CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background of the Study

As we see, children’s curiosity is very high. the child actively tries to make

sense of the world and asks questions. They will try to search information about

something that they want to know. They also ask something that they feel new and

strange for them. They ask adults or people around them everything they want to

know. Indeed they ask the information to people they have just known.

Because of the high curiosity of children, I view that songs are very good as

media to teach English pronunciation. It is because the language that is used in the

songs is English. Children are not accustomed to English. And based on that reason,

children will try to do any efforts to know much about the songs. If the children have

a willing to know the songs, they will try to learn anything related to the songs.

Here, I emphasize the pronunciation of English. I choose the pronunciation

because of the differences between the two languages-English and Indonesian. There

are many differences between English and Indonesian especially in pronunciation. As

we see, the differences between English and Indonesian are very significant.

Therefore, there are many students of Junior High School especially the students of

SMP N 1 Baktiya.

1.3 Problem of Study

The problems of the research can be stated as follows:

1. Can teaching English pronunciation by singing songs improve student’s ability in

English pronunciation?
2. Is it pleasing to singing songs in teaching English pronunciation?

1.4 Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the study are:

a.To find out whether singing songs as media in teaching English pronunciation can

improve pronunciation ability of the students of SMP N 1 Baktiya or not.

b.To find out whether singing songs as media in teaching English pronunciation is

pleasing or not.

1.5 Significance of the Study

The results of the study are expected to be able to give the following benefits:

a. For English Teachers

The results of the study are expected to be used as a consideration in teaching

pronunciation for young learners.

b.For The Readers

It is expected that the study will be useful for further research and enlarge the readers’

knowledge in singing songs as media.

1.6 Limitations of the Study

The limitations of the study are made as follows:

a.The children songs use simple words so that they are appropriate to the language

level of the students of SMP N 1 Baktiya.

b.The children songs are related to their environment and part of their body.

c.The test is done in the form of oral test. It is done by singing the songs.
d.The testes are the first grade students of SMP N 1 Baktiya .

1.7 Outline of the Study

There are five chapters in this final project. Chapter one consists of background of the

study, reasons for choosing the topic, objectives of the study, significance of the study

and limitation of the study. And the last one is the outline of the study. There are

several discussions in chapter two. Firstly, it discusses singing, songs and the

definition of singing songs. The next discussion, talks about teaching media,

characteristics of Junior High School students and teaching English to Junior High

School. The next discussion is pronunciation. It consists of definition of pronunciation

and teaching pronunciation. As the last discussion of this chapter are singing songs as

media in teaching English pronunciation. It consists of contributions of singing

songs in teaching English pronunciation and the way how to apply them in the

classroom. Chapter three discusses the method of the study. It consists of the subject

of the study, the variable, and the instrument of the study. It also presents the method

of the study -pre test, the four activities by singing English songs and the last is the

post test. Chapter four presents the result of the study and discussion. It tells about the

distinction of student’s ability in pronunciation. It compares the pronunciation ability

before and after the treatment. It also discusses the reason behind the result of the

study.

Chapter five presents conclusions and suggestions of the study. It presents the

conclusions of the study from the beginning until the end. There are some suggestions

from me based on the result of the study.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1 Children

As we see, children are an object that is interesting to be discussed. It is caused

because of the nature of the children itself. They are able to work with others and

learn from others (Scott and Ytlberg, 1990:2-4). They also love to play. Moreover,

children are very active. Not only that, they are also intelligent. As listed above,

children are able to work wit others and learn from others. Connected with the

education world, this characteristic of children is exceptionally beneficial to the

teaching and learning process. It makes the teacher easier to convey the material to

the students (children). It because based on the nature of children they can work in

group and learn something from their friends. Out of the education scope, childhood

is a pleased period. They can do anything they want to do. They do not think that it

disturbs others or not. They also do not think that it inflicts others or not. They can

play the whole time as they want. It is appropriate to their nature that they love to play

(Scott and Ytlberg, 1990:2-4). Moreover children are very active. It is in line with

Donaldson’s opinion in Cameron (2001: 4) that the child tries to make sense of the
world. They do something as though they don’t have fatigue. They will do anything,

provided they are happy. Here, their enthusiasm in doing something they like is very

great. And their enthusiasm in doing something is a source of their energy to do

activities they want to do. Besides the reasons above, children are intelligent. They

will try to solve a problem around them that sometimes can not be solved by adults.

As Cameron (2001: 2) says that “the child is seen as continually interacting with the

world around her/him, solving problems that are presented by the environment”. For

example, there are two youngsters, an elder sister and her younger brother. At that

time, they went sight seeing by bike. The kickstand of the bike was broken. The elder

sister was confused thinking how to repair the kickstand. Without much thinking, the

younger brother repaired the kickstand optimistically. And finally, the younger

brother succeeded in repairing the kickstand. From the example above, we see that

children are intelligent.

