Nurfitri, C. F. 2021. Problem in Learning English Pronunciation of Students at SMAN 7. Thesis. English Department, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Mulawarman University. Supervisors: (1) Dr. Masrur Yahya, M. Pd. and (2) Dr. Yuni Utami Asih, M. Pd.
Pronunciation is a very important aspect of learning English. To master the three language skills; listening, speaking, and reading, the students need to master how to pronounce English words. Understanding the pronunciation problems experienced by the students are important, to devise a solution or two to help them learn better. The purpose of this study was to find out the common mistake made by the tenth-grade students of SMAN 7 Samarinda in pronouncing English words. This study used qualitative research, which aimed to describe how the English pronunciation sounds spoken by the research subjects. The description of mispronounced English sounds is based on the phonetic theory proposed by Hassan (2014), in the journal entitled "pronunciation problem: A Case Study of English Language Students at Sudan University of Science and Technology". The researcher took four students from the tenth grade of SMAN 7 Samarinda as the research subject of this study. The research instruments were observation and interview. This study revealed that the research subjects (tenth-grade students at SMAN 7 Samarinda) have problems related to the changes of the original sound of vowels, consonants, and diphthongs with the ones that they believed to be the correct pronunciation. Following the rising of pronunciation problems that the researcher found, it can be concluded that the students have a lack of attitude, good motivation, and suitable instruction in learning English pronunciation. Pronunciation is a part of speaking skills that are required to be possessed strongly because mispronunciation can lead everyone to misinformation when speaking and listening. It is important to know the students’ quality regarding their skill to pronounce the English words well. In addition, it is also important to know the problems that they experience when pronouncing the words, and also the factors that contribute to the problems themselves. Therefore, the researcher suggested the teachers look after the result of this study as a reference in examining the problems of mastery over pronunciation to the students, thus fixing and modifying their teachings to promote the pronunciation skill to the students.