THE BENEFITS OF LEARNING

PHONETICS, PHONOLOGY, AND PRONOUNCIATION

Learning language means that we learn to communicate by using that language. The communication may be in spoken and written form, but the spoken form may be more difficult for second language learners. As we know that every language has its own system of sounds, so it may be difficult to understand and produce sounds of other language. Therefore, learning language should not be separated with learning its system of sounds. In other words, we have to study Phonetics and Phonology, two branches of linguistics that study sounds and sound structures, to get good understanding of the underlying principles of the speech sounds. Not to mention, we also need to learn the pronunciation.

When we learn Phonetics, we learn how sounds are produced from the organ of speech. It seems to be very simple that makes many non-native speakers often neglect it. In fact, to produce a single sound, it involves several steps; those are the process of initiation, phonation, oro-nasal, and articulation. In this case, Phonetics helps us to understand, hear, and reproduce the sounds. By learning such knowledge, we will become aware of pronouncing words.

Beside the pronunciation, another important aspect is intonation. When learning a foreign language, we tend to transfer the intonation from our native language into the second language. Inappropriate intonation may lead to misunderstanding. In addition, we also have to recognize the stress in pronouncing words.  Phonetics helps us to recognize and understand intonation patterns. Moreover, there are still some other features such stress, length, etc. that we need to recognize. In Indonesian it is not very necessary to recognize such features, such as stress in pronouncing Indonesian words is not affected the meaning, but in English we have to recognize it. That’s why Phonetics is very useful to learn.  

Next is about Phonology that is very closely related to Phonetics. We need a good knowledge of Phonetics to understand Phonology. Both are the study of sounds, but in Phonology we explore more about the differences between sounds that can change the meaning of utterances. For example, the singular and plural form of most nouns will be pronounced differently such as in cat and cats. Every single sound must be sound because it is meaningful. By learning this, we will understand the importance of pronouncing every single sound to avoid misunderstanding of meaning so we will try to pronounce the word as well as possible.

From the explanation above, we can see that it is very important for us especially English teachers to learn Phonetics, Phonology, and pronunciation in order to have good pronunciation. It goes without saying that pronunciation is definitely the biggest thing that we notice when hearing someone speaking. It involves not only the individual sounds, but also certain features such as the fall or rise of the speech, stress of words, pitch, rhythm, and so on. Bad pronunciation will make us unable to communicate efficiently and effectively because it may make the listener confused of what we said. Because of the confusion, we have to explain again what we mean until the listeners understand, and this is   wasting time.

 Moreover, we as teachers are models for our students. Good teachers have to deliver correct model. We have responsibility to transfer correct knowledge. Besides, our pronunciation may be reflected in our students’. Therefore, other people may judge us based on our product (students). In addition, by having good pronunciation, we may encourage the students to have good pronunciation. As a result, they will maximally expose the use of English which makes their ability improved. We do not have to be like native speaker, but at least we can minimize misunderstanding.

 Furthermore, we also have to teach our students the phonetic alphabet as soon as possible. Learning the symbols used to represent each speech sound, especially English which has become international language, means that not only could we learn to transcribe speech sounds, but that we could use the symbols included in dictionaries to help our own pronunciation of new words. In practical terms, this helps us when using English on holiday when we want to speak with foreigners. It will increase our confidence because we are able to speak more accurately. It also helps us to avoid confusions with similar sounds from our first language as well as to produce the new and different sounds of the target language.

The discussion above much exposes the importance of learning Phonetics, Phonology, and pronunciation to improve speaking ability. However, it is actually not only for speaking skill. As we know that there are three other skills (listening, reading, and writing) that are integrated with each other. The speaking skill itself is very related to the listening skill. If we have good pronunciation, which means we are aware of producing sounds, we will be aware of listening every single sound too. It is vice versa, if we have high sensitivity in listening every single sound, we will have more accurate and appropriate pronunciation.

