Utilizing The International Phonetic Alphabet to Improve Pronunciation of English Education Students

Blasius Banu Suryaleksana, Margareta Novita Sari, Maria Nadilia, Barli Bram

Abstract


This paper aimed to discover the effects of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols, consisting of 44 sounds, on pronunciation, the challenges that the English education students face in learning phonetic symbols and the causes of such challenges and students’ steps to improve their pronunciation. The data of this survey study were collected using Google Forms containing an eight-item questionnaire and involved 23 English education students of Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta. The results showed the IPA had effects and played an important role in learning phonetics to improve pronunciation, some consonant, vowel and diphthong sounds, such as /θ/, /dʒ/, /ð/, /ɜ:/, and /əʊ/, were challenging to pronounce and the causes included rarely paying attention to the IPA and lacking IPA knowledge. To conclude, it is feasible for the students to learn the IPA to improve their English pronunciation. 

Full Text:

PDF

References


Ary, D., Jacobs, L. C., & Sorensen, C. (2010). Introduction to research in education (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

ASC English. (2020). The benefit of improving your pronunciation when learning English as a second language. Retrieved on May 4, 2021, from https://www.ascenglish.com/blog/2020/12/the-benefits-of-improving-your-pronunciation-when-learning-english-as-a-second-language/

Astuti, W. A. (n.d.). It is important to learn English pronunciation as a foreign language. Retrieved on May 7, 2021, from https://www.academia.edu/35333839/It_is_Important_to_Learn_English_Pronunciation_as_a_Foreign_Language

Britannica. (n.d.). International phonetics alphabet. Retrieved on May 6, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/International-Phonetic-Alphabet

Brown, A. (2012). International phonetic alphabet. The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics.

Case, A. (n.d.). Minimal Pair /æ/ and /e/. Retrieved on May 12, 2021, from https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/minimal-pairs-a-e.htm

Consonant. (n.d.). In Cambridge Dictionary. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved on May 14, 2021, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/consonant

Diphthong. (n.d.). In Cambridge Dictionary. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved on May 14, 2021, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/diphthong

Drake, D. A., & Ehri, L. C. (1984). Spelling acquisition; Effects of pronouncing words on memory for their spellings. Cognition and Instruction, 1(3), 297-320.

Emma, E. (2016). 3 Reasons you should study & practice English pronunciation. Retrieved on May 7, 2021, from https://www.mmmenglish.com/2016/07/22/3-reasons-you-should-study-practice-english-pronunciation/

Gilakjani, A. P. (2016). English pronunciation instruction: A literature review. International Journal of Research in English Education, 1(1), 1-6.

Harding, G. (n.d.). English consonant sounds IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). Retrieved on May 6, 2021, from https://www.speechactive.com/english-consonants-ipa-international-phonetic-alphabet/

Ibnu, M. (2015). Developing an electronic dictionary of elements and compounds in chemistry to improve the tenth graders’ pronunciation. JELE (Journal of English Language and Education), 1(1), 16-31.

Janu, G. N. P. (2020). Individual variations in monitor hypothesis of micro-teaching students. UC Journal: ELT, Linguistics and Literature Journal, 1 (2), 115-134. doi: 10.24071/uc.v1i2.2958

Jaya, M. S. (2019). The mistaken pronunciations: the unavailability of some English consonants in bahasa. Yavana Bhasha: Journal of English Language Education, 2(1), 1-12.

Julian, G. (2020). The IPA alphabet: How and why you should learn the international phonetic alphabet (with charts). Retrieved on May 7, 2021, from https://www.fluentin3months.com/ipa-alphabet/

Komariah, A. (2019). Problems in pronouncing the English sounds faced by the students of SMPN 2 Halong, Banjar. Journal of English Language and Pedagogy, 1(2).

Learning British Accent. (n.d.). The difficult diphthongs: and how to master them. Retrieved on May 15, 2021, from https://learningbritishaccent.com/the-difficult-diphthongs-how-to-master-them/

Maslow, J. (2020). The importance of the phonetic alphabet in languages and communication studies. Retrieved on May 6, 2021, from https://www.influencive.com/the-importance-of-the-phonetic-alphabet-in-languages-and-communication-studies/

Morley, J. (1991). The pronunciation component in teaching English to speakers of other languages, TESOL Quarterly, 25(1), 51-74.

Purba, D. P., Bangun, M. N., Pramana, E. P., Sinaga, R. M. J., & Tarigan, S. N. (2019). An analysis of students’ vowel in pronunciation. Linguistic, English Education and Art (LEEA) Journal, 3(1), 180-188. Retrieved on May 18, 2021, from https://journal.ipm2kpe.or.id/index.php/LEEA/article/view/998

Question Pro. (n.d.). Methods used for qualitative data collection. Retrieved on May 9, 2021. from https://www.questionpro.com/blog/qualitative-data-collection-methods/

Rini, J. E. (2014). English in Indonesia. Beyond words, 2(2), 19-39.

Riza, A., & Kawakib, A. N. (2021, April). Utilizing the Phonetic Transcription of IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) to Avoid EFL Students Miss-Pronunciation. In International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Social Science (ICONETOS 2020) (pp. 464-468). Atlantis Press.

Setiyono, M. S. (2019). Using international phonetic alphabet (IPA) in teaching pronunciation: linguistics in present century. International Journal of English Linguistics, Literature, and Education (IJELLE), 1(1).

Simarmata, D., & Pardede, H. (2018) Error analysis of students’ pronunciation in pronouncing English vowels and consonants. The Episteme Journal of Linguistics and Literature (JELL), 4(2), 1-38.

Suryatiningsih, N. (2015). A study on the students' ability in pronouncing diphthongs at STKIP PGRI Pasuruan. Jurnal Dimensi Pendidikan dan Pembelajaran, 3(2), 1-4.

Szcześniak, K., & Porzuczek, A. (2019). Transcription Practice for the International Phonetic Alphabet: Exercises for Students of English. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

The London School of English. (2017). Phonetic alphabet - examples of sounds. Retrieved on May 12, 2021, from https://www.londonschool.com/blog/phonetic-alphabet/

Umantari, P. I. M., Laksminy, L. P., & Putra, I. K. S. (2016). Pronunciation problems of English consonants encountered by senior high school students of SMAN 1 Tabanan. Humanis, 17(2), 228-234.

Utami, T. A. T. (2017). Students responses on the use of online dictionary at SMPN 15 Yogyakarta (Undergraduate Thesis). Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia).

Varasarin, P. (2007). An action research study of pronunciation training, language learning strategies and speaking confidence (Doctoral dissertation, Victoria University).

Vowel. (n.d.). In Cambridge Dictionary. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved May 14, 2021, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/vowel?q=vowels

Yates, L. (2017). Learning how to speak: Pronunciation, pragmatics and practicalities in the classroom and beyond. Language Teaching, 50(2), 227-246.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24042/ee-jtbi.v15i1.11536

License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

English Education: Jurnal Tadris Bahasa Inggris, UIN Raden Intan Lampung is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. pISSN: 2083-6003, eISSN: 2580-1449.