The particular dialect or language that a person chooses to use on any occasion is called a code Copyright © 2025 The Author IDEAS is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 License Issued by English study program of IAIN Palopo 5880 IDEAS Journal on Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) Volume 13, Number 2, December 2025 pp. 5880 - 5886 Pronunciation Error done by the Students of Islamic Education: A Case Study at the Faculty of Religious Studies, University Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara Muhammad Rafi’i Faculty of Teacher, Training and Education, University Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara, Medan Corresponding E-Mail: muhammadrafii@umsu.ac.id Received: 2025-07-17 Accepted: 2025-10-31 DOI: 10.24256/ideas. v13i2.5311 Abstract This article’s goals were to 1) look into what students thought about problems with phonetics learning, and 2) determine what elements were driving students' errors with phonetics learning. The samples consisted of 6 undergraduate Islamic education students who were chosen for an interview on purpose. A questionnaire and a semi-interview form were examined as research tools. According to the students' opinions, certain sounds, particularly [θ], [ð], and [ʤ], produced major phonetics learning challenges at the segmental level. It was also noted that linking produced major problems with supra segmental phonetics learning. Furthermore, phonetic ability was identified as the most common reason for difficulties in learning phonetics. It might be argued that the perception of the difference in sound systems between English and Indonesian, as well as various characteristics such as phonetic aptitude, native language, and prior English knowledge, all contribute to this conclusion. Keywords: Pronunciation problems, Islamic education students, phonetics. Introduction One of the challenges that a foreign language student has is articulating the language's speaking sounds authentic. We learn a language in order to communicate with other people. However, if we are unable to use the same phonological features that native speakers of the language do, the message will almost certainly be misconstrued, and communication will break down. This is a typical occurrence in Indonesia, particularly at the University of Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara's faculty of religious studies, where English is spoken with an accent comparable to the speakers' mother tongue and with minimal concern for English sound patterns. Islamic education students, despite their higher education, http://u.lipi.go.id/1457703302 mailto:muhammadrafii@umsu.ac.id IDEAS, Vol. 13, No. 2, December 2025 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 5881 are afraid to communicate and express ideas in English, and everything they say is influenced by the Indonesian dialect. Though native-like fluency is not essential, speaking English to the maximum degree possible is an art. As a result, the researcher has concluded that tertiary students' speaking skills need to be developed in the contemporary context of ever-increasing globalization. It is critical in this case to be able to prevent the influence of local variants. Apart from Indonesian and a few other regional languages, English is not officially recognized as a second language in that country. Few people in Indonesia are fluent in English due to the language's restricted daily usage. Due to this restriction, there is a deficiency of knowledge regarding the pronunciation of English, which frequently leads to mispronounced words. Pronunciation is crucial while speaking in English since poor pronunciation might cause misconceptions. According to Endahati and Hum (2018), pronunciation is the way sounds are articulated in a language. It is a focus of the phonology branch of linguistic studies, which looks at the sound structure of words. The relevance and pervasiveness of pronunciation as a communication factor is often underestimated. As ideas must be expressed in sound in order to be heard and converted into messages