TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………1
Chapter
1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….2
1.1 Background of the Study………………………………………………………………..2
1.2 Reasons for Choosing the Topic………………………………………………………...4
1.3 Research Questions……………………………………………………………………...4
1.4 Purposes of the Study……………………………………………………………………5
1.5 Significance……………………………………………………………………………...5
1.6 Outline of the Report…………………………………………………………………….6
2. Review of Related Literature…………………………………………………………..7
2.1 Previous Studies………………………………………………………………………….7
2.2 Theoretical Background………………………………………………………………….9
2.3 Framework of the Present Study………………………………………………………...10
3. Methods of Investigation……………………………………………………………….12
3.1 Object of the Study………………………………………………………………………12
3.2 Roles of the Researcher………………………………………………………………….12
3.3 Type of Data……………………………………………………………………………..12
3.4 Instrument for Collecting Data…………………………………………………………..12
3.5 Procedures of Collecting Data…………………………………………………………...13
3.6 Procedures of Analysing Data…………………………………………………………...13
References…………………………………………………………………………………...14
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
English as a foreign language is one of compulsory subject that is taught in
Indonesia. In learning English, it includes four language skills those are listening,
speaking, reading and writing and language aspects those are structure or grammar,
vocabulary and pronunciation. And one of the goals to get good communication is to get
the students pronunce well. Relating to this case, pronunciation is the way to build human
ability to construct and understand conversation.
Pronunciation is important. One of the most difficult problems facing non-native
speakers of English is pronunciation. It is usually the biggest obstacle to overcome when
trying to achieve fluency. Many non-native speakers have studied grammar for many
years but they are unable to speak like native speakers due to their inability to pronounce
the sounds of words properly. Pronunciation is the first and most important thing native
speakers notice during a conversation. Knowing grammar and vocabulary are important
but useless if you are unable to pronoun those structures or words correctly. Many cases
of misunderstanding in communication were caused by mispronuncing of words.
Moreover, good pronunciation skill can give more self confidence when speaking in
front of many people.
As we know, Indonesia as multicultural country has customs, traditions, language,
dialects, accents, behavior etc. which are presented differently. No wonder most of
Indonesians have difficulties in speaking English with good pronunciation, because they
are not familiar with language. Their English pronunciation is still influenced by their
regional dialect, accent, environment, and their mother tongue language. Socio cultural
background has been the important factor in producing English correct pronunciation, as
well as the parents’ socio cultural background affect their children in mastering English
pronunciation. The condition and situation in family environment influence students
pronunciation as well on the basic phonetic principle as summarised in the Motor Theory
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of Speech Perception, i.e. that people cannot hear what they cannot produce and they
cannot produce what they cannot hear (Liberman & Mattingly, 1985). The main point is
that foreign sounds are perceived more easily when students are able to produce them
correctly. Therefore, this research will investigate the correlation between parents’ socio
cultural background and students mastering English pronunciation.
Sociolinguistic research in SLA has documented that social, cultural and
psychological factors affect language acquisition. Indeed, nowdays, there are more
research of scholars interested in how social factors influence the learner’s approach to
pronunciation, and ultimately, their likelihood of fossilizing (Moyer, 2004; Piller, 2002).
Research on social factors’ influence on second language pronunciation has appeared
under topics such as acculturation (Schumann, 1986), identity (Zuengler, 1988),
discrimination (Lippi-Green, 1997; Munro, 2003), ethnic group identification (Gatbonton,
Trofimovich & Magid 2005), as well as social variables thought to influence
pronunciation acquisition (Miller, 2003), affect beliefs about L2 speakers’ intelligibility
or speakers’ ability to speak the language (e.g., Lindemann, 2002; Rubin, 1992), or
influence teachers’ identities when learning to teach (Golombek & Rehn, 2005).
Socio cultural refers to a psychological framework that emphasizes the role of
social and cultural context in human learning. Family is often the center of social
structure especially parents who have a strong sense of interdependence and respect. At
home, students and their families communicate in the language they know best. It is
reasonable to assume that an individual’s original language or mother tongue affects how
a student speaks another language acquired later since phonology, pronunciation and
grammatical processing are different.
The pronunciation is important to be taught to the students. It is one of the
language components that the students have to master. They have to learn to recognize
and make some sounds that are not used in their own language. In English, it is very
different between how to spell and to pronounce the words. Speaking is the most
important skill among others. This can be proved by the fact that all people in the world
communicate to each other to express their ideas, thoughts, opinions and feelings orally.
