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The Use of Song in Teaching English Pronunciation
Burhanudin Rais*
Postgraduate of Applied Linguistics
Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
burhanudinrais.2018@student.uny.ac.id
Dwiyanto Djoko Pranowo
Postgraduate of Applied Linguistics
Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
dwiyanto@uny.ac.id
Rr. Putri Intan Permata Sari
English Teacher
SDN Cangkringan 2
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Putri.intan2206@gmail.com
Abstract—Pronunciation is one of the important aspects of
language learning. The bad pronunciation will influence the
understanding of the listener to grab the message. Song is one
of the media that can be used to teach pronunciation. By using
songs, students can learn how the word is pronounced. Thus,
this paper discusses how to improve pronunciation through
song on the third-grade students of SDN Cangkringan 2 by
using the classroom action research method. Total of the
students in this class is 21 students on the beginner level. The
researchers conduct a cycle in this study, which consisted of
reconnaissance, planning, enacting the plan and observing, and
reflection. The result of the study showed that songs could
improve students’ pronunciation and confidence. Even, one of
the very shy students in the class is enjoying the lessons; she
can pronounce the vocabulary correctly and confidently.
Keywords— Teaching English, song, pronunciation
I. INTRODUCTION
Language plays an important role in communication.
Someone is required to be able to convey language in
communicating appropriately. This accuracy will not be
obtained if someone has bad pronunciation. The issue of
pronunciation is a long-standing problem, especially for
someone who is learning a foreign language, for example, in
English. English is a very different language compared to
Indonesian or regional languages. The striking difference is
in the pronunciation. In English, the written is not always
the same as the spoken. The most contrasting example is on
pronouncing the word “one” that pronounced as “wʌn”.
From these differences, many of English learner in
Indonesia think that pronunciation is difficult: especially for
the beginner. The cause may be influenced by their first
language; Indonesian or regional language. Thus, there are
many of the beginner students that pronounce English
vocabulary as written. Therefore, the teacher has an
important role in dealing with the problem. The teacher
needs to determine the right method and media to solve
problems in teaching pronunciation. Indeed, in learning
pronunciation, the goal is not to make students pronounce
the word like the native speakers (Gilakjani, 2016).
However, the aim is for the listener to understand the
meaning of the spoken word.
The problem on pronunciation is also found in SDN
Cangkringan 2 in the third-grade students. Many of the
students are difficult to pronoun vocabulary in English.
Moreover, they are also feeling shy when asked for pronoun
the word one by one. Instead, when they are asked to
pronoun the vocabulary together, they are very enthusiastic.
Based on the observation, the researchers found that after
students can pronounce the vocabulary correctly, they are
not feeling shy anymore. Thus, it can be concluded that
students’ pronunciation effect on self-confidence. Learners
who have low shame and fear and high self-confidence will
be more successful in language learning than the opposite
(Krashen, 1982).
In this era, technology comes to make the learner easier
to learn a language, including for learning pronunciation.
For example, from the habit of listening to a song, someone
can take advantage of learning the language. Someone can
learn how to spell the vocabulary in the song correctly.
Song is one of the media that can be used for teaching
pronunciation, and proven can increase students’
pronunciation (Asmaradhani, Evendi, Mursid, & Gani,
2018; Moradi & Shahrokhi, 2014; Shehadeh & Farrah,
2016; Stanculea & Bran, 2015; Yusmita & Angraini, 2017).
Moreover, the use of song as media for teaching can
increase students’ vocabulary, motivation, interest and
students’ self-confidence. It is in line with the affective filter
hypothesis that explains that the bad stigma towards
something (could be material, teacher, etc.) influencing
students in achieving learning goals (Krashen, 1982). The
use of song as media for learning, according to Murphey, is
memorable, which work in short- and long-term memory in
the brain (Millington, 2011). It means that the use of song
can help the students to remember the vocabulary and the
way to pronounce the word.
Therefore, the researchers will try to solve the
pronunciation problems on the third-grade students of SDN
Cangkringan 2. Thus, the steps applied in this research can
be used as a reference by teachers or other researchers who
have the same problem.
