JETALL

Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics

Volume 1 2018

STUDENTS’ PRONUNCIATION OF ENGLISH SOUNDS;

LONG VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS
Eka Puspa Cahyani, Noor Eka Chandra, Dini Noor Arini
Universitas Lambung Mangkurat

Abstract: Pronunciation is a fundamental part of learning English because not only we learn
the language; we’re going to use the language as well. In order to be able to use the language,
we need to learn how to produce it first. Pronunciation helps students to pronounce the words,
phrases, and sentences in the right way. It doesn’t mean that we have to speak like the native,
but it means that we can pronounce the language intelligibly so that we can be understood. The
research aims to find out the most difficult long vowels and diphthongs sound pronounced by
fifth-semester students of Lambung Mangkurat University academic year 2016/2017. The
population of this study was fifth-semester students Lambung Mangkurat University academic
year 2016/2017. The researcher takes 35 students by using purposive sampling technique. Test
and interview were used in collecting the data. The result shows that students have difficulties
in pronouncing long vowels and diphthongs due to students’ first language and the lack of
practice in speaking English. The most difficult long vowels and diphthongs sound pronounced
by students are /ɔ:/; /i:/; /eɪ/; /ɪə/; /əʊ/. Based on the resulting research, it is suggested to the
teacher to use drilling and listen-repeat techniques more often to practice students’ long vowels
and diphthongs. Students also need to practice English sounds especially long vowels and
diphthongs more by doing recording, imitating and speak English a lot.
Keywords: Students’ Pronunciation, Difficulties, Long Vowels, Diphthongs

63 | P a g e
 JETALL
Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
Volume 1 2018

INTRODUCTION
Pronunciation is the way a word or a language is spoken or the manner in which someone utters
a word. According to (AMEP 2001:1) “Pronunciation refers to the production of sounds that
we use to make meaning. It includes attention to the particular sounds of a language
(segments), aspects of speech beyond the level of the individual sound, such as intonation,
phrasing, stress, timing, rhythm (suprasegmental aspects)”
Pronunciation is a fundamental part of learning English because not only we
learn the language; also we’re going to use the language as well. In order to be able to use the
language, we need to learn how to produce it first. Pronunciation helps students to pronounce
the words, phrases, and sentences in the right way. In the right way doesn’t mean that we have
to speak like the native, it means that we can pronounce the language intolligibly so that we
can be understood.
Kenworthy (1998:3) states “While native-like pronunciation may be a goal for
particular learners. And while we should never actively discourage learners from setting
themselves “high” goals, the majority of learners a far more reasonable goal is to be
comfortably intelligible”. Also, Tarone (2005) points out, “the goal of pronunciation teaching
has shifted from targeting a native-like accent to targeting intelligibility, that is, the degree to
which the listener understands the speaker’s utterance.”
Based on the statements above pronunciation is necessary because it helps the
student to be able to produce a language that actually makes meaning and can be understood
by other people. Teaching pronunciation is very important, teacher has to convince their
students of the need to study pronunciation seriously and help them to learn how to pronounce
English sounds correct.
English and Indonesia have different ways of pronouncing sounds. Even though
we have the same alphabets, we have a different way to pronounce them. In English, almost
all the written words have different pronunciation (e.g. Cap: /cap/, in English, alphabet C
sometimes pronounce as /k/, but in Indonesia alphabet, C still pronounce as /c/). This factor
becomes one of many factors caused student’s difficulties in pronunciation. According to
Zilma Iára (1983: 2-3) “It is said that in the foreign language learning process the linguistic
elements which are similar to the mother tongue may present relatively little difficulty, on the
order hand, the greater the difference among them the greater the difficulty.”
Learning English sounds is very important. It is the basic knowledge on how
we pronounce words, phrases or sentences. In learning pronunciation, the individual sounds of
English may be different to the sounds in our first language. Or perhaps, more importantly,
they may be combined with other sounds in different ways or appear in different parts of a
word. The vowels and consonants of English are important elements of pronunciation it is
better if the students learn it from the basic, which is how to pronounce each sound correctly
before they pronounce the words.
In primary and secondary education, the teacher only taught pronunciation
when the students need to be corrected, pronunciation will be learned if it is necessary.