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1.2 Reasons for Choosing the Topic
This research needs to be done because:
1. Since English is compulsory subject in Indonesia, it is prominent to learners
mastering the language which includes vocabulary, grammar and especially
pronunciation in this case.
2. As a multicultural country, Indonesia creates various background of the society. In
this case, parents’ socio cultural backgrounds take principle role in influencing their
children in producing good pronunciation.
3. Pronunciation is important in communication to understand each other. Poor
pronunciation will cause problems in oral communication no matter how good
speaker’s English grammar and vocabulary.
4. Many of the pronunciation problems are caused by the influence of students’ mother
tounge which include in socio cultural background. Therefore, it is important to know
and overcome this problem.
1.3 Research Questions
The research questions are formulated as follows:
1. How is the correlation between parents’ socio-cultural background and students
mastering English pronunciation?
2. Is there any correlation between parents’ socio-cultural background and students
mastering English pronunciation?
3. Does parents’ socio cultural background influence students mastering English
pronunciation?
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1.4 Purposes of the Study
The purpose of this research is to investigate the correlation between parents’
socio-cultural background and students mastering English pronunciation. Nowdays,
English is important language in global era to communicate. And one of basic aspects of
language is pronunciation. Besides, socio cultural background take important role in
influencing pronunciation production. Therefore, It is needed to know and overcome this
problem.
1.5 Significance
The result of the research is expected to make particularly significant contribution
toward the process of teaching and learning English:
1. Theoretical significance
This research is expected to give reference in teaching English. This research gives
description about how parents’ socio cultural background influences students
mastering pronunciation. Parents and students can be informed and motivated to
produce better pronunciation.
2. Practical significance
Hopefully, this research will help the teachers how to overcome students’
pronunciation problem related parents’ socio cultural background. Therefore, the
teacher can improve their methods in teaching learning process in the classroom.
3. Pedagogically significance
It is expected that the result of the research will be useful input for the writer as
references in effort and self improvement about how to teach English pronunciation
well.
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1.6 Outline of the Report
As an introduction to the structure and content of this research, the following is an
outline of the thesis.
Chapter Two presents the theoretical framework of this study and reviews the
related literature. It also addresses the specific questions that this study is going to answer.
Chapter Three presents the methodology used in the research. It briefly discusses
the relevance of an ethnographic approach for this study. It also provides information
about the crucial role of an ethnographer in an ethnographic study. It also outlines the
research procedures and research method which includes sources of data, techniques of
data collection and methods of data analysis.
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Previous Studies
Pronunciation is rarely taught in the foreign language classroom beyond the initial
introduction to the language’s sound system in the early stages of instruction (Elliot,
1995). Furthermore, it is one of the most difficult challenges that second language
learners face – noticing the nuances of a foreign language and being able to reproduce
them. The more that educators understand the characteristics that affect their learners’
pronunciation, the more they can develop and enhance their instruction to augment the
accuracy of their learners’ pronunciation.
Pronunciation is part of speech which includes word, intonation, and the sounds
of language. According to Harmer (2001: 26), Pronunciation is the knowledge of how to
say a word – that is how to pronounce it. There are as many different kinds of English as
there are speakers of it ; no two people speak exactly alike – we can always hear
differences between them – and the pronunciation of English varies of great deal in
different geographical areas.
In the other hand Kelly (2000: 9) explains that the study of pronunciation consists
of two fields, namely phonetics and phonology. Phonetics refers to the study of speech
sounds. A phonetician usually works in one or more of the following areas:
1. The anatomical, neurological, and psychological bases of speech (collectively
known as psychological phonetics)
2. The actions and movements of the speech organs in producing sounds
(articulatory phonetics)
3. The nature and acoustics of the sound waves which transmit speech (acoustic
phonetic)
4. How speech is received by the ears (auditory phonetics)
5. How speech is perceived by the brain (perceptual phonetics)
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One of the most prominent features of a language’s sound system is its collection
of sounds (Celce-Murcia, Brinton, and Goodwin, 1996). Linguists refer to this collection
of consonants and vowels as the segmental aspect of language. In addition to this
inventory, languages also have other unique features that surpass the segmental level.
