




































Putri Anggraeni, et al / Journal of English Language Teaching 6 (1) (2017) 

63 

 

 
ELT FORUM 7 (2) (2018) 

 

Journal of English Language Teaching 

 
http://journal.unnes.ac.id/sju/index.php/elt 

 
 

THE INFLUENCES OF TONGUE TWISTER IN 

TEACHING PRONUNCIATION OF ASPIRATED 

SOUND [ph] 

 

Anik Kholisoh, Alief Noor Farida  

 
English Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia

 

Article Info 
________________  
Article History: 

Received in October 

2018  
Approved in November 

2018  

Published in January 

2019 

________________  
Keywords: aspirated sound; 
pronunciation; tongue 
twister.  
____________________ 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abstract  
___________________________________________________________________ 
Speaking English for Indonesian students needs more than an effort to master as 

they cannot produce intelligibly pronunciation. Besides, their mother tongue 

interferes them when there is different sound production between Indonesian and 

English; hence, they have difficulty in pronouncing aspirated sound that does not 

exist in Indonesian. This study aims to find out how Indonesian students pronounce 

aspirated sound [ph] and the influences of tongue twister to teach pronunciation of 

aspirated sound [ph]. This research uses pre-test post-test quasi-experimental design. 

The data were collected from the result of pronunciation tests of seventh graders of 

SMP Negeri 12 Magelang in academic year 2016/2017. The findings showed that 

students mispronounced [ph] into /p/ as what they had in Indonesian. After being 

taught with tongue twister, the mean score of experiment group increased from 

13.28 to 50.16. There was significant difference of the ability between students who 

were taught pronunciation using tongue twister and those who were not. The t-test 

result was 0.000 sig 5%; it means there was different ability between control and 

experiment group after receiving the treatment. Based on the result, the researcher 

concluded that tongue twister helps Indonesian students to improve their 

pronunciation of aspirated sound [ph]. 

 
 
 © 2018 Universitas Negeri Semarang 

  


 Correspondent Address: ISSN 2252-6706 
B3 Building FBS Unnes  

Sekaran, Gunungpati, Semarang, 50229  

E-mail: anikkholisoh.10595@gmail.com  



A. Kholisoh, A. N. Farida / Journal of English Language Teaching 7 (2) (2018) 

64 

 

INTRODUCTION 

The fact that English is considered as inconsistence language is very crucial since its spelling is 

different from its pronunciation. For English native speaker, it would not be a big problem, but for 

English as the Second Language (ESL) and English as the Foreign Language (EFL) learners, it may 

take a long time and need more than an effort to master the language. Indonesian students are one of 

the ones who find it difficult to learn English as Indonesia is included in the expanding circle of Braj 

Kachru’s circle together with China, Egypt, Israel, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe and some other 

countries (Yoneoka, 2002). Thus, the problem arises in speaking field as the learner cannot produce 

the intelligibly pronunciation or pronunciation that is good enough to be always understood 

(Harmer, 2001). 

Sometimes ESL and EFL learners who are good at vocabulary and grammar have some 

difficulties in pronunciation because they do not learn pronunciation from the early time as they 

start learning English. In addition, Brown (2001) stated that for general speaking, children have an 

excellent opportunity to sound like native speaker if they keep being in authentic context. 

Consequently, learners in the beginning level need to have more practice if they want to have good 

ability in pronunciation. Unfortunately, Indonesian learners do not have sufficient training in this 

language aspect when they study English at school. 

As the compulsory subject, each English aspects does not have balance portion in teaching 

learning process. Harmer (2001) revealed that “almost all English teachers get students to study 

grammar and vocabulary, practice functional dialogues, take part in productive skill activities, and 

become competent in listening and reading. Yet some these same teachers make little attempt to 

teach pronunciation in any overt way and only give attention to it in passing.” In line with this 

statement that, in fact in Indonesia, pronunciation practice do not have enough portion to be taught in 

the class because teachers tend to focus on the main lesson material such as reading text. Students has not 

been introduced to any segmental feature such as English sounds nor supra-segmental features such as 

stress and intonation. 