64 | P a g e
 JETALL
Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
Volume 1 2018

In university, especially in Lambung Mangkurat University students were taught

pronunciation from the first semester; in Intensive English, the lecturer gave the students the
theoretical and practical foundation of English pronunciation. The students were taught how
to say the language in correct pronunciation. Although the students were taught the foundation
of English Pronunciation, many of them were still have difficulties in pronouncing the words
correctly. The students were often mispronounced, because some of English words have the
same word (tear - to rip and tear - a drop of water from the eye) that have the same spelling but
difference pronunciation and the same sound (Pray – speak to god and Prey – animal, bird, etc.
killed by another for food) that have different spelling but same pronunciation. Thus, it is
necessary to find students’ difficulties in pronouncing English sounds; in diphthon g and long
vowels and try to find the solution to overcome it.
Some previous study shows that students have difficulties in pronouncing English
diphthongs and long vowels. According to Riadi, Rufinus, and Novita (2003) research, they
state that the students’ incorrect pronunciations of every long vowel are always bigger than the
short vowels. The problem happened because in students’ L1 there are no long vowels. So the
students tend to generalize every vowel they want to say into short vowels. Therefore, the
students’ L1, in this case, may influence their target language that is English.
Pangesty (2013) on her research of difficulties in pronouncing diphthongs also states
that students’ difficulties on the matter are caused by the inconsistency between the written
words in English and the sounds. The students did not use to say and practice English words
in their daily conversations, and a diphthong consists of two vowels, so they think that
diphthong is more difficult to be pronounced.
According to Fachun Zhang (2009) on Asian Social Science (ASS) journal, the factors
that influenced Chinese students pronounce English is the interference of mother tongue in
learning English pronunciation; learners’ age; attitude; psychological factor and prior
pronunciation instruction and the learners’ insufficient knowledge of phonology and phonetics
to a large extent affecting the acquisition of the English pronunciation. On the other hand, the
presentations of distinctions between Chinese and English phonological systems may raise our
awareness of the differences between the two sound systems to avoid errors in pronunciation.
Based on the previous studies above, the researcher concludes there are four reasons why the
students always mispronounce words. Firstly, it is because the students’ L1 influenced their
target language that is English. The second is the inconsistency between the written words in
English and the sounds. The third, most students cannot pronounce the words containing long
vowels and diphthongs correctly because they did not use to say it in daily conversation and
because of the unfamiliar words.
Based on the previous studies above, the researcher concludes there are four reasons
why the students always mispronounce words. Firstly, it is because the students’ L1 influenced
their target language that is English. The second is the inconsistency between the written words
in English and the sounds. The third, most students cannot pronounce the words containing
long vowels and diphthongs correctly because they did not use to say it in daily conversation
and because of the unfamiliar words. It is very important to face pronunciation problems
seriously. Teaching pronunciation from the basic will help the students to build up their
pronunciation.

65 | P a g e
 JETALL
Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
Volume 1 2018

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Pronunciation
Pronunciation refers to the production of sounds that we use to make meaning (AMEP
Research Center, 2002:1). According to Cambridge Dictionary “Pronunciation is the way in
which a word or letter is said, or said correctly or the way in which a language is spoken.”
Harmer (2001:184) states “two particular problems occur in much pronunciation
teaching and learning are; (i) what students can hear: some students have great difficulty
hearing pronunciation features which we want them to reproduce, (ii) the intonation problem:
for many teachers, the most problematic area of pronunciation is intonation. Some of us (and
many of our students) find it extremely difficult to hear ‘tunes’ or identify different patterns of
rising and falling tones.”
According to Burns (2003:5), It is more important that speakers of English can achieve:
• Intelligibility (the speaker produces sound patterns that are recognizable as English)
• Comprehensibility (the listener is able to understand the meaning of what is said)
• Interpretability (the listener is able to understand the purpose of what is said).
For example, a speaker might say It’s hot today as IS ho day. This is unlikely to be
intelligible because of inaccurate sound, stress and intonation patterns. As a result, a listener
would not find the speaker comprehensible, because meaning is not available. Because the
speaker is incomprehensible, the listener would also not be able to interpret the utterance as an
indirect request to open the window.
Children do not learn the rules of spoken language by explicit instruction, but rather by a
combination of copying what they hear, and building up mental generalizations based on their
experiences (McMahon, 2002:114). That is why, a new language needs to be taught at a young
age, by starting the basics sounds in order to make the learners adapt to it earlier.
Clear pronunciation is essential in spoken communication. Even where learners produce minor
inaccuracies in vocabulary and grammar, they are more likely to communicate effectively
when they have good pronunciation and intonation.
Based on the statements above, we can conclude that pronunciation is a very important
factor in learning English not only to teach and learn it as speaking skills but it also important
in order to communicate with people. Pronunciation helps us to understand and be understood.
Phonetics and Phonology
The study of pronunciation consists of two fields, namely phonetics and phonology. Phonetics
refers to the study of speech sounds (Kelly, 2000:9).
Phonetics is concerned with how sounds are produced; transmitted and perceived (we
will only look at the production of sounds). Phonology is concerned with how sounds function
in relation to each other in a language. In other words, phonetics is about sounds of language,