II. PRONUNCIATION
The definition of pronunciation, according to the Oxford
Dictionary, is how a language or a word or sound is spoken.
Cook adds that pronunciation as the production of English
sounds (Gilakjani, 2016). Then, pronunciation can be
defined as how the vocabulary is voiced. Pronunciation is
divided into two things; phonemes and suprasegmental
features (Kelly, 2000). Below is a diagram of the features of
pronunciation.
Fig. 1. Features of pronunciation (Kelly, 2000)
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1st International Conference on Language, Literature, and Arts Education (ICLLAE 2019)
Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.
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A. The importance of teaching pronunciation
Mastering pronunciation is important because it can
facilitate in clarity, fluency in communication (Szyszka,
2017). Language learners also need to understand the
importance of sound articulation, because if they ignore the
articulation, the articulation features of the target language
cannot be well received. Thus, the message conveyed by the
learner will not reach the clarity for the interlocutor.
Therefore, language learners need to learn or practice
pronunciation. The teacher must pay special attention to the
practice of pronunciation; by instructing and guiding
students about how to learn pronunciation, including for
independent learning (Szyszka, 2017).
Moreover, teaching pronunciation is important because it
does not matter how good a learner’s vocabulary or
grammar is if no one can understand them; it same as
nothing (Yates & Zielinski, 2009). Students with good
pronunciation will be understood (in oral communication
context) even if they make mistakes in the other language
part (example grammar). Then, the students that have bad
pronunciation will be hard to understand, even with the use
of perfect grammar or additional expressing. Thus, other
people will assume him as an incompetent language user
(Yates & Zielinski, 2009).
B. Teaching Pronunciation
It has been explained previously that pronunciation
learning is important because it can affect communication
smoothness. In teaching pronunciation, the teacher can use
the method that can make the student habituate to speak.
Habituating the students to speak with the target language
will make the student get a better pronunciation because the
speaking practice can increase the students’ knowledge in
pronunciation (Szyszka, 2017). In other word, the students
that have more time to speak will increase the student
pronunciation and confidence (Miller in Szyszka, 2017).
Thus, students who are less of pronunciation skills can cause
a lack of self-confidence, fear or anxiety and can influence
student attitudes towards learning pronunciation.
Some techniques can be used for teaching pronunciation
such as drilling, pronunciation and spelling activities, taping
students’ English, listening activities and reading activities
(Kelly, 2000).
Drilling activity is a basic form of teaching
pronunciation. The procedure in conducting drilling
activity is by asking the students to repeat or imitate to
the teacher’s word. There are several kinds of drilling
activity, consisted of choral drilling, chaining, open pair
drilling and substitution drilling.
Minimal pairs and related activities. In this activity, the
teacher provides similar words that have different
phoneme. From this activity, the students will learn;
when they are doing mispronounce of the word, the
meaning will change. Below is the example of the
minimal pairs and related activity:
Tick the words which have the sound /ʌ/:
cap
hat
bug
Cup
hut
bag
Fig. 1. Minimal pair and related activities (Kelly, 2000)
Pronunciation and spelling activities. In this activity, the
student can learn the relation between the word that is
spelt and pronounced. The teacher can use homographs
and homophones in teaching. The example of using
homograph activity is by providing the same spelling or
written word but different pronunciation such as Why
don’t you read (v1) this book? And I’ve already read
(v3) it. Then the example of using homophone activity is
by providing the different spelling or written word, but
same pronunciation, such as write and right; there, their
and they’re. After that, students asked to choose the
correct word from the listening activity.
Taping students’ English. This activity can provide
benefits if the teacher does it regularly. This taping
activity can be made when students are involved in
language practice activities, especially pronunciation
activity. The activity that can be conducted by the
teacher is taping students’ pronunciation, after that
comparing the sound with the native.
Listening activities. In this activity, the teacher can use
the media that allow students to listen and pronounce the
language in the form of a narrative or conversation.
Listening activities may bring authentic materials in the
classroom because the material is designed by using
normal speed and natural language.