Suprasegmental features involve such linguistic trends as word stress, sentence stress,
and rhythm. In short, word stress refers to the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables
within a word. Generally, there are three levels of word stress, which are often referred to
as strong (strongly stressed), medial (lightly stressed), and weak (unstressed).
When discussing the pronunciation features of the second language learners in
relation to their pronunciation and second language acquisition, it is necessary to note the
work done by Schumann (1986) on acculturation and its role in the process of language
learning. His acculturation model defines that learners will acquire the target language to
the degree that they acculturate (Celce-Murcia, et al., 1996). According to Schumann,
acculturation refers to a learner’s openness to a target culture as well as a desire to be
socially integrated in the target culture. His research (1976, 1986) on acculturation
examines the social and psychological integration of immigrant students as a predictor of
the amount of English language they acquire and use (Tong, 2000).
Schumann maintains that the acquisition and use of English is a measure of the
degree to which students have become acculturated to the host culture. Acculturation,
according to Schumann (1986), refers to the social and psychological contact between
members of a particular group and members of the target culture. The more interaction
(i.e., social/psychological closeness) a group has with the target group, the more
opportunities will result for the group to acquire and use English. Conversely, less
interaction (i.e., social/psychological distance) results in less acquisition and use of
English. The group's amount of contact with the target culture has an effect on the
amount of English acquired and used.
Java language is the one of the language that used by the people in Indonesia,
some word at that language generally said more heavily, such us : /june/ _u:n/ and
/bad/b_d/. They say that word with heavy Java accent. They are difficult to master and
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change their pronunciation is like British or American accent because their dialect is very
strong.
2.2 Theoretical Background
The pronunciation of English is influenced by the differences of geographical
areas where English is spoken. In this case, Trudgil (1994; 2) stated that where are you
from, of course, will not only thing which influence how you speak. In addition, people
speak different kind of English depending on what kind of social background they come
from.
Generally, someone who learns a language as native or mother tongue will find no
difficulty in pronunciation. For instance, an infant who was born and grow in Indonesia
will capture Indonesia pronunciation easily. Likewise, an infant who was born and grow
in Spain and learn Spain language, as his mother tongue will capture Spain pronunciation
easily. In the beginning, usually, those infants will get a little problem in voicing some
special sounds. According to Miller (1993), what happen to those infants are called
Phonological Development. When the stages of Phonological Development are perfectly
over, the problem in producing special sounds will disappear naturally. On the other
hands, someone who learns English as a second or foreign language will get problem in
mastering English pronunciation. The problem occurs in mastering pronunciation are
common said by some experts.
Ehlrich (1999 : 12 ) divide the factors that effect the students in mastering
pronunciation into three groups :
1. Biological Factors
A common observation made by people involve in the field of second language
learning is that adult second language learners almost always have a foreign accent while
child second language learners almost always attain native like pronunciation.
2. Sosiocultural factors
It has been claimed that the more strongly second language learner identify with
members of the second language culture, the more likely they are to sound like members
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of that culture. Conversely, if it is important for learner to preserve their own culture
identify, they may hold on to their foreign accent as marker of this identify.
3. Personality Factors
Learners who are out going, confident and willing to take risk have more
opportunities to practice their pronunciation of the second language simply because they
are more often involved in interaction with native speaker.
It is clear from statement above that family socio cultural background has
important role in affecting pronunciation.
2.3 Framework of the Present Study
In linguistics, an accent is a manner of pronunciation peculiar to a particular
individual, location, or nation. An accent may identify the locality in which its speakers
reside (a geographical or regional accent), the socioeconomic status of its speakers, their
ethnicity, their caste or social class, their first language (when the language in which the
accent is heard is not their native language), and etc. And all of them could influence
people accent. (Davies, 2007 : 43). Accent is refers to phonological variation, i.e
variation in pronunciation thus, if we talk about a southern accent, we are talking about
the generalized property of English pronunciation in the southern part of the U.S. But,
southern dialect, have more than particular phonological properties. Accent is thus about
pronunciation, while dialect is a boarder term encompassing syntactic, morphological,
and semantic properties as well. Accents typically differ in quality of voice,
pronunciation of vowels and consonants, stress, and prosody. Although grammar,
semantics, vocabulary, and other language characteristics often vary concurrently with
accent, the word 'accent' refers specifically to the differences in pronunciation, whereas
the word 'dialect' encompasses the broader set of linguistic differences. Often 'accent' is a
subset of 'dialect'.
