Students’ Perceptions on The Use of Tongue Twisters in Learning Pronunciation

Abstract

This study aims to investigate and describe students' perceptions of the use of the Tongue Twister technique in learning pronunciation in the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 24 Banjarmasin. The subject of this research is 29 students of VIII B. The method of this study is a descriptive qualitative study. The data were collected by using questionnaire and interview. The researcher analyzed the data by organizing, categorizing, and interpreting the data. The result of this study showed that students perceived that Tongue Twisters are useful for their learning pronunciation to help the students to pronounce the sounds easily. Students feel enjoyment and confidence in learning pronunciation using Tongue Twisters. Furthermore, students perceived that Tongue Twisters could increase their motivation in learning pronunciation. However, some students perceived that Tongue Twisters do not help them to pronounce the words. They perceived that Tongue Twisters make them feel stressed, thus it cannot increase their motivation in learning pronunciation. They also perceived Tongue Twisters are annoying because the classroom condition becomes noisy which makes them less concentrated. In conclusion, students’ perceptions of the use of Tongue Twisters in learning English pronunciation are positive even though, in some aspects, they still perceived negatively.