Reading activities. In this activity, the teacher gives the
text to students. From the text, the teacher encourages
the student to read aloud; then, the teacher can monitor
the students pronunciation. Reading aloud provides an
opportunity for students to learn the relationship
between writing and pronunciation. Texts can be formed
as poetry, poetry, songs, etc.
III. METHOD
This research is conducted through action research.
Action research is the study to find problem-solving in the
social situation. Some points need to be noted in conducting
action research in the classroom context (Sanjaya, 2009).
Action research is a process to find the solution and
reflection following the issue that appeared in the
classroom.
The issues are the problems that appeared in the learning
process in the classroom.
It is started and finished by self-reflection, which
conducted by the teacher.
Action research is conducted by an action; it means that
action research is not only for understanding the issue
instead need reflection from the teacher.
Conducted in a natural setting, it means that the action is
conducted by the teacher in a real learning process and
does not interfere with the planned learning program.
This research is conducted in SDN Cangkringan 2. The
participants of the research are the students of SDN
Cangkringan 2 who were in grade three. The student in this
class consists of 21 students, and English is taught once a
week.
There are some steps that researchers follow to conduct
the research, consisted of reconnaissance, planning, enacting
the plan and observing, and reflection (Kemmis, McTaggart,
& Nixon, 2014). Reconnaissance is a critical part of action
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 461
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research; this activity is carried out to identify problems that
exist in a class. Then proceed with planning actions to fix
existing problems. The next activity is carrying out the plan
(this is the action stage) and observe the changes that occur
during the action. Finally, the teacher reflects the
achievements. Then, this research is completed when almost
all of the students have been able to pronounce the
vocabulary correctly. The ability of pronunciation referred
to in this research is the ability to pronounce vocabulary
from the written texts. The researcher only focuses on this
area because understanding the written text of spoken
pronunciation is the ability obtained from the continue
activities.
IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
A. Reconnaissance
In this step, the researchers conduct observation to find
information about the issue related to the aim of the
research. This step is performed before creating or planning
a strategy to solve the issue. The results of the observations
obtained some information that can be used as a basis for
creating plans for solving the problems.
First, the third-grade students at SDN Cangkringan 2 are
the early students of English learning. Almost all of the
students only study English in the classroom. Thus, they do
not understand much English vocabulary because English is
used only in the learning process.
Second, the teacher (as the team of the researcher) often
uses the game media to teach English at the third-grade
students of SDN Cangkringan 2. This media always gets a
positive response from the students. It means that the
students like learning with using the media of games.
However, the focus of the game is on the grammar and
vocabulary mastering.
Third, the third-grade students of SDN Cangkringan 2
have less of the pronunciation mastery. It influenced their
interest in trying to practice oral English skills; because of
shame.
Fourth, the next lesson is to introduce the names of
animals. Thus, students will be given the material about the
names of animal, and almost of them have not understood or
familiar with the names of the animal.
B. Planning
Griffee stated that the use of song could develop the
human senses by taking knowledge and reducing stress
(Džanić & Pejić, 2016), then motivation and interest in
language can be increased (Kömür, Saraç, & Şeker, 2005).
Wolf adds that the use of song also provides the material for
listening (Kömür et al., 2005). Songs disperse the
monotonous feelings that are created by the typical learning
process, and it offers variations in the classroom.
Moreover, the teacher needs to choose the appropriate
song for students, because when the students are exposed to
their favourite song or enjoyable song, the students will get
more advantages in the learning process. In the previous
discussion has been conducting a little discussion about the
affective filter, this filter plays an important role in language
learning (Krashen, 1982). Thus, the use of song can break the
barrier that inhibits student in receiving the material.
Moreover, the use of the song in teaching language bring
various cultures into the classroom (Petrus, 2012). It is
because language (including those contained in songs) and
culture are inseparable.
Moreover, the procedure in using song for language
teaching consisted by, set the context; introduce new
vocabulary by visual aids, action, or focus; play or sing the
song to make the students familiar; do further listening
activity; work with pronunciation awareness such as
intonation, rhythm and stress; invite students to listen, repeat
and practice by joining and learn to sing; provide written text
of the song to students. The text can be filling the gap, listen
and sequence, illustrate, match pictures with a line, etc.;
encourage students to compare the song with the similar type
in their language; sing the song with the whole class
(Brewster, Ellis, & Girard, 2002).
