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The Use of Song in Teaching English Pronunciation

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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.
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
AbstractPronunciation 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)
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 461
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
134
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.
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.
Vish
Fihs
Fish
Fig. 3. Pronunciation and spelling activity
Or in sentence-level, as follows:
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.
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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... Encouraging students to converse in the target language significantly enhances their pronunciation skills (Szyszka, 2017). Increased speaking practice boosts pronunciation and confidence, while minimal practice can lead to anxiety and negative attitudes towards pronunciation learning (Rais, Pranowo & Sari, 2019). ...
... Studies show that songs improve listening and speaking skills, vocabulary acquisition, and pronunciation (Higuchi, 2018). For example, using songs to teach third -grade students at SDN Cangkringan 2 improved pronunciation and confidence (Rais et al., 2019). Songs have also been found to significantly impact students' pronunciation skills and motivation (Ridhayatullah et al., 2020). ...
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La lengua inglesa se ha enseñado habitualmente como una asignatura teórica porque la lengua es un ser vivo que cambia a diario a través de la muerte y acuñación de palabras y reglas gramaticales. Por lo tanto, debe enseñarse de forma pragmática como si se enseñara un arte, un oficio o tal vez un deporte de campo para que pueda aplicarse en la vida real. Por lo tanto, es necesario incorporar la enseñanza de la pronunciación para mejorar la productividad en la clase de enseñanza de inglés. El propósito de esta investigación es analizar el mejoramiento de la pronunciación teniendo como herramienta crítica el uso de canciones que contengan elementos pedagógicos y fonológicos en un grupo de estudiantes adultos. Este proyecto de investigación está dirigido a estudiantes de básica superior y del bachillerato intensivo del Colegio "Luis Cordero". Se diseñaron diferentes actividades orales y escritas para introducir y familiarizar a los estudiantes con los símbolos de pronunciación, seguidos de la mímica para la articulación y las reglas básicas para la producción de sonidos del idioma inglés. Los resultados mostraron que los estudiantes mejoraron sus habilidades de pronunciación y la motivación para aprender Inglés como segunda lengua.
... Beside beneficial to vocabulary learning, (Rais et al., 2020) stated that Learning by using songs can provide many benefits, the song provides the learning material for improving pronunciation and self-confidence. Memorizing songs is believed not only to make students interested but songs can also to help them learn vocabulary and pronunciation more easily. ...
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This study aims to analyze the differences in students' vocabulary pronunciation skills with English songs as media. The choice of this topic was based on one of the problems that students often face, namely vocabulary pronunciation skills. These abilities are some of the four important skills in English that must be mastered.Researchers believe that people who learn English must master vocabulary pronunciation. Using songs in the learning process is one of the media to teach children to master vocabulary pronunciation. The participants in this study were fourth-grade students at SD 2 Hadipolo. The intended class is the fourth grade which has 18 students.This research method is pre-experimental. Data was collected through pre-test and post-test. The researcher conducted a pre-test and then the students listened to the song for treatment. And the last step is the post-test.Based on t0 being greater than the t-table, (10.238 2.110), it means that H0 is rejected. The researcher concluded that there was a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test. The improvement of students can be seen from their average score from 53.3 in the pre-test to 78.88 in the post-test. It can be concluded that English songs are Effective as a tool for teaching vocabulary and pronunciation to fourth-grade students at SD 2 Hadipolo in the 2022/2023 academic year.The researcher suggests the teacher use songs that meet the material. The researcher suggests to the students keep learning while listening to songs to add more knowledge. The other researcher can benefit from this study in a number of ways and use it as extra research material in the future.
... The findings indicate that using songs significantly enhances students' pronunciation skills and boosts their confidence. Remarkably, even a timid student enjoys the lessons and demonstrates improved accuracy and confidence in pronouncing vocabulary [10]. Therefore, in Chinese junior high schools, they could imitate such practices. ...
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... According to Asmaradhani in (Rais et al., 2020) song is one of the media that can be used for teaching pronunciation, and proven can increase students' pronunciation. Songs as one of listening materials can be applied in English language learners. ...
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... The speaker logo in Figure 8 is the button for knowing the word pronunciation. Habituating in listening to English words is good, previous researches claim that listening to English vocabulary can increase pronunciation (Jessica, Basri, & Ohoiwutun, 2015;Rais, Pranowo, & Sari, 2020;Shodiqin, Apriliaswati, & Bunau, 2015). Good pronunciation will affect speaking skills (Prodanovska-Poposka, 2017;Sihombing, 2014) because they feel confident with their language when speaking with good sound (Prodanovska-Poposka, 2017). ...
