Improving Students’ Pronunciation Ability in Fricative Sounds Through Minimal Pair Drill

Abstract

This research aimed to: (1) discover whether the use of Minimal Pair Drill can improve students’ pronunciation ability in fricative sounds, and (2) identify whether the use of that technique can improve the students’ motivation in English learning. The method used in this research is Classroom Action Research. The research was conducted in 2 cycles. The data were gathered by observing, interviewing the teacher and students, writing a research diary, distributing questionnaires and conducting pronunciation tests. Besides, I also used photographs, field notes and lesson plan as the documents. The data were analyzed by Burns’ theory and comparing the students’ means score of the tests. By implementing Minimal Pair Drill, the students’ pronunciation ability in fricative sounds which consisted of /v/, /θ/, /ð/, and /ʃ/ improved. It can be seen from the tests result. In pre-test, the students’ mean score was 45.42. Then, it improved to 68.33 in cycle 1 test. At last, after cycle 2 was done, the students could reach 76.25. Besides, the results showed the improvement of their motivation in English learning, in terms of: a) actively responded to my questions and did the exercises enthusiastically; b) eagerly tried to get opportunities to get extra marks; c) happier during the implementation of Minimal Pair Drill; d) willingly asked questions to clarify the lesson.