However, a big question in using the song as media for
learning is, how to choose the appropriate song. The
researchers claim that knowing the students’ level can help
the teachers to select the proper song. Moreover, knowing
the students’ level is essential to link with the vocabulary in
the song.
Besides, the teachers need to link with the learning
objectives. If the teachers only aim to improve the students’
pronunciation for daily communication purpose, the lyric of
the song need contain with the everyday vocabulary. The
selected song should also provide with easy vocabulary that
accordance with the students’ level. Besides, the song that
the teacher used must increase students’ interest.
In this research, the researchers use the song with
modified to the purpose of learning the animal vocabulary.
This song is created based on the level of students; that is
beginner level. They are early English learners and do not
much understand about English pronunciation. Thus, the
selected vocabulary for the lyric is easy. Moreover, the
researchers add the instrumental music that has been adapted
to fix with the lyric of the song. Below is the lyric of the
song.
ANIMAL SONG
Kucing Cat | Anjing Dog | Kupu-kupu Butterfly
Ikan Fish | Katak Frog | Gajah Elephant
Singa Lion | Tikus Mouse | Macan Tiger | Ular Snake
Buaya Crocodile | Semut Ant | dan Burung Bird
……
Animal.. Animal..
I really love animal
They are cute.. They are nice..
I love animal
Figure 2. Lyric of the song
Then, some points need to be considered by the teachers
before using song for teaching English; (1) the teacher as a
host should position him/herself as facilitator for students
during song; (2) the teacher should give an explicit
instruction and score to the students; (3) the teacher
shouldn’t blame the students if they can’t respond to the
song (Nanda & Narius, 2012).
Referring to the previous teaching suggestion, the step
that is held by the researchers is as follow. The first step is
introducing English vocabulary. This step is carried by
sharing the song lyrics in the written form. It is better if the
teacher has prepared the lyrics in printout form to save time;
the researchers do. After that, the students listen to the song;
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 461
135
it aims to tell the students about the kind of song that they
will sing. Then, the next is introducing the vocabulary in the
song. This activity should not take a long time; it can take
about 10 minutes. This activity aims to make the students
know about the vocabulary that will be learned. The activity
that the researchers does in this research is discussing the
translation of the vocabulary together with students.
The next step is singing together. The students can look
at the printout, so they can follow and understand what
needs to be pronounced and how the pronunciation on the
written word. This stage is repeated several times until the
students understand how to pronounce the words; with a
pleasant atmosphere. Furthermore, the teacher continues the
activity by asking students to sing the song in a group to
make a better understanding. It is intended that the teacher
can analyse the ability of students in a smaller area.
To examine the students’ understanding, the researchers
use the pronunciation and spelling task. This stage is done
by giving some answer choice that has the homophone or
homograph words; the activity is adapted from the “animal”
songs. The teacher pronounces the word and students find
the word from the available choice. Before doing this
activity, the teacher needs to keep away the printouts so that
students cannot cheat. Below is an example.
Tick the words which have the sound [fɪʃ]:
Vish
Fihs
Fish
Fig. 3. Pronunciation and spelling activity
Or in sentence-level, as follows:
Tick the words which have the sound [ʌɪ lʌv ˈanɪməl]:
I live animel
I lov enamel
I love animal
Fig. 4. Pronunciation and spelling activity
Then the last step is asking the students to pronounce
vocabulary independently. The students pronounce each of
the lyrics in parallel. For example, the first student
pronounces the words in the first line, then the second
student on the second line, so on and back to the first line
after the last lyric. Thus, every student in the class gets a
chance to pronounce the word.
C. Enacting the plan and observing
After finished with the planning, the researchers
continue to implement the plan. All the action planning in
the previous discussion is divided into several steps. All the
steps need to be implemented in the action step. The steps
are available in the table below.
TABLE 1. STEP FOR ACTION
No.
Steps
1.
Introducing the vocabulary
2.
