1.

0 INTRODUCTION TO PRONUNCIATION

Pronunciation is an important components in language. According to Martin

Hewings (2004), pronunciation is the components range from the individual
sounds that make up speech, to the way which pitch, the rise and fall of the
voice, is used to convey meaning. Non-native speaker is always has problems in
pronunciation of target language. However, these problems can overcome by
certain methods and activities.

2.0 PROFILE OF SUBJECT

Our subject is a female student from this institute. She is 21 years old. She is a Malaysian
girl and she is from Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu. She also from the biggest ethnic in
Malaysia which is Malay. Our subject study in Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Padang
Midin in Terengganu. Her knowledge in linguistic is in moderate level. She got D for English
in Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2013. Our subject does not frequently speak in English as
she roughly speaking English once a month. But, she really likes to watch English movies
with English subtitles. She also experienced speak English once with native speaker and
she never speak English with her family members.

3.0 SPEAKER PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION

ma feveret fd z nasi lemak. ts kknt fleve ras z dls! a ls lak ts

envi: sambal. ts ht en spas.

ma mde fans nas lmak tu: r en feten. i: prf:s t sfu:g tm jm es t

s:w s lk en les :l.

ma f:dr end sst, n d :d hnd, du nt ma it ed fud. hav, de

: bts krezi: bat Penang Cendol. de lv d blnd v swit end krimi test
v d kknt mlk wn t dz mkst w tk srp.

s, wen w g: :t t t es feml, wi: wl dfntl hev a : feveret fd

4.0 DATA ANALYSIS

The first problem of pronunciation that she face is the // sound. For example, she
pronounced father as /f:dr/ not /fr/. She also likes to pronounce the sound // at the
end of certain words. For instance, the words own. She pronounce it as / :/. Lastly, she
also has difficulties to pronounce short and long vowels. For instance, the word food she
pronounce as /fd/ not as /fud/.

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5.0 EXPLANATION OF POSSIBLE CAUSES OF PRONUNCIATION DIFFICULTIES

After we analysed speakers pronunciation that we have recorded, it can

fathomed out that subject has some noticeable pronunciation problems. We have
find out four pronunciation problems and its possible causes that effect speakers
pronunciation.

The first problem of pronunciation that she face is the // sound. For
example, she pronounced father as /f:dr/ not /fr/. This is due to the fact
that she faced mother tongue interference. Mother tongue interference occur as
she did not learn English as her first language and learnt it in theoretical instead
of practical. This means, she only learn English but did not practice it in daily life
communication. According to Baljit Bhela (1999), the spelling or pronunciation
patterns and habits of first language (L1) can influence the pronunciation of
English learner. In addition, as we know there is no such sounds of // in Malay
language and this had made it harder for the subject to pronounced // sounds.

Next, she also likes to pronounce the sound // at the end of certain words.
For instance, the words own. She pronounce it as /:/. This issue may cause
from geographical demographic. As for our subject, she born and raised in
Terengganu, so she has adapted with Terengganu dialect which is slightly
different from Malay language. Terengganu communities tend to end some words
with // especially words that end with /n/ sound. As she did not socialized with
the other friends from another region such as Kuala Lumpur or Selangor she
faces difficulties to change her Terengganu dialect during speaking in English.

In addition, our subject cannot differentiate the long and short vowels. For
instance, she pronounced food as fd not fud. From our point of view, the
possible causes that lead to this problem is ethnicity. General know that there is
wide difference between vowels in Malay language and in English. In Malay
language there is no long vowel, therefore it can be problem to Malay speaker to
pronounce the long vowels. Malay tend to pronounce long vowels, short.
Therefore, our subject cannot read the passage with long and short vowels
because she was accustomed with Malay style.

Last but not least, she also read the passage without a lot of stress. No
doubt, she is non-TESL student so that she do not know about the stress mark or
short and long pauses mark. It is possible to state that it depends on her

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educational background. Our subjects educational background in English is weak. She
did not performed well in the school and she got D in her SPM. From our opinion, she does
not have strong basic knowledge in English since the primary school and it affect her
performance in secondary school. In addition, maybe she does not has passion and interest
to learn English language. Therefore, she did not exposed by her teacher during her
secondary school about the stress and pauses when speaking in English.

6.0 SUGGESTION ON THE SOLUTION

As we know, pronunciation difficulties can give us problems such as our

messages does not delivered clearly and miscommunication. This problem also
can lowered down our self-esteem and make us hesitant to speak in foreign
language. But, pronunciation difficulties can be overcome with a few solution
such as watching news and pronunciation videos, jazz chants and practice
speaking English with buddy.