Another thing to be concerned about learning new language for ESL and EFL learners is the 

influence of the native language or first language (L1) to the target language or second language 

(L2).  If some sounds are very similar in both native and target language, the influence is called 

facilitating. For example, both Indonesian and English have sound /n/; for Indonesian students, the 

existence of sound /n/ helps them in acquiring sound /n/ in English because they are somewhat 

similar. However, the interfering influence comes when Indonesian students face English sound /ʒ/ 

which does not exist in their native language, so does happen for sound [ph] 

From all those discussions, the main problem for Indonesian students is in learning 

pronunciation practice. It is in line with Wulandari (2011) who stated that students meet difficulties 

in learning English pronunciation due to the different elements between their mother language and 

the target language. They do not have enough basic knowledge in pronunciation to go one step 

ahead to speaking so that many Indonesian people consider speaking English is very difficult to do 

and to master. Besides, mother tongue interfering problem comes to learners who have learned 

English but finding hard to be fluent in speaking and hard to catch native speaker spoken due to the 

different sound production between Indonesia and English. Thus, learning English pronunciation in 

the very early level can help to overcome this problem because learners stand a good chance to 

sound like native speaker. 

Moreover, the way to teach pronunciation needs to be effective so that the learning process 

gets maximum result. One of the effective method to teach pronunciation is using tongue twister that 

is fun and challenging as being suggested by Prošic-Santovac (2009) that “tongue  twisters  were  



A. Kholisoh, A. N. Farida / Journal of English Language Teaching 7 (2) (2018) 

65 

 

generally  perceived  as  a  useful exercise for improving pronunciation,  and  their  potential  for 

providing context for the target phonemes was valued the most.” 

This study aims to find out how Indonesian students pronounce aspirated sound [ph] before 

this research was conducted. Further, researcher also wants to know whether tongue twister gives 

influences for Indonesian students when teacher uses it to teach pronunciation of aspirated sound [ph]. 

METHODS 

This research used quantitative research in which the data analysis could be done by statistical 

calculation. There are some types of quantitative research, but in this study quasi-experimental 

design was chosen. For the reason of not making a mess on the class which had been set by the 

school, the pre-test post-test quasi-experimental design was quite suitable for this study. The 

population of this study was the seventh grade students of SMP Negeri 12 Magelang in the academic year 

of 2016/2017. The seventh graders were chosen because the study about pronunciation practice was very 

effective given to English learners in beginner level to help them overcame the fossilized accent. 

Furthermore, cluster sampling technique was selected because the design of this research was quasi-

experimental which inquired nonrandom control and experiment group. It was simpler if the sample 

was taken as group or cluster than as individual subject. In this study, VII A consisted of 31 students 

was chosen as the control group, and VII D consisted of 32 students was chosen as the experiment 

group. 

 

Paper [ˈpeɪ.pə r ]  

Pencil [ˈpen t  .s ə l]  

Parking [ˈpɑː.kɪŋ]  

Pepper [ˈpep.ə r ]  

Picture [ˈpɪk.tʃə r ]  

Party [ˈpɑː.ti]  

Partner [ˈpɑːt.nə r ]  

Parent [ˈpeə.rənt]  

Pretty [ˈprɪt.i]  

Peter [ˈpiː.tə]  

Paris [ ˈpær.ɪs]  

Proper [ˈprɒp.ə r ]  

Apology [əˈpɒl.ə.dʒi]  

Repeat [rɪˈpiːt]  

Peanut [ˈpiː.nʌt]  

People [ˈpiː.pl  ]  

Post office [ˈpəʊst ɒf.ɪs]  

Personal [ˈpɜː.s ə n. ə l]  

Practice [ˈpræk.tɪs]  

Power [paʊə r ]  

Table 2.1. List of Words Consisting of Aspirated Sound [ph] 

Using test as the instrument of collecting data, the researcher conducted two kinds of tests, 

they were pre-test and post-test. However, before the instrument was tested, researcher tried it out to 

know whether the test was eligible and suitable to be used using validity and reliability test. The try 



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66 

 

out test was conducted once in VII C consisting of 31 students. The researcher handed in student 

worksheet in order to give chance for students to study at a glance first before the test was delivered. 

