A DESCRIPTION OF STUDENTS KNOWLEDGE ON PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION IN TRANSCRIBING AND PRONOUNCING CORRECT ENGLISH WORDS A Thesis Presented as Partial Fulfillments of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Sastra Degree in the English Letters Study Programme by Yeni Wijaya Student Number : 01.80.0011 ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME FACULTY OF LETTERS SOEGIJAPRANATA CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY SEMARANG 2006
A DESCRIPTION OF STUDENTS KNOWLEDGE ON PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION IN TRANSCRIBING AND PRONOUNCING CORRECT ENGLISH WORDS A THESIS by Yeni Wijaya Student Number : 01.80.0011 ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME FACULTY OF LETTERS SOEGIJAPRANATA CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY SEMARANG 2006
A THESIS ON A DESCRIPTION OF STUDENTS KNOWLEDGE ON PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION IN TRANSCRIBING AND PRONOUNCING CORRECT ENGLISH WORDS by Yeni Wijaya Student Number : 01.80.0011 Approved by, Dra. Wuryani Hartanto, MA July 28 th, 2006 Major Sponsor Emilia Ninik Aydawati, SP., M.Hum July 28 th, 2006 Co-Sponsor
A thesis defended in front of the Board of Examiners on July 28 th, 2006 and declared acceptable BOARD OF EXAMINERS Name Signature Chairperson : Dra. Wuryani Hartanto, MA... Secretary : Emilia Ninik Aydawati, SP., M.Hum... Member : Drs. Antonius Suratno, MA... Semarang, July 28 th, 2006 Faculty of Letters Soegijapranata Catholic University Dean, Heny Hartono, SS., M.Pd 058.1.1998.221
TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE OF TITTLE..... i PAGE OF APPROVAL.. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS.. iv ABSTRACT...... vi ABSTRAK... vii CHAPTER I INTRODRUCTION.. 1 1.1. Background....... 1 1.2. Scope of the Study....... 3 1.3. Problem Formulation...... 3 1.4. Objective of the Study...... 4 1.5. Significance of the Study........... 4 1.6. Definition of the Terms........ 5 CHAPTER II LITERATURE RAVIEW...... 7 2.1. Pronunciation... 7 2.1.1. Phonetics... 8 2.1.2. Phonology......... 9 2.2. Different Sounds... 11 2.2.1. Vowels..... 13 2..2.2. Consonants... 15 CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY... 18 3.1. Data Collection......... 18 3.1.1. Participants........ 19 3.1.2. Instruments......... 19 3.1.3. Procedure... 19 3.2. Data Analysis... 21 CHAPTER IV DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION... 22 4.1. The Results of the Questionnaire... 22 4.2. The Results of the Tests... 39 4.3. Discussion... 65 iv
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION... 68 5.1. Conclusion... 68 5.2. Suggestion... 69 BIBLIOGRAPHY....... 71 APPENDICES v
ABSTRACT This research was conducted in order to find out to what degree the students knowledge of Phonetics and Phonology could help them pronounce English words correctly. Since learning English pronunciation is not easy, Phonetics and Phonology play an important role in this process. Students are expected to be able to communicate with clear and correct pronunciation of English. In Phonetics and Phonology class, students get some knowledge on Phonemic transcription. Learning Phonemic transcription means learning how to put the English words into Phonemic symbols. Phonemic transcription is important because it tells the students to pronounce English words correctly. By distributing questionnaires to the respondents and conducting two kinds of tests: pronunciation and transcription test, the researcher found that students did not apply their knowledge of Phonemic transcription. The researcher drew a conclusion from the data analysis and interpretation, that most students were able to pronounce English words given correctly, but were not able to put them into Phonemic transcription. It also means that students knowledge on Phonetics and Phonology, especially their knowledge on Phonemic transcription, does not help them in transcribing English words correctly. In other words, the students knowledge on Phonemic transcription helps them in pronouncing the words, but does not help them much in transcribing the English words. vii
ABSTRAK Penelitian ini dibuat untuk mengetahui sejauh mana pengetahuan yang diperoleh mahasiswa dari mata kuliah Fonetik dan Fonologi membantu mereka dalam mengucapkan kata-kata bahasa Inggris secara benar. Belajar bahsa Inggris tidak mudah, oleh sebab itu Fonetik dan Fonologi merupakan mata kuliah yang penting dalam proses belajar mahasiswa. Mahasiswa diharapkan mampu berkomunikasi dengan pengucapan bahasa Inggris secara benar dan jelas. Di kelas Fonetik dan Fonologi, mahasiswa mendapatkan satu pengetahuan tentang transkripsi Fonemik. Belajar transkripsi Fonemik adalah belajar menyusun katakata bahasa Inggris ke dalam symbol-simbol Fonemik. Transkripsi Fonemik merupakan satu hal yang penting karena melalui transkripsi Fonemik mahasiswa di ajarkan mengucapkan kata-kata bahasa Inggris dengan benar. Melalui penyebaran angket pada responden dan pengadaan dua jenis tes yaitu tes transkripsi dan tes pengucapan, penulis mengethui bahwa mahasiswa tidak dapat menerapkan pengetahuan yang mereka dapat dalam transkripsi Fonemik. Penulis menarik kesimpulan dari data yang ada bahwa sebagian besar mahasiswa mampu mengucapkan kata-kata bahasa Inggris yang diberikan dengan benar, tetapi tidak dapat mentranskripsikannya dalam transkripsi Fonemik. Hal ini juga berarti bahwa pengetahuan tentang Fonetik dan Fonologi, khususnya tentang transkripsi Fonemik tidak membantu mahasiswa dalam mentranskripsikan kata-kata bahasa Inggris. Dengan kata lain, pengetahuan mahasiswa tentang transkripsi Fonemik membantu mereka dalam mengucapkan kata-kata bahasa Inggris, tetapi tidak membantu dalam mentranskripsikan kata-kata bahasa Inggris. viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, the researcher would like to express her deepest gratitude to her Savior, Jesus Christ, for His blessing and guidance so that she could finish this thesis. The next gratitude goes to Dra. Wuryani Hartanto, MA and Emilia Ninik Aydawati, SP, M.Hum as the major and co sponsor of her research. It would be impossible for her to finish this thesis without their generous assistance, their valuable ideas and suggestions. In addition, the researcher would like to thank all of the lecturers at the Faculty of Letters who have taught her over the years. Her deepest gratitude also goes to her beloved family: her father and her mother for their love, support, advice and encouragement. Thanks also go to her grandmother, sisters, brothers, brothers in law and nephews: Ayu and Verroll. Thanks are also extended to her best friends at the Faculty of letters, 2001: Nita, Tina, Evi, Marini, Erfin, Nia, Desi and Rani. Thanks for the nice friendship. It s very nice to know you all. For her friends in the boarding house: Ajeng, Pipit, Kristin and Bu Guru. Thanks for your support. To her special brother, Yudha, thanks for your love, support and patience. Semarang, July 28 th, 2006 Yeni Wijaya iv