that can be understood by others, it is an essential foundation for all spoken languages (Gilakjani 2016,). In spoken language, pronunciation is crucial. A clear pronunciation conveys the essential clarity needed for efficient communication. To put it simply, pronunciation during speech represents a person's speech pattern. Cook defines pronunciation as the process of making sounds in a language, according to Gilakjani's research (Yusriati & Hasibuan 2019,). Consequently, mastery of a second language, or ESL (English as a Second Language), makes pronunciation a crucial component of spoken language communication. It originates from phonemes in language. Thus, mastering accurate phonetic symbols not only contributes to clear communication but also creates many opportunities for understanding a wide range of English-language texts and talks from different sources (Herlina 2011, h.77). It is important to research how various speech organs work together to produce particular sounds in phonetics. Experts in phonetics can methodically study and describe how sounds are created, as well as comprehend variations in pronunciation among various languages and dialects, by knowing the roles played by each organ. In order to decipher the complexity of language in terms of its sounds and pronunciation, phonetic studies must first understand the functions of the speech organs (Mulatsih, 2018, h. 294). Muhammad Rafi’i Pronunciation Error done by the Students of Islamic Education: A Case Study at the Faculty of Religious Studies, University Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara 5882 Section on Pronunciation: a. Word Stress According to Roach, pitch height, loudness, length, and vowel quality are the four main factors that influence how stress is perceived. Stressed syllables are frequently longer, louder, and contain complete vowels than unstressed ones. They also tend to involve greater pitch movement. As such, unstressed syllables will be less noticeable and include of canter vowels that are softer, faster, and less pitch-moving (Lewis & Deterding, 2018). b. Rhythm The way we employ a mixture of stressed and unstressed words in a sentence is known as rhythm. Strong beats, or stressed words, and weak beats, or unstressed words, make up sentences. The accurate pronunciation of stressed and non-stressed syllables is significantly correlated with rhythm (Nasution & Tanjung, 2019). c. Intonation Dardjowidjojo defines intonation as the rising and falling melodic tones that people use in language to convey meaning or emotion. Chun asserts that, while there is theoretically no restriction on the variety of pitch contours that can be created, not all differences in pitch within a language are important. Objectives 1) to find out what students thought about problems with phonetics learning, and 2) to determine what elements were driving the students' problems with phonetics learning Method The design of this study is descriptive qualitative. It is qualitative in nature and aims to explain, describe, and analyze data supplied in the form of field notes. Statistical procedures or other quantification techniques do not reveal the findings of this inquiry. This study is referred to as "qualitative research" since its primary data collection methods include observation, interviewing, and recording. Six Islamic education students from the University of Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara's faculty of religious studies worked on this project. It implies that the English phonological systems have already been taught to them. The students, on the other hand, continue to have difficulty grasping the English phonological system. This example asks the researcher to look into why students have trouble correctly pronouncing English words or sentences, as well as what leads them to have trouble speaking English. IDEAS, Vol. 13, No. 2, December 2025 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 5883 Result The results are discussed and analyzed to answer the following research questions: (1) How difficult do students find it to