2.2 Song

“A song is a short of piece in one concise movement for the medium of solo voice and

piano”. (Simms, 1993:29). According to Parto (1996: 99), a song is a group of

arrangements which consists of lyrics and elements of music like rhythm, melody,

harmony and expressions. Moreover, “A song is a musical composition for the voice

of several voices”, “A song is a short poem whether intended to be sung or not; a lyric

or ballad”. (The International Websters comprehensive dictionary of the English

Language, 2003: 1127). The American Heritage Dictionaries says that song is:

“Music is a brief composition written or adapted for singing. It also says that song is a

distinctive or characteristic sound made buy an animal, such as a bird or an insect.

The last definition, song is poetry, a verse and a lyrics poem or ballad”.
www.answers.com/topic/song

Other definitions of song are listed below:

“Song is the act of singing, the characteristics sound produced by a bird, a short

musical composition with word, a successful musical must have at least three good

songs. It also says that song is a distinctive or characteristic sound. Besides that, song

is the imperial dynasty of China from 960 to1279 and a very small sum”.

www.Submit@songoftheyear.com

Based on the references above, I conclude that song is a group of beautiful words in

which there is a message in it to be conveyed to other people and presented with

beautiful music. It deals with some themes. It deals with story, advice, study, religion,

environment, universe, love, happy and sad feeling.

2.3Definition of Singing Song

We have seen the definition of song above. And now, let us talk about children.

Principally, children are the plural of child. And definition of child itself is an

individual who has not reached puberty (Hornby, 1995:192). In my view, children

song is a group of beautiful words in which there are a message to be conveyed to

individuals who have not reached puberty and presented with a beautiful music so that

they can get the message from it easily. But in fact, it can be enjoyed by everyone. It

can be enjoyed by teenagers, adults, and even old people.

2.4 Teaching Media

Arsyad (2006: 4) says that teaching media are means that are used to convey teaching

messages. Another definition of teaching media is conveyed by National Education

Association (in Arsyad, 2006:5), which says that media are forms of communication

either printed or audio visual and the tools. From the two definitions above, I

conclude that teaching media are the means that are used by the teacher to convey the

teaching material to the students. It can be printed or audio visual and the tools. Media

are needed in teaching and learning process because of several factors. Sudjana and

Rifai says (in Arsyad, 2006:24) that they have benefits in it. They are:

1.The teaching process will be more interesting so that the students are motivated to

learn the material given by the teacher. By using media, the teacher can attract the

students’ attention to the material given by him/her. From the explanation above, it is

expected that by using media in teaching and learning process, students will be

motivated in learning the material givenby the teacher by heart. If they learn by heart

automatically they will get a maximum result.

2.The material will be clearer so that the students can understand the material easily.

Media make students easier in catching the material given by the teacher. Here, media

act as the means used by the teacher to make the teaching material easier and clearer

so that the students can catch the material easily. If the students can catch the material

easily automatically they can understand it easily too. As a simple sample is a white

board. The teacher writes the material which is conveyed to the students on the board

in a form of diagram and writes the explanation of the diagram so that students can

catch it easily.

3.There will be a variation in the teaching and learning process. It makes students

enjoy the teaching and learning process. Students will feel bored if the teacher only
uses the explanation when presenting the material during the teaching and learning

process. Students will not feel bored if the teacher uses media in teaching and learning

process. They feel that there is a variation in it.

4.Students can do more activities in teaching and learning process. For example, the

teacher gives a topic to be discussed and the students do the discussion. According to

Derek Rowntree (in Rohani, 1997: 7-8), Educational Media have functions:

1.Motivate students to study.

2. Review what students have learnt.

3. Give a stimulus to study.

4. Activate students’ responses.

5. Give a feedback soon.

From the references above, I conclude that teaching media are needed in teaching

learning process. It is because: students are motivated to study. Students can catch the

material from the teacher clearly. The teaching learning process will be more varieties

so that students enjoy it. Students will be more active in giving responses to the

material given by the teacher.

2.5 Characteristics of Junior High School Students

As we see, most of Junior High School students are the age of twelve years old. To

know the characteristics of them, we can see from the opinions conveyed by Scott and

Ytleberg (1990:2-4) below: “Students of Junior High School are users of mother

tongue. They can tell the difference between fact and fiction. They love to play and

best when they enjoy themselves. But they also take themselves seriously and like to

think that what they are doing is real work. They are also enthusiastic and positive
about learning. They rely on the spoken word as well as the physical word to convey

understandable meaning. They are able to work with others and learn from others”.