66 | P a g e
 JETALL
Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
Volume 1 2018

phonology about sound systems of language. Phonetics is a descriptive tool necessary to the
study of the phonological aspects of a language (Claire-A. Forel & Genoveva Puskás, 2005:3).
Based on the statements above, we can conclude that Phonetic taught how to produce
the sounds, while phonology is the system of the sounds, phonology, which is the language-
specific selection and organization of sounds to signal meanings.
Phonemes; Vowels and Consonants
Claire-A. Forel and Genoveva Puskás (2005:43) state that “phonemes are maximal bundles of
distinctive features and have their own time-space. This is why they are segmental.” The set
of phonemes consists of two categories: Vowels sounds and Consonant sounds.
A vowel is a sound that is made with the mouth and throat not closing at any point.
Kelly (2000:2) says, “Vowels are all voiced, and may be single (like [e], as in jet) or a
combination, involving a movement from one vowel to another (like [eɪ], as in late). Such
combination is known as diphthongs”.
O’Connor (1980:79) claims, “Vowels are made by voiced air passing through different mouth-
shapes; the differences in the shape of the mouth are caused by different positions of the tongue
and of the lips”.
Below are lists of English vowels in English and Banjarese language, while the English
language has twenty vowels, Banjarese only has three (Kelly, 2000:2; Departemen Pendidikan
Nasional Pusat Bahasa, 2008: xii).
Table 1 English Vowels
Vowels Diphthongs
ɪː Bead eɪ cake
ɪ Hit ɔɪ toy
ʊ Book ɑɪ high
uː Food ɪə beer
e Left ʊə fewer
ə About eə where
ɜː Shirt əʊ go
ɔː Call aʊ house
æ Hat
ʌ Run
ɑː Far
ɒ Dog
Source: Kelly, Gerald (2000:2)

Table 2 Banjarese Vowels

Vowels
Phonetics Banjarese Spelling Initial Position Middle Position End Position
[a] A Abut ba'ah tatamba
[i] I Isuk gisik wani
[u] U Undang buntut balu
Diphthongs
[au] Aw Awak sawrang jagaw
[ai] Ay Ayan payu waday/wadai
[ui] Uy Uyah kuitan tutuy/tutui
Source: Departemen Pendidikan Nasional Pusat Bahasa, 2008: xii

67 | P a g e
 JETALL
Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
Volume 1 2018

A consonant is a sound that is made with the air stopping once or more during the vocalization.
That means that at some point, the sound is stopped by your teeth, tongue, lips, or constriction
of the vocal cords. Consonant sounds can be voiced (a part of the mouth is closed and the air
behind it is released suddenly – for example, v as in van, b as in bun) – or unvoiced (air is
pushed through a narrow part of the mouth – for example, f as in fan, th as in thin) (Burns,
2003: 8).
Below are lists of English consonants in English and Banjarese language, while the English
language has twenty-four consonants, Banjarese only has eighteen (Kelly, 2000:2; Departemen
Pendidikan Nasional Pusat Bahasa, 2008: xii).
Table 3 English Consonants
Consonants
P Pin S sue
B Bin Z zoo
T To ʃ she
D Do ʒ measure
K Cot H hello
G Got M more
tʃ Church N no
dʒ Judge Ŋ sing
F Fan L live
V Van R red
Θ Think J yes
Ð The W wood
Source: Kelly, Gerald (2000:2)

Table 4 Banjarese Consonants

Consonants
Banjarese Initial Middle End
Phonetics
Spelling Position Position Position
[p] P Payu lapik kantup
[b] B Balu abah None
[t] T Tatak utak buntut
[d] D Dukun dadak None
[tʃ] C Cikang bancir None
[dʒ] J Jajak bujur None
[k] K Kalu akur Mitak
[g] G Gayung tagal None

68 | P a g e
 JETALL
Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
Volume 1 2018

[m] M Masin amas Banam

[n] N Nini kanas Alon
[ŋ] Ng Ngalih tangguh Lading
[ ɲ] Ny Nyanya hanyar None
[s] S Sintak basuh Batis
[h] H Harat tuha Gaduh
[l] L Luang talu Ganal
[r] R Rasuk warik Cagar
[w] W Waluh awak Jawaw
[j] Y Yato uyah Mucay
Source: Departemen Pendidikan Nasional Pusat Bahasa, 2008: xii
Pronunciation Difficulties
Students who face difficulties mean they are in trouble or have problems, because they
are unable to understand something or because they didn’t have enough knowledge to express.
Bird (1996:221) says, “Difficulty is something hard to do or to understand”. In other words,
difficulties are something which is not easy to understand or a thing that is hard to do.
Kelly (2000:8) explains that “the lack of a one-to-one relationship between spelling
and pronunciation in English, while by no means unique, present learners with many
problems.”
In her book of “How to Teach Pronunciation”, Kelly listed the difficulties learners have
in Pronunciation as follow:
• The learner’s first language (referred to as L1) may have a one-to-one relationship
between sounds and spelling. The concept of there not being such a relationship may
be new.
• Even if such a concept is not new for the learner, they will have to become familiar
with new sound-spelling relationships.
• They may be sounds, and combinations of sounds, used in English which do not occur
in L1 (Kelly, 2000:8).