The first solution is watching news and pronunciation videos. Viewers can
easily understand the news as newscaster tend to speak clearly and slowly. News
also usually aided with pictures and videos which make the news more
understanding and informative. According to Alex Ghali (2017), watching the
news helps to put English words in their usual context and allows to hear what
they sound in real life. Pronunciation videos also help viewers to sound the words
correctly. Many videos teach us to pronounce the sound of the letter first before
the word so that we can relate the sound of a letter with the sound of word. We
also can figure out the shape of mouth when sound the letters or words in news
or videos. In summary, watching news and pronunciation videos can improve our
pronunciation.

Second, jazz chants activity. Jazz chants is an activity which students

repeats the word and music rhythmically. The sentence in jazz chants is exactly
like in a conversation but we have to add rhythm in it. It also can be
accompanied by music or hand clapping. This activity allows us to practice stress
and rhythm in a fun way. You can choose a jazz chant in internet or another
media, listen to it and sing along. While you sing along with it, you can figure out
the stressed word, short and long vowels too. It also help us to sound more
natural in English. Lastly, jazz chants can help student to train the stress in
words which is important in pronunciation.

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 After that, practice speaking English with buddy. It is important to practice
speaking as it will give us experiences and we will learn new things. If you did
not confident to speak in front of people, then you can choose a friend who can
encourage you to speak English. You can speak basic things such as your daily
routine, your family or your holiday as long as your conversation with your buddy
is in English. If you do not know any English speaker around you, then you can
use the forums and websites such as Facebook, Twitter or Google+. With these
medium, we are able to converse not only with English speaker, but with native
speaker too. In summary, practice speaking English with someone can enhance
our pronunciation.

In conclusion, pronunciation difficulties can be solved by practicing these

three ways. The solutions given must be practice consistently so that the correct
pronunciation will become our habit. We also can become more confident and
positive to speak and confront with the native speakers.

REFERENCES FOR TASK 2

Bhela, B. (1993). Literacy outreach resource review : a review of resources

specifically for distance literacy and numeracy. Adelaide: Department of
Employement and Technical and Further Education .
Choo, W. Y., Yeoh, W. T., & S. N. (2014). MUET. Shah Alam: Oxford Fajar Sdn. Bhd.
Elkhair Muhammad Idriss Hassan. (2014). Pronunciation Problems: A Case Study
of English Language Students. English Language and Literature Studies,
31-44.
Ghali, A. (2017). 10 Simple Strategies to Learn Perfect English Pronunciation.
Retrieved from FluentU: http://www.fluentu.com/english/blog/learn-english-
pronunciation/
Hewings, M. (2004). Pronunciation Practice Activities. United Kingdom:
Cambridge University Press.

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TASK 3: SHORT

ESSAY

5
 NURUL HUSNA

BINTI ISMAIL

TASK 3: SHORT ESSAY

Non-native speakers usually will have problems to speak in English especially in

fluency and pronunciation aspects. Same thing goes to my subject. She has faced many
difficulties to speak in English especially in short and long vowel aspects. There are some
tips or solutions that teacher can do in order to teach an effective English pronunciation
during the lesson.

First and foremost, the teachers can conduct some activities that use the visual aids.
The visual aids are important as it is hard for students to simply imagine the differences in
spelling. For instance, the teachers can use visual aids like consonant flashcards, video,
mouth puppets and IPA flashcards. According to Kate Ashcroft et.al (1994), visual and
technological aids to learning can be powerful tools to enrich your teaching and deepen your
students learning. However, teachers cannot use these visual aids throughout the lesson
because it will lead students to feel bored and sleepy but use them for introduction or
practice. Therefore, in order to help the students with the pronunciation, teacher have to
increase the activities that use the visual aids.

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 Besides, an activity that we can carry out in order to overcome the pronunciation
problems of the subject is playing some games. Research has shown that phonetic activities
should be effective and attractive (Jolanta, 2015). Therefore, carry out some games during
the lesson is the most suitable activities for the students to ensure that our lesson is effective
and attractive. Some games which can be carried out are Read and Guess, Pop Quiz,
Minimal Pair Game and others. In the language classroom, games are useful because the
process of working together will help the students to interact with each other to support, help,
suggest and even correct or challenge among themselves.