Sing a song
3.
Pronunciation and spelling task
4.
Pronounce independently
At this stage, the researchers observe the actions in the
classroom. Moreover, the researchers provide a checklist
sheet for guiding the implementation of the planning. From
the results of the observation, the researchers got some
information below.
First, all steps that have been arranged by the researchers
are going well. All of the learning stages are implemented in
the sequences according to the plan. The students can
follow the step with the big
difficulties.
Second, the use of song to learn pronunciation has a very
positive impact. Almost all of the students have the courage
and ability to pronounce or sing the lyrics correctly.
Third, students feel more interested in learning
pronunciation by using a song rather than use the usual
method. One of the timid students can follow the learning
process with the better self-confidence; in this learning
process. This student also can pronounce the vocabulary
loudly enough and correctly.
Fourth, the results of the test showed that more than half
of the total students in the third-grade class get the
unsatisfying score. Many of the students choose the wrong
answer; they selected the written vocabulary according to
what the student hears. The figure below is the example;
many of the students choose the “enimel” option.
Tick the words which have the sound [ˈanɪməl]:
Animel
Animal
Enimel
Fig. 5. Pronunciation and spelling activity
D. Reflection
The next step is reflection. From the results of the
implementation, the researchers found the reflection. Many
students still choose the wrong choice-answer in
pronunciation and spelling task. Several causes influence
this; the first cause is the error of instruction made by
researchers in preparing the assignments. In the assignment
sheet, the instruction is “Pilihlah Jawaban berikut ini
berdasarkan apa yang kamu dengar!” translated as “Choose
the following answer based on what you hear!”. Therefore,
some students choose the answers according to what they
hear, even the wrong answers. This matter is discovered by
the researchers, after checks the results of students’ answers;
in the class. Next reason is less of practice time; when the
researchers conduct the research, it is the first time for the
students in learning “animal” topic. Students are not
habituating to the written word of the animal.
However, this research has reached the goal, in terms of
spoken language or reading the vocabulary; the students
have been able to do it very well (have proper
pronunciation). They are brave or confidence in
pronouncing the word, and the pronunciation is correct.
Nevertheless, students enjoy the learning process by
using songs. Even, students ask for the instrumental music
of “animal” to the researchers. The teachers must have
creative abilities in teaching pronunciation through song. If
the teachers do not find the appropriate song to use, the
teachers need to create the lyric and add instrumental music
to make students more interested in the songs.
V. CONCLUSION
Learning by using songs can provide many benefits. In
the context of learning English, the song provides the
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 461
136
learning material for improving pronunciation and self-
confidence. It is supported by this study that is conducted in
the third-grade students of SDN Cangkringan 2. The way
that can be followed by the other teachers is following
bellow.
Teachers need to know the students’ level. It is
important especially to link with the vocabulary difficulty in
the song lyric. Besides, the teachers need to consider with
the learning objective, if the teachers aim to improve the
students’ pronunciation for daily communication purpose,
the lyric of the song need contain with the everyday
vocabulary.
After choosing the appropriate song with the learning
objective and students’ level, the teachers need to introduce
English vocabulary at the beginning of the lesson. It aims to
make the students understand with the lyric; the activity can
be translating the vocabulary.
After the students understand the vocabulary, the next
activity is singing the song together. The teachers can create
a variation in conducting this activity, such as singing in a
line of the students' desk; horizontally or vertically. This
activity is undertaken in several times until the students can
pronounce the vocabulary correctly.
Then, the teachers give the pronunciation task. This
stage is done by providing some answer choice in the form
of the homophone or homograph vocabulary. Then the
teachers pronounce the vocabulary and students find the
vocabulary from the available option. In this activity, the
teachers need to consider the instruction. It needs to be
clear; better if the teachers give an example before starting
the task.
The last is asking the students to pronounce vocabulary
independently. The students pronounce each of the lyrics in
parallel.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank all those involved in
completing this article. Especially for ICOLLATE that
facilitates in presenting the results of this research. Besides,
the researchers also would like to thank SDN Cangkringan 2
that have allowed the researchers to conduct the study.
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