From the characteristics above, we know that Junior High School students have a

great enthusiasm in learning something they like. It does not mean that they do not

need a guide in learning something they like. They still need a guide in learning

something. It is because in line with their nature, they love to play. They can forget

the main assignment they have to do because they focus on the game they are doing.

Moreover, they need help from adults. Children can do and understand much more

than they can on their own with help from adults.

2.6 Teaching English to Junior High School Students

Nowadays English is considered as a local content course in Junior High School,

because English is needed in any aspects of life. The government expects that Junior

High School students get a basic knowledge of English when they are in Junior High

School. It can be seen in “GBPP Muatan Lokal SekolahDasar Pelajaran Bahasa

Inggris” as listed below: “The students are expected to have the skill of the language

in simple English with the emphasis on speaking skills using selected topics to the

environmental needs such as tourism industry”. (1999: 2).

2.7 Pronunciation

2.7.1 Definition of Pronunciation

Pronunciation is the way a word or a language is usually spoken; the manner in which

someone utters a word. (en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/pronunciation). In line with the

definitions above, Hornby (1995:928) says that pronunciation is the way in which a
language is spoken; the way in which a word is pronounced; the way a person speaks

the words of a language.

From the definitions above, I take conclusion that pronunciation is the way person

utters a word or a language.

2.7.2Teaching Pronunciation

There are many factors that influence language teaching especially English

pronunciation teaching. Besides teacher should select the media that suitable to be

applied in teaching English pronunciation, they also should know how to teach

pronunciation well. By knowing the good way in teaching English pronunciation, the

result that is achieved will be more maximal. The following Jeremy Harmer’s

alternatives in pronunciation teaching (2002:1883): “There are three alternatives are

conveyed by Harmer. First, whole lesson: making pronunciation the main focus of

lesson does not mean that every minute of the lesson has to be spent on pronunciation

work. Second, discrete slots: some teachers insert short, separate bits of pronunciation

work into lesson sequences. And the last alternative is integrated phases: many

teachers get students to focus on pronunciation issues as an integrated part of lesson”.

In this case, teacher should decide what alternative he chooses. In this case, teacher

should decide what alternative he chooses. By deciding the alternatives he uses in

teaching English pronunciation, he can make a strategy based on the alternative to get

a maximum result. Moreover, the most important thing of the teaching and learning

process is the understanding of the students about the lesson. Cameron (2001:40) says

that “it is a crucial thing for teachers to take the responsibility for checking whether

their pupils understand the language being used and the purpose of activities being
carried out”. In this case, the teacher should let the students know that they are

studying about pronunciation and they are expected to be able to pronounce English

words correctly.

It is needed an enthusiasm in teaching English pronunciation so that both the teacher

and the students get a good result in it. It can be done by encouraging the students that

they can do the best. Besides that, it also can be done by asking the students to present

their ability in pronouncing English words so that other students know that they can

do it well. By this, students have a great spirit to learn how to pronounce English

words well.

2.8Singing Song as Media in Teaching English Pronunciation

This part talks about children songs as media in teaching English pronunciation.

There are two parts in this sub chapter. First are contributions of children songs in

teaching English pronunciation. And the second is the way of applying children songs

in teaching English pronunciation.

2.8.1Contributions of Children Song in Teaching English Pronunciation

There are many reasons why children songs are good for English pronunciation. It has

many contributions in pronunciation teaching. For example:

a.Kramer (http://www.mla.org/adlt/bulletinv33NI/331012.htm) states that songs are

good for English teaching because: “Songs are funny. They promote mimics, gestures

etc associated to the meaning. They are good to introduce suprasegmental phonetics.

Students play a participative role. They can be applied to comprehension stages

(listening) or production (singing). There are songs for all ages and levels. Students

can learn English very easily through echoic memory”.

b.Songs can add feeling and rhythm to language practice that might otherwise be flat.

“They also help children remember things more easily and draw children more deeply

into a lesson”. (Paul, 2003:58).

c.Music and rhythm it much easier to imitate and remember language than words

which are just spoken (Philips, 1993:94). From the statements above, we know that

children song is funny. As we see, most of children like something funny. With their

interest in children song, will make the process of teaching English pronunciation

easier. I assume that it is effective using children song in teaching English

pronunciation to Junior High School students because they learn something by using

something funny that is children song. Students especially children will have zest in

learning something if they take part in it. Zest of students influences their result in

their study. In this case, teacher should use a medium that can make students have a

great enthusiasm in learning something because they can take part in it. In my

opinion, it is good for teacher to use children song in teaching English pronunciation

to Junior High School students because they can take part in it by following the song

when it is played. As Paul says that song also helps children remember things more

easily and draw children more deeply into a lesson. So it is very pleasant for the

teacher to use children song in teaching English pronunciation. Children can

remember the right way of pronouncing the words easily. With a good remembrance

of how to pronounce the words as they heard on the song given by the teacher, it is

expected that they can apply it in pronouncing English words not only in singing a

song but also anytime they speak in English. Besides that, song also makes students

much easier to imitate and remember language than words which are just spoken.