There were twenty words consisting of aspirated sound [ph] in the worksheet that is presented in 

Table 1. After giving short explanation about the objective of the test and the material of the test, 

students came forward one by one to read twenty words consisting aspirated sound [ph]. The result 

of the study was score which represented students’ ability in pronouncing aspirated sound [ph]. 

After the data was collected, the researcher analyzed them using statistical analysis. The 

statistical analysis in this research was the analysis of pre-test and post-test result which included 

descriptive statistic, normality, homogeneity, and t-test calculation using SPSS 20.0 to gain the 

hypothesis. The hypotheses of this research were: 

 

H0 : there is no influence of tongue twister in students’ ability in pronouncing aspirated sound 

[ph]  

Ha : there is influence of tongue twister in students’ ability in pronouncing aspirated sound [ph]  

The researcher used the probability level to determine the result of hypothesis. 

If the probability > 0,05 it means  H0 is accepted and Ha is refused. 

If the probability < 0,05 it means H0 is refused and Ha is accepted. 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 

Based on the researcher’s observation and experience during teaching practice for three 

months in SMP Negeri 12 Magelang, students’ ability in pronunciation was in general low especially 

in pronunciation of aspirated sound [ph]. Their sound production on [ph] sound was influenced by 

their mother language. They mispronounced [ph] into /p/ as what they had in Indonesian. When 

they started learning English, they were difficult to acquire aspirated sound. It was proved by the 

low score of pre-test that was delivered before students got any treatment. 

3.1 Pre-test 

Pre-test was test given before conducting the treatment. Both control and experiment group 

received similar test. This test was used to measure the initial ability in both groups. It was also used 

as a guide for the researcher to know that students’ ability in pronunciation in control and 

experiment group was in the same level. Using the reliable and valid test, researcher tested students 

one by one pronouncing words consisting aspirated sound [ph] and gave score. Score 1 was given for 

the correct sound production and score 0 was for the incorrect one. The final score was drawn from 

the following formula. 

𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 × 5 = 𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 

The result of the test was analyzed in statistical analysis using SPSS 20.0. The mean of pre-test 

in control group was 13.39 with the highest score was 30 and the standard deviation was 8.697. 

Whereas the mean of the experiment group was 13.28 with the highest score was 30 and standard 

deviation was 8.855. 

 Kolmogorov-Smirnov 
 df Sig. 

Pre-test control group 31 0.186 
Pre-test experiment group 32 0.116 

Table 3.1. Pre-Test Normality Test 



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The result of pre-test statistical analysis was then analyzed in normality and homogeneity test. 

The normality test in this study was conducted by Kolmogorov-Smirnov in SPSS 20.0. The 

distribution is normal if the significance value is > 0.05. Table 2 showed that the sig value of pre-test 

control group (0.186) was higher than 0.05 and the sig value of pre-test experiment group (0.116) 

was also higher than 0.05. In short, the distribution of the test score in pre-test both in control and 

experiment group was normal. Figure 1 and 2 present the normal distribution of pre-test of control 

and experiment group. 

Figure 3.1. Score Distribution of Pre-test of Control Group 

 

Figure 3.2. Score Distribution of Pre-test of Experiment Group 

 

Levene Statistic df1 df2 Sig. 

0.000 1 61 0.996 

Table 3.2. Pre-Test Homogeneity of Variances Test 

The homogeneity test was conducted using the formula of One Way ANOVA. From the 

calculation, the probability/sig was 0.996 which meant that it was higher than 0.05. Therefore, this 

test was homogeneous or the pre-test of control and experiment group came from the same variance. 



A. Kholisoh, A. N. Farida / Journal of English Language Teaching 7 (2) (2018) 

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 Levene's Test 

for Equality of 

Variances 

t-test for Equality of Means 

F Sig. t df Sig. (2-

tailed) 

Mean 

Difference 

Std. Error 

Difference 

95% 

Confidence 

Interval of the 

Difference 

Lower Upper 

nilai 

Equal 

variances 

assumed 

.000 .996 .048 61 .962 .106 2.212 -4.317 4.529 

Equal 

variances not 

assumed 

  

.048 60.987 .962 .106 2.211 -4.316 4.528 

Table 3.3. Pre-Test Independent Samples Test 

In this study, the researcher used Independent Sample T Test. The result showed that the sig 

(2-tailed) which was higher than 0.05. It meant that there was no difference initial ability between 

students in the control and experiment group. 

