The aims of the thesis are; (1) to reveal tongue twisters can improve the
students’ ability to pronounce fricative consonants; (2) to reveal tongue twisters
can improve the students’ ability to pronounce long vowels (3) to reveal the
problems related to the implementation of tongue twisters in teaching
pronunciation.
This research is classroom action research dealing with the implementation
of tongue twisters to improve the students’ ability to pronounce fricative
consonants and long vowels. This research was conducted at the eighth grade of
SMP Ma’arif 1 Ponorogo, East Java Province. The data are collected
quantitatively (test) and qualitatively (observation, interviews, document analysis,
test, record and photos). Quantitative data are analysed by using descriptive
statistics, while qualitative data are analysed through three steps which are
proposed by Huberman, those are data reduction, data presentation and
conclusion/verification in conclusion.
The finding shows that the implementation of tongue twister as a teaching
technique could improve the students’ pronunciation of fricative consonants and
long vowels. The improvement of students’ pronunciation could be seen from the
mean scores in pre-test, test 1 and post-test. In the scale of 100, the mean score of
fricative consonants in pre-test was 25. It improved to 58 and 74 in test 1 and
post-test successively. The mean score of long vowels were 31. It improved to 53
and 73. Meanwhile, the problems occurred during the implementation of tongue
twisters could be seen from the result of observation during the teaching and
learning process. The problems came from the researcher as the teacher, the
assessment, the students and the tongue twisters as pronunciation teaching
technique. After the implementation of tongue twisters, the students were
interested in learning, looked confident, more active in the class, and paid their
attention to the material. Therefore, it can be concluded that tongue twisters is an
appropriate technique for teaching speaking, especially pronunciation.
In conclusion, the result of this research implies that tongue twisters is an
effective technique to improve the students ability to pronounce fricative
consonants and long vowels. However, there is needed teacher’s monitor and well
preparation so that the teaching and learning pronunciation run effectively to
avoid the problems that may be occur during teaching and learning process and
the material can be delivered well.
Keywords: tongue twisters, fricative consonants, long vowel, CAR
