Writer: Ala' (English Literature student of 2019, Class C)

Indonesian students are suffering to speak English for several reasons, one of them is due to pronunciation problems, which may lead to misunderstanding with native speakers and make it hard to communicate with them.

In the beginning, there are several reasons why it is difficult to pronounce English words correctly. First, some sounds in the English language may not be present in the Indonesian language, or the Indonesians may be confused in their pronunciation. For example, the sound of [f] and [v], Indonesians may pronounce [v] as they pronounce [f], like in the word "Van" will become "Fan", which will make a massive mess in the speech. It perhaps causes the different pronunciations of letters between the two languages, as well as the exits of letters and sound. Second, the system of vowels and consonants in the English language contains a lot of different sounds, as there are 44 phonemes which are considered by 24 consonants, 12 vowels, and 8 diphthongs. Moreover, the English language does not apply the rules of phonemic spelling, as is the case in Indonesian, for example the word ‘simple’ in English, according to the alphabet it should be pronounced /si:mple/, but in reality, it pronounces /sImpl/.

All these problems are obstacles for Indonesian students to pronounce English words correctly. However, it is not impossible to learn it. Pronunciation skills can be developed by listening to native speakers and imitating their pronunciation or singing. In addition to the emphasis on rhythm, word stress, sentence stress, and intonation, many teachers consider it the best way to teach pronunciation to non-native students.

References:

• https://journal.stkippamanetalino.ac.id/index.php/bahasa-inggris/article/download/27/33
• https://www.kompasiana.com/nikodemus/55009769813311cb60fa7d37/indonesian-english-users-common-mistakes-in-pronunciation
• https://englishlive.ef.com/blog/language-lab/10-tips-perfect-english-pronunciation/
• https://www.fluentu.com/blog/english/how-to-improve-english-pronunciation/