From all pre-test calculations, it can be concluded that in the initial condition, both control 

and experiment group were in the same level. The mean scores of the two were merely similar. If we 

look at the histograms in Figure 1 and 2, they performed less skewness or the shape was almost close 

to bell shape which showed the normal distribution of mean scores (Tuckman in Saleh, n.d.). 

Furthermore, the spread or variance of the two groups was equal or homogeneous proved by the 

value of homogeneity of variance was 0.996 > 0.05. At last, the t-test score that was 0.962 > 0.05 

means H0 is accepted and Ha is refused or there is no different ability between control and 

experiment group before the treatment was given. 

3.2 Treatment 

The experiment group was taught pronunciation of aspirated sound [ph] using tongue twister. 

The researcher provided videos as the media in delivering tongue twister, modeled how to 

pronounce and guided students to practice. On the other side, control group was taught using 

conventional method (unstructured discussion). However, this group were still given brief 

explanation about the material of pronunciation of aspirated sound [ph]. Below is the list of tongue 

twister used in the treatment. 

Pirates private property 

Pirates private property 

Pirates private property 

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. 



A. Kholisoh, A. N. Farida / Journal of English Language Teaching 7 (2) (2018) 

69 

 

A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. 

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, 

Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked? 

Based on researcher observation during the treatment, students quite enjoyed practicing 

tongue twister since it is fun and challenging. Automatically they trained their tongue to produce 

aspirated sound while pronouncing tongue twister. 

3.1 Post-test 

The post-test for experiment group was done after this group was given special treatment 

which was practicing tongue twister. Students did the same test as they did in pre-test; they 

pronounce twenty words one by one. The researcher’s observation focused only on students’ 

production of the aspirated sound [ph].  Score 1 was given for the correct sound production and score 

0 was for the incorrect one. Control group had exactly the same post-test, technique and scoring 

system as experiment group. 

The mean of post-test in control group was 29.03 with the highest score was 85 and the 

standard deviation was 17.341. Whereas the mean of post-test in experiment group was 50.16 with 

the highest score was 100 and standard deviation was 20.260. 

 

 Kolmogorov-Smirnov 

 df Sig. 

Post-test control group 31 0.129 

Post-test experiment group 32 0.200 

Table 3.4. Post-Test Normality Test 

The result of pre-test statistical analysis was later analyzed in normality and homogeneity test. 

The distribution is normal if the significance is > 0.05. Table 5 showed that the sig value in post-test 

control group (0.129) was higher than 0.05 and the sig value in post-test experiment group (0.200) 

was also higher than 0.05. Consequently, the distribution on the test score in pre-test both in control 

and experiment group was normal. Figure 3 and 4 present the normal distribution of post-test of 

control and experiment group. 

Figure 3.3 Score Distribution of Post-test of Control Group 

 



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Figure 3.4 Score Distribution of Post-test of Experiment Group 

 

Levene Statistic df1 df2 Sig. 

0.956 1 61 0.332 

Table 3.5. Post-Test Homogeneity of Variance Test 

Table 5 presents the result of post-test homogeneity of variance test. The result of 

homogeneity test showed that the probability/sig was 0.332 which meant it was higher than 0.05. 

Therefore, this test was homogeneous or the post-test of control and experiment group came from 

the same variance. 

 Levene's Test 

for Equality of 

Variances 

   t-test for Equality of Means 

F Sig. t df Sig. (2-

tailed) 

Mean 

Difference 

Std. Error 

Difference 

95% Confidence 

Interval of the 

Difference 

Lower Upper 

nilai 

Equal 

variances 

assumed 

.956 .332 -4.440 61 .000 -21.124 4.758 -30.638 -11.610 

Equal 

variances not 

assumed 

  

-4.451 60.099 .000 -21.124 4.746 -30.618 -11.630 

Table 3.6. Post-Test Independent Samples Test 

Table 6 presented that sig (2-tailed) or probability was 0,000 while the significance level was 

0,05 (5%). It showed that the probability was less than the significance level (0,000 < 0,05).  