Students will get bored if they just hear a lecture from the teacher of how to

pronounce English well. Teacher can make students know how to pronounce English
well by using songs. They will try to remember and imitate the song because they like

and interested in it.

2.8.2Applying Children Songs in Teaching English Pronunciation

In this case, teacher should be selective in choosing a song that will be used in

English pronunciation teaching. They should choose interesting song so that the

students are attracted in them. A song should be learnt only when the learner

understands the meaning of the language item contained in it. After preparing and

choosing the right song, some steps should apply as Suk Mei Lo, Chi Fai Lo and

Cakir opinions in Sri Utami. Here are ways of applying song in classroom:

1.Suk Mei Lo and Chi Fai Lo say that song is applied in teaching and learning process

by: “First, teacher hands out the lyrics of song to the students or write it in the board.

Then the teacher explains the meaning of the lyrics and tells the way how to

pronounce it. After that, teacher asks the students to read the text aloud. The next step

is lets the students listen to the songs three times. The first time students purely listen,

the second time sing with the tape, and the last time sing without tape. The last step is

asks the students to do exercises”.

2. The steps suggested by Cakir: “First, students listen to the songs from cassette.

Second, teacher repeats the song in spoken form. Teacher and students repeat the song

together. Once again, students listen to the song from cassette. And the last is the

repetition of the song in the instrumental version”.

Based on the references above, I suppose the following activities to be applied in the

classroom. First, teacher hands out the lyrics of the songs or writes them on the board.

Second, teacher explains the meaning of the songs and lets the students know the
meaning of each word. Third, teacher plays or sings the songs many times. Fourth,

teacher lets the students know how to pronounce the words of the songs correctly.

Fifth, teacher gives the students an example of the way how to sing the songs. Eight,

teacher asks the students to repeat the songs using right pronunciation after him/her.

After mastering the intonation of the song, teacher asks the students to sing the song

together. After that teacher asks the students to sing the song by themselves. The last

is teacher asks the students to exercises related to the songs.

CHAPTER III

METHOD OF THE STUDY

3.1 Subject of The study

It was an action research. And the subject of the study was the first grade of SMP N 1

Baktiya in the academic year 2009/2010. It consisted of 45 students, 22 boys and 23

girls. I chose them as the subject of the study because of the consideration that they

have been taught English as the local content subject. Besides, based on the interview

that I had done before, most of them were not able to pronounce English well.

3.2 Variable

Variable is the object of the research or the focus of the study. There were two

variables in the study, they are:

1. Independent Variable

It is a variable that will be studied its relation or influences toward other certain

variable that becomes main discussion.

The independent variable of this study is the method of teaching English

pronunciation by using English children songs.

2. Dependent Variable

It is the main study that will be examined its condition by studying its relation with

other variable. It is a variable that the results are influenced by the dependent variable.

The method here refers to the use of children songs in teaching learning process,

while the students’ achievement test in mastering English pronunciation is the

dependent variable. The dependent variable of this study is the students’ achievement

test in pronouncing the words of the songs -Baa Baa Black Sheep, Pilot, Doctor and

Boy and Girl.

3.3 Instrument of the Study

An instrument plays an important role in a study in the sense that the reliability of the

instrument will influence the reliability of data obtained. The instrument used in this

experiment was intended to measure the students’ achievement in English

pronunciation. Therefore, I used a test as the instrument for collecting the data.

The instruments that were used in this study were children songs, test, field

notes and interview.

3.3.1 Children Songs

In doing this action research, I selected four interesting songs. The songs that were

used had themes that were related to children world. The songs were Baa Baa Black

Sheep, Pilot, Doctor and Boy and Girl. The first song tells about sheep. It introduces

the students some new English words related to sheep. The second song is a song

about profession. The profession here is a pilot. It tells bout anything related to the

profession. The third song also tells about profession, that is doctor. It tells about

health. The last song is Boy and Girl. It tells about a friendship between a boy and a

girl. The four songs make the students easier in memorizing the way of pronouncing

English words. The lyrics of the song can be seen in appendix 1, 2, 3 and 4.