In Java accent, they use stressing in some phonetics, such as ; b, d, g, j, _ and ð.
Some word at that language generally said with more heavy and that very influence to
their speak specially in their pronunciation.
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Based on explicit explanation about English and Java accent, it is found that they
have differences with some words and they say that word with heavy Java accent. They
are difficult to master and change their pronunciation just like British or American accent,
because their dialect is very strong and very influence for their pronunciation when they
are speaking English. In this case, the researcher didn’t find specific theory about Java
accent. But according to trudgil (1994 : 2) , mother tongue is very influence the
pronunciation of someone who practice English in oral communication. Some word of
English that influenced with Java accent, such as :
b : box, boy, bad, beat
d : donkey, dragon, do
g : give, game, garden
j : yes, yard
_ : jungle, jump, june
ð : then, them, their
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CHAPTER III
METHODS OF INVESTIGATION
3.1 Object of the Study
Object of this research is the students of SMPN 2 Jepara. The population is the
students in acedemic year 2012/2013 from all classes. The sample is 30 students from
Java.
3.2 Roles of the Researcher
The researcher here, determine and select the population and sample. Then
collecting the data and analyze it.
3.3 Type of Data
The data is nominal which is selected randomly, since the students of SMPN 2
Jepara mostly have Java background.
3.4 Instrument for Collecting Data
The instruments that used in this research was pronunciation accent test material
with direct observation which was done through record player, record player is used to
record the students pronunciation and accent when they pronounced the conversation text
that given by the researcher and after that researcher would analyze students
pronunciation with a native speaker as a key instrument. The researcher used a native
speaker as a key instrument because researcher wanted to know how strong Java stressing
accent influence their English pronunciation. His name is Jeremy Tosh, B. A and he came
from United States of America (USA). In this research, native speaker as listener for
students’ voices and as assessor for phonetics which researched. And the last the
researcher would do interview with students about students’ problem in changing their
pronunciation to be better.
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3.5 Procedures of Collecting Data
In collecting data, the researcher followed these steps:
1. Observe the class situation
2. Look the information about Java students, to become them as samples
3. Provide the short text to the students
4. Give the English text to the students
5. Assist the students to read the English conversation text
6. Record the students’ voice by recorder
7. Listen the result from recorder and analyze their English pronunciation with a native
speaker as a key instrument
3.6 Procedures of Analysing Data
The data would analyze based on the descriptive qualitative in scoring test, the
researcher used the following larges of score:
P = F x 100
N
( Arikunto ; 1998 : 258)
Where : P = The total of man score
N = The total of Phonetics
F = The total of correct phonetics
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REFERENCES
Allen, W. Stannard. 1960. Living English Speech ( Stress and Intonation Practice for Foreign
Students). London: Longmans
Arikunto, S. 2006. Prosedur Penelitian Suatu Pendekatan Praktek. Jakarta: Rieneka Cipta
Harmer, Jeremy. 2001. How to Teach English. New York: Longman ink
Kelly, Gerard. 2000. How to Teach Pronunciation . Charlbury: Bluestone Press
Elliot, A.R. (1995). Foreign Language Phonology: Field independence, attitude, and the success
of formal instruction in Spanish pronunciation. The Modern Language Journal, 79(iv), 530-542.
Elliot, A.R. (1995) Field independence/dependence, hemispheric specialization, and attitude in
relation to pronunciation accuracy in Spanish as a foreign language. The Modern Language
Journal, 79(iii), 356-371.
Celce-Murcia M., Brinton D.M., and Goodwin J. M. (1996). Teaching Pronunciation: a
reference for teachers of English to speakers of other languages. New York, NY: Cambridge
University Press.
Davies, Alan. 2007. An Introduction to Applied English Linguistic. Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press
Tong, V. (2000). The Relationship Between First and Second Languages and Culture: Finding a
Cross-Cultural Identity. Hunter College of CUNY.
http://www.ehow.com/facts_7488114_sociocultural-mean.html
http://www.colorincolorado.org/educators/reachingout/backgrounds/
http://funeasyenglish.com/american-english-pronunciation-the-importance-of-pronunciation.htm
http://www.slideshare.net/yusuf_k/why-is-pronunciation-important
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