Furthermore, we also can find a language buddy for our subject to practice speaking.
This means, she can meet with the person that she feels comfortable enough to attempt
speak and try to talk or discussed any topic that comes to mind. It is good if we can find a
partner that used English as his or her native language. To ensure the effectiveness of this
activity, they have to oblige themselves to allocate two hours per day for this activity and we
have to observe them from time to time. This way can help our subject to improve a lot
because there is someone who always supports and help her in English language and at the
same time she can make a new friend.

Last but not least, to improve her pronunciation I suggest that she has to do some
phonetic drills such as Tongue Twister and Jazz Chants. This way can increase her fluency
and correct her pronunciation as well. As a conclusion, subject herself has to struggle and
practice to speak in English as frequent as she can. This is due to the fact that practices
make perfect and Rome is not built in one day.

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REFERENCES

British Council. (2017, March 5). Retrieved from Integrating Pronunciation into
Classroom Activities:
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/integrating-pronunciation-
classroom-activities
I Will Teach You A Language . (2017, March 5). Retrieved from Making Languages
Exchanges Work For You: http://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/making-
language-exchanges-work-for-you/
Kate Ashcroft and Lorraine Foreman-Peck. (1994). Managing Teaching ad
Learning in Futher and Higher Education. New York: Falmer Press.
Szpyra, J. (2015). Pronunciation in EFL Instruction : A Research-Based approach.
Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

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 TASK 3: SHORT

ESSAY

NUR ADIBAH BINTI

ISMAIL

9
TASK 3: SHORT ESSAY

In this global and modern world, we can find many solutions to the pronunciation
problems. There are various creative ways to make our students understand deeper and
practice in correct ways of pronunciation. In my opinion, the activities that can be done in
language classroom as solutions to the pronunciation problems are listen to spoken English,
practice tongue twister and communicate with buddy.

First, listen to spoken English. I can use hearing aids such as CDs and audio tape.
For more interactive classes, I will use songs and movies in the classroom. Youngsters today
really like singing to songs and watching movies. I will let them hear the song with lyrics first
before they sing so that they can recognise the sounds of the words. I also will show British
movies such as Pride and Prejudice to the classroom so they can learn the pronunciation
while enjoying the movies. Audio tape also can be a great help for the students to practice
correct pronunciation. In summary, listen to spoken English can help students to master the
pronunciation.

After that, practice tongue twister. According to Rodney Saulsberry (2015), tongue
twister are a group of words that are designed for practicing pronunciation and to gain
fluency whatever you are about to do vocally. It also a phrase that is designed to be difficult
to articulate properly. The tongue twister does not have to be fast. For the beginning, it has
to be easy and slow. I will give show the students the tongue twister first and ask them to
read it slowly until they can read it with faster pace. After they can read the tongue twister,
then I will ask them to write down the tongue twister so that they can familiarize themselves
with the words. In conclusion, practice tongue twister is a good method as it is used to
improve pronunciation in a fun way.

Lastly, communicate with buddy is also powerful solution for pronunciation problems.
According to Jitendra Kumar Mishra (2012), we can improve our pronunciation by learning
and practicing the sounds and rules of pronunciation of a particular language. That is why
people around us especially friends are fundamental to develop our pronunciation. The
students can be paired based on their speaking skills and encourage them to speak in
English. The weak student must pair with the excellent student. Certain rules can be set on
such as they have to speak English when they encounter outside and they must listen to
their language buddy. The weak student can listen to their language buddy pronunciation
and the excellent student can correct his or her buddy pronunciation. Communicate with
buddy is one of effective way to develop pronunciation.

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 In conclusion, the problem in pronunciation should be solved with suitable ways and
methods. Although it may be hard and takes a lot of time, we cannot ignored the importance
of pronunciation in language.

REFERENCES

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Bareither, T. (2007). Tongue Twisters, Rhymes, and Songs to Improve Your
English Pronunciation. United States: Author House.
Ghali, A. (2017). 10 Simple Strategies to Learn Perfect English Pronunciation.
Retrieved from FluentU: http://www.fluentu.com/english/blog/learn-english-
pronunciation/
Hewings, M. (2004). Pronunciation Practice Activities. United Kingdom:
Cambridge University Press.
Mishra, J. K. (2012). Communication Skills in English . New Delhi: PHI Learning
Private Limited.
Saulsberry, R. (2015). Tongue Twisters and Vocal Warm-Ups. California: Tomdor
Publishing.

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