METHODOLOGY
Research Design
This study used a qualitative approach and descriptive method to obtain information.
Qualitative approach – concerned with a quality of information, qualitative approach attempts
to gain an understanding of the underlying reasons and motivations for actions and establish

69 | P a g e
 JETALL
Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
Volume 1 2018

how people interpret their experiences and the world around them (Stuart MacDonald & Nicola
Headlam, CLES, Pg. 9).
Collin (2007:2) states “descriptive research can be used to identify and classify the
elements or characteristics of the subject.” Kothari also states that (2004:2) “The major purpose
of descriptive research is a description of the state of affairs as it exists at present.” In
conclusion, descriptive research in this research is to describe, explain, and conclude finding
by describing the percentage summary of variables; long vowels and diphthongs.
The instrument in this research was a test. 138 students from batch 2014 included 35
students among them as samples were asked to read words that consist of 5 English sounds of
long vowels and 8 diphthongs that will be recorded and scored based on a rubrics scale 1 to 4
with the description; 1. Poor; 2. Fair; 3. Good; 4. Very Good; and 5. Excellent. The test will
be held once. The research and the second rater will analyze their problems in pronouncing
words containing long vowels based on rubrics.
The researcher also interviews the students to find out the kind of difficulties the
students find in pronouncing long vowels and diphthongs. The interview consisted of two parts.
First, the Personal Information Survey (PIS) was given to collect specific information about
the participant s linguistic development.
This research used purposive sampling to take data, due to the writer selection of
students’ batch 2014 because they have learned the foundation of English Pronunciation. The
writer takes 25% of 138 active students as a population so the sample is 35 students that are
taken from fifth-semester students of English department on Lambung Mangkurat University.
The researcher used to test and interview to collect the data. Students were asked to
pronounce a list of words that have been prepared to find which sounds of long vowels and
diphthongs are difficult to pronounce by the students. After the students took the test, the
students were interviewed using questions that have been prepared to find out students’
difficulties in pronouncing English sounds; long vowels and diphthongs. The results of the test
which scored using a rubric and interview were used to identify and describe which sounds are
difficult to pronounce by the students.
Data Analysis
The test that had been taken by the students were analyzed by using descriptive statistics to
find which English sounds of long vowels that have a high percentage of being difficult to pronounce.
In analyzing the data, the researcher used several procedures adapted from Sukardi (2003), which
conducted by several steps:
a) Scoring: the scores on every answer that the researcher has collected from the instruments that
have been distributed. Each item raised questions on the instrument quantified in numerical
terms. Ex. Each sound has the score range from 1-10 from each word they are able to
pronounce correctly.
b) Tabulating: after scoring stage, the results are transferred in a more concise and easier to
analyze.
In this case, the score will be tabulated based on the following categories:

Table 5 Score Category

Student’s score in the test Category
1-2 words Poor
3-4 words Fair

70 | P a g e
 JETALL
Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
Volume 1 2018

5-6 words Good

7-8 words Very Good
9-10 words Excellent

c) Describing data: to describe the existing data in order to obtain a real form of respondents,
making it more understandable by the researcher or someone who is interested in the results of
research conducted.
Describing students’ data using the rubric below:

Table 6 Rubric
Recognizing Long Vowel Sounds
Poor Fair Good Very Good Excellent
1 2 3 4 5
The students are The students are The students are able to The students are The students are
able to pronounce able to pronounce pronounce 5-6 out of able to pronounce able to pronounce
1-2 out of ten 3-4 out of ten ten words 7-8 out of ten 9-10 out of ten
words containing words containing containing long vowel words containing words containing
long vowel long vowel sounds sounds long vowel sounds long vowel sounds
sounds
Recognizing Diphthong Sounds
Poor Fair Good Very Good Excellent
1 2 3 4 5
The students are The students are The students are able to The students are The students are
able to pronounce able to pronounce pronounce 5-6 out of able to pronounce able to pronounce
1-2 out of ten 3-4 out of ten ten words containing 7-8 out of ten 9-10 out of ten
words containing words containing diphthong sounds words containing words containing
diphthong sounds diphthong sounds diphthong sounds diphthong sounds
Source: Adapted from Rcampus site

d) Statistical Test/Analysis is processing data obtained by using formulas or rules applicable, in

accordance with research or design approach taken. The use of formulas or rules should be able
to measure and in accordance with the purpose or results of research to researchers achieve.
The researcher used the frequency computation by using the following formula:

71 | P a g e
 JETALL
Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
Volume 1 2018

F
P= x100%
N

Note:
P = Percentage score
F = the frequency of answer from respondents for each item of the question.
N = overall number of respondent
(Sudijono, 2004:43)

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

Based on the result of the test and interview. It was apparent that the students did have some difficulties
in pronouncing long vowels and diphthongs. As we can see the outcome of the test and interview below:

Test Result
Table 7 Long Vowels Pronunciation Percentage
No. Long Vowels Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor
1 The sound of /ɔː/. - 54.30% 31.40% 14.30% -
2 The sound of /iː/ 20% 60% 17.10% 2.90% -
3 The sound of /ɑː/ 37.10% 54.30% 8.60% - -
4 The sound of /ɜː/ 54.30% 40% 5.70% - -
5 The sound of /uː/. 62.80% 28.60% 8.60% - -
Note: Difficult – Less Difficult (1 – 5)

The Sounds /ɔː/, /iː/, and /ɑː/

As we can see on the result of long vowels pronunciation percentage, it can be concluded that
the more difficult sounds to be pronounced by the students are the sounds: /ɔː/, /iː/, and /ɑː/. We can
see on the table that the percentage of the sounds have under 50% excellent category, which means that
the students have difficulties in pronouncing the sounds.
Below are some of the words the students mispronounced from the sound /ɔː/, /iː/, and /ɑː/.

Table 8 Students’ Mispronunciation

Sounds Words Phonetic Students’ Mispronunciation
/ɔː/ Saw /sɔː/ /sʌ w/ /səw/ /səʊ/
Author /’ɔːθə(r)/ /ʌ ə(r)/ /aʊ ɔː(r)/ /ɒtə(r)/
Broad /brɔːd/ /brʌ / /brəʊd/
Alternate /ɔːl’təneɪt/ /al’terneɪt/
/iː/ Female /’fi:meil/ /fɪ’meil/
Recent /’ri:snt/ /rɪsent/ /rɪ’zent/
Peach /pi:tʃ/ /pɪtʃ/
/ɑː/ Laugh /lɑːf/ /lʌv/ /ləv/
Behalf /bɪ’hɑːf/ /’bi:half/ /bɪ’hef/

According to the result above and the students’ interview, the reasons they have difficulties
from the sounds above are because the Banjarese language doesn’t have long vowels sounds, and the
sounds in Banjarese language are also limited. Phonologically, Banjarese language has three vowel
sounds /a/, /i/, and /u/. The students’ tend to change their pronunciation into sounds that they are used
to. As we can see above, most of the mispronunciation came from the sounds that do not exist in

72 | P a g e
 JETALL
Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
Volume 1 2018

Banjarese language, causing the students to substitute the sounds to become the sounds they are used
to.
McMahon, 2002:20 stated, “Our native phoneme system tends to get in the way when we try
to learn other languages”. The research of English pronunciation in Sudan University of Science and
Technology also found that “the mispronunciation of the Students Speaking English is due to lack of
the problematic phonemes in Arabic. The phoneme contrasts affect many common English words, so
poor production of these sounds will be very noticeable.” (Journal of English Language and Literature
Studies, 2014:41). Based on the statements, we can conclude that the result is in line with the theory
and the previous research.

The Sounds /ɜː/ and /uː/

Table 9 Students’ Mispronunciation
Sounds Words Phonetic Students’ Mispronunciation
/ɜː/ Early /’ɜːli/ /’ɪrli/
/uː/ Soup /su:p/ /səʊp/

The sounds /ɜː/ and /uː/ as we can see on the table, the percentage of the sounds are above 50%
excellent category, which means that the students didn’t have significant difficulties in pronouncing
the sounds. The students could pronounce the sounds easier because even though in Banjarese
phonology we don’t have the long vowel sounds of /uː/ and /ɜː/, the Banjarese language still has the
sound /u/ and the alphabet “e” that that can be the substitute for the sound /ɜː/. The only problem they
have with the sounds is that they tend to shorten it. Because as it can be seen in Banjarese phonemes,
they do not have long vowels.

Table 10 Students’ Diphthongs Pronunciation Percentage

No. Diphthongs Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor
1 The sound of /eɪ/ 8.60% 22.90% 45.70% 17.10% 5.70%
2 The sound of /əʊ/ 37.10% 25.70% 28.60% 8.60% -
3 The sound of /ɪə/ 20% 57.10% 22.90% - -
4 The sound of /ɑʊ/ 57.10% 22.90% 11.40% 8.60% -
5 The sound of /eə/ 60% 25.70% 11.40% 2.90% -
6 The sound of /ʊə/ 62.80% 34.30% 2.90% - -
7 The sound of /aɪ/ 82.90% 11.40% 2.90% 2.80% -
8 The sound of /ɔɪ/ 91.40% 5.70%% 2.90% - -
Note: Difficult – Less Difficult (1 – 8)