Beside that, learning Phonetics and Phonology may also influence us in improving reading and writing skills. In reading skill, especially reading aloud, we need the knowledge of how to read the text by using appropriate pronunciation. It is also related to the ability to recognize the phonetic transcription. To be a good reader, we need to recognize every symbol. After that, we will also try to create the symbol by writing it. Therefore, the knowledge of Phonetics and Phonology is very useful to improve the four language skills.

Some teachers may feel that it is not easy to teach the students about that. However, we should not look down on them. In this case, we do not need to teach the knowledge of Phonetics and Phonology deeply. Maybe we just try to introduce the phonetic transcription, how to pronounce words appropriately, etc. We should motivate them to learn the language. However, it should start from us, as the teachers. As I said before, we are the models and we have to be good models for our students. Something good will inspire them so they will be encouraged to learn more and more. That’s why it is important for us to learn Phonetics, Phonology, and pronunciation as one of efforts to be a good teacher, a good model to our students.

 

dan hampir 23

hahihiiii... emang gag krasa,,,tp emang nyatanya bulan dpan ak udah menginjak usia yg ke 23 taun... yaaaaaaappp,,,usia dimana dulu ak ngebayangin bakalan merid di usia ini.hehehhee... mungkin terinspi ma mami yg dulu nikah di usia 23 taon,kyy pas bgt...
tapi nampaknya tak seperti yg dibayangkann, jawabanya ya pasti karena belum siap. Yappz,,,buat masuk ke bahtera rumah tangga tu butuh kesiapan, gag cuma siapnya aku, tapi jg pastinya sang calon. sebenernya klo dibilang siap ya aku siaapp, tp akunya kan jg harus pengertian, liat kesiapan sang calon jg dunk...
ngomong2 soal siap,,,gag segampang itu, kita kudu siap semuanya, klo orang2 liat si pasti nomer satu materi, bener bgt c, tp mental jg puenting.hehehhee...
ngomongin soal materi pasti ngomongin jg masalah masa depan anak2 kita nantinya, apalagi buat seorang laki-laki, pasti lebih berat bebannya, klo dia sayang ame istrinya ya pasti dia mikir mau dikasih makan apa nanti istri saya.wlewlewleee :p
garing bgt ih,,, ya tapi inilah realitinya...
yg bikin gatel tuuhh sebenernya pertanyaan orang2 "kapan merid?" waduuuhh,,,bikin makin menggebu-gebuu. tp klo dah inget soal SIAP tadi,,, lgsung dh ciut..hihihiiii...
auaaahh,,, just wait n see kapan aku dan dia SIAP ;)

miss you...

miss you, really miss you, love...

dunno exactly what word can explain this feeling

beautiful, yes it's beautiful to feel this feeling

but, it hurts when I realize that I can't see you that easily

this long distance sometimes kills me

but don't worry, hunny

my love for you will never be killed by million miles

trust me, my love for you will always be bigger n bigger

n this feeling of missing you fertilizes it...

always miss you, 0ny0ng... 

Symphony yang Indah

entah kenapa tiap denger lagu ini inget sama kamu yang tersayang, Dimas.
benar-benar symphony yang indah teruntukmu yang terindah :)

sepertinya galau

Galau, sepertinya inilah yang dinamakan galau. Rasanya bosan menjalani hari, hari pasca sarjana ketika saya belum bisa menghasilkan apa-apa. Terlalu banyak waktu terbuang sia-sia, tapi saya pun tak mengubahnya sedikitpun. Tiap hari hanya seperti ini, stuck dan hanya berdiam diri tanpa membuat perubahan yang berarti.

