one of the methods which
can be used to teach speaking is Audio-lingual Method. Just as with the
Direct Method, the Audio-lingual Method represents a major step in
language teaching methodology that was still aimed squarely at
communicative competence.

A teacher that can use the method well will generally be able to create
what appear to be very productive students. Moreover, being able to use
the target language communicatively is the goal of this method. Therefore,
students need to over learn the target language, to learn and use it
automatically without stopping to think by forming new habits in the target
language and overcoming the old habits of their native language. (LarsenFreeman, 2002:45).

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Teaching pronunciation is not easy. It needs technique that could

motivate and challenge the students to pronounce well. Audio lingual
method hopefully could function as it is hoped.
Based on the statement above, the writer formulates the statement as
follows:

1. How much the use of the Audio lingual method improve the eight
grade students pronunciation at the SMP Al-Muflikhin?
1.3 Aims of the Research

In this research, the writer aims to know whether the use of audio
lingual method improve the eighth grade students pronunciation at the SMP
Al-Muflikhin?

1.4 Limitation of the Research

The writer decides to limit the observation to the teaching

pronunciation. He focuses the study only to teach the students how to spell
simple sentences correctly through audio lingual method.

1.5 Hypothesis

The writer states that there is an improvement of the students

achievement after getting audio lingual method

in the teaching

pronunciation to the eight grade students of SMP Al-Muflikhin

2. LITERARY REVIEW
2.1 Terminology Definition
2.1.1 Teaching
Generally, teaching means guiding students learning
activities. Teaching is a process of giving knowledge and
motivation to develop students mind and understanding in order
that the goal of education is achieved. Stern, H.H (1991).
2.1.2 Pronunciation
Wyld H.C (1914:28) said that The first thing we must be
observed in studying a language is pronunciation

Other definition said that Ueno (1994:1) There is some

hope that specific pronunciation instruction may be effective in
improving students perception or overall comprehension of the
target language.
(http://www.english.com/pronunciation/edu_term.html)
2.2 Terms of Reference

According to Stern, H.H (1991) Generally, teaching means guiding

students learning activities. Teaching is a process of giving knowledge and
motivation to develop students mind and understanding in order that the
goal of education is achieved.
Pronunciation refers to the way a word or a language is spoken or the
manner in which someone utters a word. If one is said to have correct
pronunciation, then it refers to both within a particular dialect..
(http://en.m.wikipwdia.org/wiki/pronunciation?wasredirected=true)
Murcia, M.C (1991:158) stated that The widespread adoption of
communicative approach to language teaching of pronunciation.
From the statement above, the writer concludes that communicative
approach can be used as a method of teaching pronunciation.
Brown (1994:57) explains that the Audio-lingual Method was widely
used in the United States and other countries in the 1950s and 1960s. It is
still used in some programs today. This method is based on the principles of
behaviour psychology. It adapted many of the principles and procedures of
the Direct Method, in part as a reaction to the lack of speaking skills of the
reading approach. This new method incorporated many of the features of the
earlier Direct Method, but the disciplines added the concepts of teaching
linguistics patterns in combination with habit forming.

3. Research Methodology
3.1 Method
The writer in this research uses an experimental method. Based on
Arikunto (2002: 3), Eksperimen adalah suatu cara untuk mencari sebabakibat antara dua faktor yang sengaja ditimbulkan oleh peneliti dengan

mengeliminasi atau mengurangi atau menyisihkan faktor-faktor yang bisa

mengganggu
3.2 Population
According to Arikunto in the Encyclopedia of Educational Education
states A population is a set (or collection) of all elements possessing one or
more attributes of interest (108).
The population of the research is the eighth grade students of MTs KHAS
Kempek Cirebon in academic 2009-2010. There are eight classes altogether
and each class has about 46 students.
3.3 Sample
According to Fraenkel and Wallen, A sample is a group in a research
study on which information is obtained (1993: 78).
Sample is part population; according Arikunto says that, The research
must be carried out if the populations are less than 100, it would be better for
the researcher to become a total number (2002: 120).
The sample is taken randomly; the sample of this study covers two
classes. The experiment class is 7B and the control class is 7C. Moreover the
technique is purposive, non random sampling.

3.4 Technique of Data Analysis

In order to reach the purpose of this research, the writer uses quasi
experimental method with pre-test and post-test design. Where the formula of
the design is:
O1 X

O2

(Arikunto, 2002: 78)

Where:
O1 = pre-test
X = treatment

O2 = post-test
After giving treatment to the students, the writer gives a post-test to
them. So the writer can compare the result of the post-test between
experimental and control group.
3.5 Data Analysis
From the design above that observation has been done before treatment
(O1) is pre-test and observation that has been done after the treatment is posttest. So the difference between O1 and O2 is O2 O1 is assumed as an effect of
the treatment. So, in analyzing the data the writer uses the t-test from
Arikunto (2002:
Md275) that is used to count the effectiveness of the treatment.
t
2
The formula is: xd
N ( N 1)

Where:
Md

= the difference of mean of pre-test and post-test

xd = deviation of each subject

xd2
= the total deviation square
N = the total number of students
N1

= degree of freedom (df)

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alkhuli, M. English as Foreign Language: Linguistic Background Teaching
Methods. Riyad University. 1976.
Arikunto, S. 2003. Prosedur Penelitian. Rineka Cipta. Jakarta.
Fraenkel, Jack R and Norman E. Wallen. (1993) How to Design and Evaluate
Reasearch in Education. Mc Graw Hill.
Hamid, F. 1996. English for Children. Depdikbud Dirjen Dikdasmen BPPMG
SLTP setara D-III. Jakarta.
Heaton. 1975. Writing English Language Tests. Longman Group Limited.
London.
Maxwell. 1996. Qualitative Research Design an Interactive Approach. Sage
Publication. London. New Delhi.
Purwanto. 2001. Prinsip-prinsip dan Teknik Evaluasi Pengajaran. Remaja
Rosdakarya. Bandung.
Samsidi, P. 1986. Writing. Universitas Jakarta. Karunika. Jakarta.
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Wendy, S and Ytreberg, L. 1990. Teaching English to Children. Longman. London
New York.

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