The Sounds /eɪ/, /əʊ/, and /ɪə/

Below are the words that often get Mispronounced by the students.
Table 11 Students’ Mispronunciation
Sounds Words Phonetics Students’ Mispronunciation
/eɪ/ April /’eɪprəl/ /epril/ /ɑprəl/
Essay /’eseɪ/ /’eɪse/ /’ɪseɪ/
Patient /’peɪʃnt/ /’pæʃnt/ /pɪʃnt/
/əʊ/ Gold /gəʊld/ /gold/ /gəld/
Arrow /’ærəʊ/ /’ərəʊ/ /əraʊ/
Throat /θrəʊt/ /θrət/ /’θroat/
/ɪə/ Period /’pɪərɪəd/ /’perɪed/ /’pɪrɪəd/
Theory /’θɪəri/ /’θeori/
Area /’eərɪə/ /a’ria/ /’əreə/

Kelly (2000:2) stated, “…or a combination, involving a movement from one vowel sound to
another (like [eɪ], as in late; such combinations are known as diphthongs”. Roach (1991:20) also said,
“The important thing to remember about all the diphthongs is that the first part is much longer and
stronger than the second part”. In conclusion diphthongs is the combination of two vowel sounds in

73 | P a g e
 JETALL
Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
Volume 1 2018

which one of them has clear pronunciation than other, clearer does not mean we eliminate the other
sound entirely but pronounce it softer than the other.
Based on the result above, we can see most of the students either eliminate one of the sounds
in diphthongs or change it entirely into one different sound which caused the words have a different
meaning or mispronounce. The main reason for this result is because the students have not used to the
sounds. Another reason is that their native language does not have diphthongs as many as the English
language has.
The diphthongs of Bahasa Banjar are limited, it only consists of /aʊ/, /uɪ/, and /aɪ/, not as much
as English which recognizes five diphthongs, /eɪ/, /aɪ/, /ɔɪ/, /oʊ/, and /aʊ/ (K. Gerald, 2002:2; Marsono;
1986: 53).
The difficulties in pronouncing diphthongs sound are more apparent in sounds /eɪ/; /əʊ/and /ɪə/, as it
seen that they were under 50% on the excellent category which showed the students did have difficulties
with the sounds. Beside the same fact about long vowel sounds in Banjarese language are limited,
diphthongs are also falling in the same condition. The limited diphthongs sound in their native language
become the apparent reason why is it difficult for the students. Because the students do not have the
basic information how to pronounce it, most of the students replace the sounds they have difficulties to
pronounce into sounds they have already used to. This result is in line with Zhang & Yin(2009: 142)
statement “Particular sounds that do not exist in the native language can make it difficult for second
language learners to produce which later drives them to try to substitute those sounds with the similar
one in their mother tongue”.

The Sounds /ɑʊ/, /eə/, /ʊə/, /aɪ/, /ɔɪ/

Table 12 Students’ Mispronunciation
Sounds Words Phonetic Students’ Mispronunciation
/ɑʊ/ Mouth /mɑʊθ/ /mɒθ/
/eə/ Chair /tʃeə/ /tʃe(r)
/ʊə/ Europe /’jʊərəp/ /’jurəp/
/aɪ/ Climate /’klaimə/ /’klimət/
/ɔɪ/ Noice /nɔɪz/ /nəɪs/

74 | P a g e
 JETALL
Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
Volume 1 2018

The percentage of sounds /ʊə/; /eə/; /aɪ/; /ɔɪ/; and /ɑʊ/ based on the table of percentage has
more than 50% on excellent category, which means even though some of the students still have
difficulties in pronouncing the sounds, it wasn’t so significant. As we can see on students score in the
appendix and their mispronunciation above, it can be concluded that they do not have significant
difficulty in pronouncing them due to the similarity to their native sounds.
Banjarese language has /aʊ/, /uɪ/, and /aɪ/, which quite similar to the sounds /ɑʊ/, /aɪ/, /eə/,/ɔɪ/.
The student's basic information how to pronounce the sounds that have similarity with their native
sounds made it easier for them to pronounce the sounds as it stated on previous sounds above.
Based on the findings and discussion above it can be concluded that the reasons why students have a
problem in pronouncing the sounds are because The difference between Banjarese and English sounds.
The students’ native language is influencing their pronunciation. According to Gerald (2002:12)
“Aspects of a student's first language can interfere with the pronunciation of a second language not only
in terms of accent but also in terms of mood”.

Interview Result
Interview conducted after the students have taken the test. The students were interviewed to
get more information about their difficulties in pronouncing long vowels and diphthongs sounds, the
researcher classified the result based on the question on students ability, knowledge and difficulty in
pronouncing the sounds.
The researcher used the students who got the highest and lowest score to find out more information
about students difficulties in pronouncing long vowels and diphthongs sounds.
The result of the interview showed that the students have different answers. The students
answer classified into three categories; ability, knowledge, and difficulty (adapted from Eka Pangestu,
p.5-7). Below is the result of students’ interview:

Students’ Ability
Students were asked how they usually learn to pronounce words correctly, especially words
that contain the sounds of long vowels and diphthongs. The researcher interviewed about their
experience in learning pronunciation: can they measure what stage their pronunciation is (beginner,
intermediate or advance); how many hours did the speak?; to whom they spoke?; whether their way of
learning pronunciation effective or not.
The results showed that all of the students said that they did have learned pronunciation.
1) (S)Yes, I learned how to pronounce sounds in Intensive Class. I also learn it in phonology.
2) (S) Pronunciation? I think I learned it in Intensive Class. About 5 or 6 months.
3) (S) I learned pronunciation in University and courses.
When the students were asked to measure their ability in speaking English, almost all of them said
they are on the Intermediate level, only a few of the students claimed that they are on Beginner level.
1) (S) My English level? Intermediate, I think.
2) (S) I don’t really know, I’m not bad I guess, Intermediate?
3) (S) Me? Hmm, probably Beginner, I don’t really speak that often.
When the students were asked how many hours do they speak English each day and to whom they
spoke, they range it between 20 minutes to 3 hours each day. They spoke to their friends, family, or
talking to themselves.
1) (S) I think it’s about 20 minutes each day. But sometimes 30 minutes to 1 or 2 hour. It depends
on my mood. Usually I talked to my self at home. With friends and lecturer on campus.
2) (S) Outside school? I think 1 or 2 hours. Usually I talked with my friends on social media. I
prefer talking to myself, because no one will criticize me.
3) (S) I think I spoke everyday to my friends at school. But intensively probably just 30 minutes to
one hour. Practice the sounds by myself.
4) (S) Hmm, not everyday, probably just like 3 times a week, Intensively.
5) (S) 15-20 minutes a day.
When the students were asked the way they learn how to pronounce words. Almost all of them
answer the same. Majority of students said they usually learn it by watch movies, listen to music and
talking to themselves or friends. They only open their dictionary if they find words they don’t know.

75 | P a g e
 JETALL
Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
Volume 1 2018

1) (S) I usually watch movies, listen to the dialogues and try to imitate them. Sometimes listening
to music.
2) (S) Listening to music. It is fun to learn by listening music, it is entertaining. I memorize the
lyrics and then look up the meaning on dictionary if don’t know them.
3) (S) Watching movies, listening music or talking to myself I guess, anything that made me speak
English.

Students’ Knowledge
They were only about 25% students who can answer correctly about long vowels and diphthongs.
Most of them only know the definition, but not the exact sounds of long vowels and diphthongs or how
many are there. They mostly said that they forgot, or they mention different sounds.
1) (S) Diphthong? 13? I don’t know, I don’t really remember.
2) (S) Long Vowels? Is it not 5? a, i, u, e, o?
3) (S) Diphthongs? 8 right? /eɪ/, /aɪ/, /ɔɪ/, /əʊ/, I forgot the rest
4) (S) Diphthongs? Is it not the /θ/, / /? More than 10?
5) (S) Long Vowels? The ones with the colon right? It has long sounds?
6) (S) Diphthongs? Two sounds become one? I think there are 8 of them.

Students’ Difficulties
The students were asked about their difficulty in pronunciation. What made it difficult to learn.
Almost all of them said they realize they do have difficulty with pronunciation. When the researcher
asked about the reasons, half of them have different reason, but half of it were mostly the same. They
said the caused of their difficulties in pronunciations are mostly cause by they are still not used to the
language, English is so different than Banjarese or Bahasa. The inconsistency between the words and
how to pronounce it made it difficult for them. The difference phonetic sounds between Banjarese or
Bahasa and English also became the caused. There is also lack of practice that made the forgot how to
speak or pronounce the sounds in English.
1) (S) It is difficult because it is so different than my native language or Bahasa. The written words
are so different when it is pronounced.
2) (S) It is hard to remember all the sounds, sometimes they are so similar but they have different
meaning. I cannot remember all of them.
3) (S) I think it is because I seldom practice my pronunciation. I rarely used the language in my
daily life, except when I am in school. But it was also because English is so different than
Banjarese, some of the sounds in English, we don’t have it in Banjarese or Bahasa.
From the results of the test and interview above, it can be concluded that some of the students
discovered that it is difficult to pronounce English sounds; long vowels and diphthongs because they
are not used to the sounds. The students’ also said it is hard to remember all the sounds whether it is
vowel or diphthong. When the researcher asked the students about long vowels and diphthongs, almost
all of the students’ said they forgot what sounds long vowels and diphthongs consist of.
Aside from reasons above the lack of exposure to the target language which in this case the
English language also becomes one of the reasons students have difficulties in pronouncing the sounds,
the students need to get used to the English language by using the language as often as possible to make
their pronunciation better. Some of the students said they only talk in English when there is someone
to talk to, the average hours they used the English language is between 7-21 hours each week.
According to Moyer (2007) “found that experience with and positive orientation to the language
appears to be important factors in developing native-like pronunciation”. From that statement, we can
see that it is important to always use the target language in order to have native-like pronunciation.