From all post-test calculations, it can be concluded that after receiving treatment, the mean 

score increased quite significant for both control group (13.39 to 29.03) and experiment group (13.28 

to 50.16). Moreover, the post-test score was also in normal distribution. The histogram of post-test 

control on Figure 3 performed a little bit skewness, but the normality value was still in normal 

category (0.129 > 0.05) while the distribution of post-test experiment score on Figure 4 was almost 

symmetrical which meant normal distribution. Both groups score spread or variance was also 

homogenous or equal proved by the value of post-test homogeneity of variance was 0.332 > 0.05. 

Finally, the final condition of the two groups was shown by the value of t-test 0.000 < 0.05. 

The probability is less than 0.05 then H0 is refused and Ha is accepted or in other word there is 



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71 

 

different ability between control and experiment group after receiving the treatment. From the result, 

the researcher concludes that teaching pronunciation of aspirated sound using tongue twister 

influences students’ ability shown by the score after the treatment was higher than the score before 

the treatment and the significance difference in t-test of post-test. 

From the result of the research, it can be drawn a theory that English pronunciation of 

Indonesian students is influenced by their mother language especially in aspirated sound [ph]. They 

are hard to pronounce [ph] because they do not have aspirated sound in Indonesian. When they 

learn [ph] sound, it is interfered by /p/ sound of Indonesian or /p/ without aspiration. This problem 

makes the researcher to find out the solution that is applying tongue twister to teach pronunciation 

of aspirated sound [ph]. The result of the research proves that students’ performance or ability in 

pronouncing aspirated sound increases. 

The theory is strengthen by a study on the influence of mother language to the target language 

conducted by Andi-Pallawa (2013).  In the comparative study of phonological system between 

Indonesian in English, he found that both languages supply several similarities and differences. The 

similarities did not give significant impact but the difference put learners into trouble. Researcher 

found out that phonemic features: / p, t, k / were never aspirated in Indonesian words wherever 

they occurred. That is why Indonesian students had difficulties to pronounce [ph]. 

To find the solution of this problem, a previous researcher also used tongue twister to teach 

pronunciation. Iriyani (2015) tried to improve fifth graders' pronunciation of “th” by using tongue 

twister. The result of the study showed that there was improvement after the treatment was given. 

By pronouncing words over and over, students were aware of their mistakes and memorized 

vocabulary at the same time. Tongue twister also gave different atmosphere in classroom learning as 

it could break the boredom of monotonous learning process. The present study proved that fun 

media once again was well accepted by the student especially young learners and tongue twister as 

one of them gives significant influence in pronunciation practice of /th/ sound. In addition, tongue 

twister also works on other English sound such as [ph]. 

CONCLUSIONS 

According to the data analysis in the previous chapter, the conclusions could be drawn as 

follow 

1. Students’ ability in pronunciation was in general low. Students’ sound production on 

aspirated sound [ph] was influenced by their mother language that does not have 

aspirated sound. Students mispronounced [ph] into /p/ as what they had in 

Indonesian. In addition, students did not get enough pronunciation practice in the 

classroom as teacher focused on the material such as grammar and reading.  

2. There was difference in students’ ability in pronouncing aspirated sound [ph] between 

those who had been taught tongue twister and those who had not or who had been 

taught using conventional method in SMP Negeri 12 Magelang. Besides, based on 

the researcher’ observation, students enjoyed practicing tongue twister since it is fun 

and challenging. Students kept repeating unique series of words after a model on 

videos and they automatically trained their tongue to produce aspirated sound while 

pronouncing tongue twister. In short, students’ ability in pronouncing aspirated 

sound [ph] increased by using tongue twister and it was effective to use. 

 

 



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http://www.macrothink.org/journal/index.php/ijele/article/viewFile/3892/3180 

Brown, H. D. (2001). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy (2nd ed.). White 

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Harmer, J. (2001). The Practice of English Language Teaching (3rd ed.). Essex: Longman. 

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Prošic-Santovac, D. (2009). The Use of Tongue Twister in EFL Teaching. Annual Review of the Faculty of 

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