Tak terasa 3 bulan berlalu semenjak hari ketika saya bisa menambahkan gelar S. Pd. di belakang nama saya. Waktu itu jujur saya masih bingung harus kemana melangkah, tapi tentu saja layaknya para sarjana yang baru saja lulus saya pun menginginkan segera mendapat pekerjaan, apapun itu. Saya pun mecoba melamar berbagai macam pekerjaan, bahkan pekerjaan yang kurang sesuai dengan jurusan yang saya ambil. Terkadang ada juga panggilan-panggilan kerja dari kantor-kantor yang mencari informasi dari kampus. Beberapa ada yang mengundang saya untuk melakukan tes, tapi entah itu memang belum rejeki saya, kebetulan di hari pemanggilan itu saya tidak bisa hadir. Padahal banyak sekali hari-hari dimana saya tidak punya aktivitas, kenapa harus pemanggilan itu ketika saya tidak bisa berada disana. Yah, itu mungkin yang namanya bukan rejeki. Memang sempat saya mengikuti sebuah tes dan lolos tahap awal, tapi posisi yang ditawarkan tidak saya sukai dan akhirnya ketika mendapat undangan wawancara saya langsung mundur dan tidak hadir.

Saya pun sering mendiskusikan masalah jalan hidup yang harus saya tempuh selanjutnya dengan kedua orangtua saya. Ayah saya menyarankan saya untuk melanjutkan kuliah S2. Saya cukup tertarik walaupun yang lebih saya inginkan ya bisa cari duit, layaknya kebanyakan orang pasti pengenya cepet mandiri ga bergantung sama orangtua terus. Orangtua saya terus mendorong buat kuliah S2. Saya pun cari info, kebetulan di bulan November masih ada pendaftaran di sebuah universitas negeri di Solo. Jadi nanti kuliah dimulai bulan Maret, akhirnya saya tertarik buat daftar disana, kalo gitu kan bisa menghemat waktu 1 semester daripada nungguin universitas lain yang kuliahnya dimulai kira-kira abis lebaran nanti. Bersama seorang teman saya, saya mantapkan buat lanjut kuliah walaupun dalam hati masih tetep pengenya kerja, cari duit. Akhirnya saya diterima di universitas tersebut, tapi sungguh saya masih bingung mau diambil atau tidak, saya masih menginginkan bisa cari duit. Sering saya mengeluh pada ibu akan kebingungan itu hingga akhirnya saya yakin kalo nanti saya pasti bisa kuliah sambil cari kerja. Duit dapet, ilmu juga nambah. Semoga aja semuanya bisa berjalan sesuai rencana. Kerja iya, sekolah juga iya. Amin… Semoga aja semua itu juga bisa jadi amal ibadah nantinya.

Sekarang dah cukup jelas, bulan maret nanti saya bakalan mulai berkutat lagi dengan tugas-tugas, presentasi, dsb, yah kuliah akan dimulai bulan maret. Masih cukup banyak waktu untuk kreatif seharusnya, tapi sya bingung harus berbuat apa. Kerjaan saya ya tiap hari Cuma latian jadi ibu rumah tangga.hehehhee… waktu habis buat beres-beres rumah, nonton tv, internetan, kadang masak juga, main, belanja, yaaahh very boring chores. Tapi di sela kebosanan itu, Alhamdulillah, saya banyak dapat ajakan liburan, akhir November saya nyebrang ke Dewata Island, pertengahan desember lalu ke Jatim, sempet juga main-main sambil silaturahim ke tempat sodara-sodara. Kalo inget itu Alhamdulillah banget, sampe bikin temen-temen pada ngiri.hihihihiii… yaah, selalu ada yang harus dsyukuri, apapun keadaanya. Mungkin pintu rezeki saya dalam hal pekerjaan belum kebuka, tapi pintu yang lain kan masih banyak. Sungguh Maha Maha Segalanya Allah.

Yang bisa saya lakukan sekarang biar terus bersyukur adalah menyadari setiap nikmat sekecil apapun, menyadarinya sebagai kebahagiaan yang mungkin orang lain belum pernah merasakannya. Ngapain lihat ke atas terus, ga ada habisnya. Coba tengok mereka yang di bawah, sadari betapa kita lebih beruntung :)    

haruskah menyerah?

Memang bukan utk ptama kalinya ini terjadi, tp entah knpa malam ini terasa  lebih berat. Sungguh bukannya aku tak peduli, tp aku merasa itu hal wajar yg tak pantas untuk diributkan.