76 | P a g e
 JETALL
Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
Volume 1 2018

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

Conclusion
The conclusion provides a final answer to the research problem the researcher asked at the beginning
of this paper. Based on the result of the research that presented in the previous chapter, the conclusions
are;
1) The most difficult long vowel and diphthongs sound pronounced by the students are /ɔ:/; /i:/;
/eɪ/; /ɪə/; /əʊ/.
2) The less difficult long vowel and diphthongs sound pronounced by the students are /ɜː/; /uː/;
/ʊə/; /eə/; /aɪ/; /ɔɪ/; and /ɑʊ/.
3) The difficulties are mostly caused by the influence of students’ first language. Students’ native
language does not have the same sounds as English sounds.
4) The Difficulties are also caused by the lack of practice speaking English.

Suggestion
Considering the results of this research, the researcher gives some suggestion to the students, teachers
and another researcher who would conduct the same research as the researcher, below are the
suggestion:
1) For students, the researcher expects the students always practice pronouncing English sounds
especially long vowels and diphthongs by doing recording, imitating and speaking English a
lot.
2) For teachers, teachers should use drilling and listen-repeat techniques more to practice long
vowels and diphthongs. Teachers should make the students speak more in class.
3) For the future research, the researcher expects future researchers can conduct research in better
and deeper understanding about the reason of difficulties in pronouncing English sounds not
only in long vowels and diphthongs.

77 | P a g e
 JETALL
Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
Volume 1 2018

REFERENCES
Agus Riadi. 2013. Students’ Problems In Pronouncing Short and Long English Vowels. Pontianak:
Tanjungpura University
Adult Migrant English Program AMEP Research Center, 2002. What is pronunciation? [Fact Sheet].
Retrieve from http://www.ameprc.mq.edu.au/docs/fact_sheets/01Pronunciation.pdf Accessed on
December, 24th 2015.
Anas Sudijono. 2004. Pengantar Statistik Pendidikan. PT. Bumi Aksara: Jakarta.
Anne Burns & Stephanie Claire. 2003. Clearly Speaking: Pronunciations in action for teachers.
National Center for English Language Teaching and Research: Macquarie University, Sidney
NSW 2109.
Bird, Graham. 1996. The Meaning of Difficulty. Rutledge. Available [online] at www.edu.go.com
Claire-A, Forel & Genoneva Puskás. 2005. Phonetic and Phonology Online,
http://www.unioldenburg.de/, accessed on January, 20th 2016.
Colin Mortimer. 1997. The element of Pronunciations. United Kingdom: Cambridge.
Departemen Pendidikan Nasional Pusat Bahasa. 2008. Kamus Bahasa Banjar Dialek Hulu Indonesia.
Banjarmasin: Balai Bahasa.
Eka Restu, P., Nur Utami. & Deddy Sofyan. 2013. An Analysis Study on Students’ Difficulties in
Pronouncing Centering Diphthongs. Bogor: Thesis S1 Program Pakuan University.
Gerald Kelly. 2000. How to Teach Pronunciation Jeremy Harmer, Ed. Malaysia: Longman.
Harmer, J. 2004. The Practice English Language Teaching. 3rd Ed. United Kingdom: Cambridge.
Kenworthy, J 1988. Teaching English Pronunciation. Hongkong: Longman.
Khotari, C. R. 2004. Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques. India: New Age International.
Marsono. 1986.Fonetik. Yogyakarta: Gajah Mada University Press.
McMahon, A. 2002. An Introduction to English Phonology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Moyer, A. 2007. Do Language Attitudes Determine Accent? A Study of Bilinguals in the USA. Journal
of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 286, 502-518.
O’Connor, J. D. & Fletcher, C. 1989. Sounds English. Singapore: Longman.
Peter Roach. 1991. English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course 2nd
Edition. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Rcampus. “Irubric: Phonics/Letter Comprehension Rubric”.
http://www.rcampus.com/rubricshowc.cfm?sp=yes&code=X43XAA&. accessed on May 22nd,
2016.
Stuart MacDonald and Nicola Headlam. Research Methods Handbook. Manchester: CLES.
Sudijono, Anas. 2004. Pengantar Pendidikan. Jakarta: PT Rineka Cipta.
Sukardi. 2003. Metodologi Penelitian Pendidikan Kompetensi dan Prakteknya. Jakarta: Bumi Aksara.
Tarone, E. 2005. Speaking in a second language. In E. Hinkel Ed., Handbook of Research in Second
Language Teaching and Learning pp. 485–502. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Zilma Iára Bendeira, R. 1983. An Analysis of Segmental Features of Pronunciation Among First-Year
Undergraduate Students of English at the Federal University of Parana. Curitiba: Dissertation
Program Federal University of Parana.

78 | P a g e
 JETALL
Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
Volume 1 2018

Zhang, F., & Yin, P. 2009. A Study of Pronunciation Problems of English Learners in China. Asian
Social Science, Online, http://www.ccsenet.org, accessed on April 12th, 2016.

79 | P a g e