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This article investigates the attitudes of Omani B. Ed. students towards various aspects of pronunciation pedagogy. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study captures students' preferences for pronunciation instruction methods, their attitudes towards different English accents, the role of technology in pronunciation learning, and the influence of extracurricular exposure to English. The findings reveal a strong preference for instructor-led methodologies, the use of technology, and a focus on communicative competence. Additionally, the study highlights a preference for Received Pronunciation among students, while views on American and International accents are polarised, reflecting the complex interplay of cultural, educational, and personal factors in accent choice. The research also underscores the significant role of extracurricular exposure to English in shaping students' attitudes towards pronunciation learning and correction. The study's insights have profound implications for curriculum design and teaching methodologies in English language teaching in Oman, emphasising the need for pedagogical approaches that are responsive to students' diverse linguistic backgrounds and experiences.
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How to cite: Syroyid Syroyid, B. (2022). ¿Ayuda el canto a mejorar la pronunciación del inglés como lengua extranjera? Una revisión de estudios experimentales. En S. Gala Pellicer (Ed.) Innovación Educativa Aplicada a la Enseñanza de la Lengua (pp. 63-69). Dykinson. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ RESUMEN: El inglés es un idioma muy rico en fonemas y contiene múltiples palabras en las que un cambio de sonido puede alterar radicalmente el significado de una frase. Esto puede agravarse en el canto, donde es muy importante esclarecer la pronunciación de las vocales, que son las que más se tienden a deformar y distorsionar en el inglés cantado. Estas diferencias son suficientemente complejas incluso para los hablantes nativos (Palmer, 1882). Las canciones en inglés se han utilizado, por ejemplo, para atraer la atención de los alumnos de niveles avanzados, particularmente cuando se tratan aspectos complejos del idioma que requieren de grandes habilidades analíticas, como el caso de la poesía. En este capítulo, se revisará el impacto real de las canciones para la mejora de la pronunciación en alumnos de inglés como lengua extranjera. Se priorizaron los estudios experimentales, y aleatorizados cuando fuera posible, incluyéndose 7 estudios de estas características. Tres de ellos fueron descriptivos y cualitativos y cuatro de ellos fueron cuantitativos y analíticos. Todos los estudios mostraron la satisfacción de los estudiantes con el uso de canciones en inglés como una herramienta para mejorar la pronunciación. Todos excepto uno, muestran beneficios en la pronunciación comparando el uso de canciones con la simple repetición o entonación de palabras con ritmo. A continuación, se analizarán los hallazgos más relevantes de cada uno de ellos.
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This study was conducted in order to know the effectiveness of pronunciation achievement based on English songs strategy. This study applied a quasi-experimental research design, specifically non-equivalent control group design. The objectives of the study were to find out whether or not (a) there was significant improvement of students’ pronunciation achievement after being taught by using English songs (b) there was significant difference of pronunciation achievement between the students who were taught by using English songs and those who were not. The population was all the seventh grade students in SMP Srijaya Negara Palembang. This research, the researcher used purposive sampling. The sample was divided into two samples, there were 30 samples for experimental group and 30 samples for control group. The data were collected by using t-test (Paired Samples t-test and Independent Samples t-test). The findings showed that English songs strategy signifcantly improve the students’ pronunciation achievement (T=36.947). In addition, there was significant difference in pronunciation achievement between the students who were taught through English songs strategy and those who were not (T=12.663). Based on this study, it is found that the use of English songs in teaching English is effective to improve the students’ pronunciation and very beneficial for the students in order to facilitate them in learning English. Based on this finding, it is suggested that English songs in teaching English can be recommended for the English teachers.Key word: effect, English songs, pronunciationÂ
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This book presents theoretical considerations and the results of empirical research on pronunciation learning strategies (PLS) deployed by pre-service trainee teachers majoring in English as a foreign language who experienced different levels of language anxiety (LA). The theoretical part focuses on the concepts of pronunciation learning, pronunciation-learning strategies and language anxiety and includes an overview of recent empirical research dealing with various related issues. The empirical section of the book presents the findings of a research project that investigated the interplay between PLS and LA, in which both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Based on the findings, the author proposes two profiles of anxious and non-anxious EFL trainee teachers who support their pronunciation learning with an array of pronunciation learning strategies and tactics.
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A fully-updated and reworked version of the classic book by Stephen Kemmis and Robin McTaggart , now joined by Rhonda Nixon, The Action Research Planner is a detailed guide to developing and conducting a critical participatory action research project. The authors outline new views on ‘participation’ (based on Jürgen Habermas’s notion of a ‘public sphere’), ‘practice’ (as shaped by practice architectures), and ‘research’ (as research within practice traditions). They provide five extended examples of critical participatory action research studies. The book includes a range of resources for people planning a critical participatory research initiative, providing guidance on how to establish an action research group and identify a shared concern, research ethics, principles of procedure for action researchers, protocols for collaborative work, keeping a journal, gathering evidence, reporting, and choosing academic partners. Unlike earlier editions, The Action Research Planner focuses specifically on critical participatory action research, which occupies a particular (critical) niche in the action research 'family'. The Action Research Planner is an essential guide to planning and undertaking this type of research.