Sungguh aku ingin menghiburmu malam ini, jujur aku pun sangat merindukanmu. Aku tau hari ini begitu berat untukmu. Aku tau kamu butuh seseorang untuk melupakan smua beban itu, aku mau, aku ingin, tapi maaf tuk kesekian kalinya aku mlakukan hal yg tak kau suka yg aku tak suka kau tak menyukainya..

Sesak ini benar2 menyiksaku. Aku pun ingin segera menghiburmu, tp apa daya hatiku sakit. Aku sakit setiap kau mengucap kata2 seperti tadi. Aku tau persis maksudmu, tp tetap aku tidak suka.

Tak perlu kau salahkan dirimu. Aku tau maksudmu untuk tak secara langsung menyalahkanku. Tapi aku terlalu mengerti bahwa aku yg salah dan tak pernah mau memperbaikinya.

Maafkanku untuk semua sikapku. Maafkan aku yg tak pernah mengertimu. Maafkanku yg hanya bisa menyenangkan diri sendiri. Maaf, maaf, maaf…

Jujur, terkadang semua ini membuatku bosan dan ingin menyerah. Kadang pun kumerasa bahwa memang aku harus pergi karna aku tak pantas untukmu yg terlalu mengalah untukku.  Tapi inilah cinta, yg penuh dg liku, yg harus slalu kusadari bahwa kutak mampu hidup tanpanya. 

Yaahh,,, smoga smua kan baik2 saja…

wonderfuL ELTAC cLass

            Well, here I would like to share my experience when joining one of courses I took in the sixth semester; that is ELT Across Curriculum. This course is facilitated by Mrs. Puji Astuti. At the end of this course, students are expected to be able to teach subjects taught in the immersion program, internationally-designated school, or international school at secondary level (mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, economics, geography, history and arts) by using English as the medium of instruction. I think this objective has already reached since we are as students in this course have already known how to teach other subject by using English. We are also trained how to teach the subjects mentioned above by using cooperative learning. I think this method is quite interesting since every student in the class has equal participation. I also learned how to use classroom language well because Mrs. Puji has facilitated me to learn it. The most interesting part of this course was that I did such kind of microteaching. Although I taught my own classmates but I could learn many things from this microteaching. I also learned how to manage the class and how to handle different kinds of students. The students in ELTAC course are really cooperative. We help each other when we do microteaching. They are very nice.

            This course really helps me to be an English teacher since I was trained to be a real teacher when I did microteaching. I did microteaching twice. The first microteaching was in group while the second microteaching was individual. In group microteaching, I learned how to cooperate with other students in teaching something and this condition really happens in the reality. Sometimes, one teacher should collaborate with other teacher in teaching the same subject. This experience helps me a lot to collaborate with others. The second microteaching was individual microteaching. I taught Accounting at that time. It was really nice since my classmates were very active. These microteachings are really helpful for me to prepare me as an English teacher.

Actually, I am interested in learning cooperative learning. Although I have learned some strategies, for me it is not enough. May be I can learn this method outside this class. I can learn from reading the related references.

The course content was delivered well. The students are not forced to learn something but are encouraged to learn this course. I think the course content was delivered well so I don’t have to talk too much how to be better in delivering this course. If I can say something may be the way Mrs. Puji gave feedback in the group microteaching. It was very unforgettable because she directly gave the feedback in front of the class. I was very shy. But, the second feedback was delivered indirectly through the paper. It was much better that the first feedback.

I think the course assignments are not too difficult and not too easy. I have to work hard because there are some assignments. All assignments are to write the reflection and reading response to the article given by Mrs. Puji. The most difficult one is writing the reflection of group and individual microteaching because I have to assess myself and it is really confusing.

Everyone in this world wants to be the best and so do I. I hope I can get ‘A’ for this course because I have tried to complete all assignments (writing reflection and reading response to five articles), attend all classes without absent, do group and individual microteaching, and participate in the teaching and learning process. But, if the reality is not like what I expected, it doesn’t matter. The most important thing is that I did the best.