3.3.2 Test

A test is some questions or exercises and other tools that are used to measure skill,

knowledge and also ability of someone. In this study the test is used to measure the
students’ achievement in mastering English pronunciation through English children

songs. The result of the achievement tests are used to indicate the students’ progress

of English pronunciation by using English children songs. The study was carried out

in six activities: pre-test, four activities by using English children songs and a post

test. The first activity was a pre-test. Before doing the pre-test, the students were

taught to read some English words by giving them the examples of how to read the

words in the form of reading. The next four activities were teaching students the way

of pronouncing English words by using children song. At the end of each activity was

always an assessment. And the last activity was a post test. The post test was done to

know the progression of the students in English pronunciation before and after getting

a treatment by using English children songs.

3.3.3 Field Notes

The field notes in this study was used to know the activities during the teaching

learning process, such as how I carried out the material and the students’ responses. In

using the field notes, systematically I kept notes of the classroom.

For example:

a. Students’ participation In this study, I analyzed the students’ participation in

singing the songs I gave. Since the students did what I asked them to do, I concluded

that the students were motivated to be active.

b. Students’ interest and motivation In doing this study, I took notes of the students’

interest and motivated them in learning English pronunciation by using English

children songs.

3.3.4 Interview
Interview is a dialogue which is done by the interviewer to get information from the

interviewee. (Arikunto, 2002: 132). In this study, I interviewed the students. It was

done at the end of each activity. The form of interview was a written interview. I was

as the interviewer and some students were the interviewee. There were four

interviewee, they were: the student who got the highest score, the student who got the

lowest score, the student who was active and the student who was not active in the

teaching learning process.

I gave some questions to the interviewee and the interviewee answered the questions

by writing their answers on a piece of paper. It was done at the end of each activity.

3.4 Procedure of The study

In this study, there was a pre test. After conducting the pre test, there were four

activities. The students learnt English pronunciation by using English children songs.

After having those activities, the students were given a post test. The procedure of the

study can be seen in the table below:

Table 1 Procedure of the study

As we see in the table above, the pre-test was conducted on Tuesday, 27th February

2007. The test was conducted in purpose of knowing the students’ ability in

pronouncing English words before getting the treatment I gave. It consisted of 136

items. The test was based on the words that are found in the songs that would be

given. The pre-test ran well. It ran as follows, firstly, I handed out the pre test paper

to the students. After all students got the paper, I asked them to pay attention to me. I

gave examples the way of pronouncing the words on the pre-test paper. After that, I

asked them to read the words together. Then, I asked them to come forward reading

the words on the paper they have got. The next activities were the four activities,

teaching English pronunciation by using English children songs. The activities ran

well. Each activity ran as follows, firstly I handed out the text of the song. Every

student got one text. After all students got the text, I asked the students to pay
attention to the text they had got. I asked them to listen to the cassette of the song. I

told them what the song was about. I told them the meaning of the song. I translated

the text into Indonesian word by word. Then I asked their understanding of the song.

I played the cassette of the song. The students listened to the cassette attentively.

Students listened to the cassette three times. After playing the cassette three times, I

asked the students if they could sing the song or not. The students answered that they

could not sing the song. I gave the example of singing the song. I did not only give

the example of the way in singing the song but also the way of pronouncing each

word of the song. I did it slowly so that the students understood the way of singing

and pronouncing the song well. The next step was I asked the students to sing the

song together twice. After that the students sang the song with me. Then the students

sang the song together by listening to the song from the cassette. After they were able

to sing and pronounce the song, I asked the students to sing the song one by one.

Each activity ran in equal time except in the fourth activity. In that activity, the

students understood the meaning and the way of singing the song easily. It was

because they had known the words of the song before. During the remaining time, I

asked them to sing the songs I had given. And the last activity was a post test. The

post test was conducted on Saturday, June 9th 2007. The test consisted of 136 words.

The test was conducted in the form of singing the four songs, Baa Baa Black Sheep,

Pilot, Doctor, and Boy and Girl.

I recorded the students’ voices when they were singing the songs. The students came

forward one by one to sing the songs. They came forward based on their number on

the attendant list. When one of the students came forward to sing the songs, other

students were practicing the songs by themselves. I wanted to know the degree of the
students’ achievement in English pronunciation before and after getting the treatment

by using English children songs. The score of each student was counted individually

by using this formula:

The number of the right answer

The percentage: x 100%

The number of items

This research used simple formula to analyze the result of the students’ achievement

in pronouncing English words. It was based on “petunjuk penilaian” (the guidance of

assessment) from Depdikbud (Department of Education and culture). (Dekdikbud,

1994:29).