pronounce English words and sentences? (2) What causes kids to struggle with pronouncing English words and sentences? In accordance with the research problems, the answers to the questions above are listed below. According to the findings, the six students are unfamiliar with a variety of English phonological systems, which hinders their capacity to communicate in the language. The distinctions between the pupils' native language (Indonesian = Bahasa Indonesia) and the L2 language are related to phonemic, phonetic, and phonotactic variances (English). As shown in the samples below, students revealed that the different sound systems of Indonesian and English could be the source of their pronunciation issues: Number Students’ opinions 1. “Some English consonant sounds, especially those that aren't the same as Indonesian consonant sounds, are really difficult for me to pronounce such as [θ], [ð], [ʤ] and so on.” 2. "I have a hard time with consonant clusters. Some clusters, such as "Throw," which has [θ] and [r] in the first place, and "Asked," which has [s], [k], and [t] in the last position, are really difficult for me." 3. "Listening to native speakers speak normally makes it very difficult for me to understand every word because they speak quickly and occasionally with ambiguous sounds." 4. "I'm never sure if the new pronunciations I learned from the teacher's textbook are the same as the ones I learned previously." 5. "I never pay attention to voicing when speaking because there is none in Indonesian." 6. "In my English speaking, voicing is usually an issue." Below are some random words pronounced by the students: Number words correct pronunciation pronunciation of the students 1. lady /ˈleɪdi/ /ˈledi/ 2. gentleman /ˈdʒentlmən/ /ˈjentelmən/ 3. holiday /ˈhɒlədeɪ/ /ˈholideɪ/ 4. homework /ˈhəʊmwɜːk/ /ˈhomwɜːk/ 5. student /ˈstjuːdənt/ /ˈstaːdənt/ 6. headmaster /ˌhedˈmɑːstər/ /ˌhidˈmɑstər/ 7. hour /aʊər/ /haʊər/ 8. breakfast /ˈbrekfəst/ /ˈbrikfəst/ 9. through /θruː/ /truː/ 10. death /deθ/ /ded/ 11. very /ˈveri/ /ˈberi/ Muhammad Rafi’i Pronunciation Error done by the Students of Islamic Education: A Case Study at the Faculty of Religious Studies, University Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara 5884 12. focus /ˈfəʊkəs/ /ˈfokius/ 13. language /ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/ /ˈleŋɡuwej/ 14. table /ˈteɪbl/ /ˈteɪbel/ 15. apple /ˈæpl/ /ˈeipel/ 16. sweater /ˈswetər/ /ˈswitər/ 17. shoulder /ˈʃəʊldər/ /ˈʃoʊldər/ 18. soldier /ˈsəʊldʒər/ /ˈsoldiər/ 19. globalization /ˌɡləʊbəlaɪˈzeɪʃən/ /ˌɡloʊbəlɪˈzeɪʃən/ 20. go /ɡəʊ/ /ɡoʊ/ 21. think /θɪŋk/ /tɪŋk/ 22. thing /θɪŋ/ /tɪŋ/ 23. gorgeous /ˈɡɔːdʒəs/ /ˈjoːdʒəs/ 24. truth /truːθ/ /truːth/ 25. civilization /ˌsɪvəlaɪˈzeɪʃən/ /ˌsɪvilɪˈzeɪʃən/ 26. department /dɪˈpɑːtmənt/ /deˈpɑrtemənt/ 27. steak /steɪk/ /stɪk/ 28. shake /ʃeɪk/ /ʃek/ 29. snack /snæk/ /snek/ 30. snake /sneɪk/ /sneik/ 31. leader /ˈliːdər/ /ˈliːder/ 32. ladder /ˈlædər/ /ˈleddər/ 33. vegetable /ˈvedʒtəbl/ /ˈvejetəbel/ 34. fruit /fruːt/ /fruit/ 35. and /ænd/ /and/ 36. end /end/ /ind/ 37. shoot /ʃuːt/ /ʃoːt/ 38. friend /frend/ /freind/ 39. paper /ˈpeɪpər/ /ˈpeɪper/ 40. pepper /ˈpepər/ /ˈpeipər/ 41. file /faɪl/ /fæɪl/ 42. fail /feɪl/ /faɪl/ 43. diligent /ˈdɪlɪdʒənt/ /ˈdɪlɪjənt/ 44. clever /ˈklevər/ /ˈklivər/ 45. stupid /ˈstjuːpɪd/ /ˈstuːpɪd/ 46. share /ʃeər/ /sheər/ 47. walk /wɔːk/ /woːk/ 48. work /wɜːk/ /woːk/ 49. talk /tɔːk/ /toːk/ 50. speak /spiːk/ /spik/ 51. study /ˈstʌdi/ /ˈstudi/ 52. umbrella /ʌmˈbrelə/ /yumˈbrelə/ 53. house /haʊs/ /hoʊs/ 54. privilege /ˈprɪvəlɪdʒ/ /ˈprɪvilɪj/ 55. breath /breθ/ /breth/ 56. bread /bred/ /bret/ IDEAS, Vol. 13, No. 2, December 2025 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 5885 57. bear /beər/ /biər/ 58. stomach /ˈstʌmək/ /ˈstomək/ 59. brush /brʌʃ/ /brash/ 60. watch /wɒtʃ/ /wotch/ Students reported major problems with English pronunciation, which could be influenced by a variety of variables, according to the research. Furthermore, the qualitative data highlighted two major pronunciation issues raised by the students: 1) the disparity between the English and Indonesian sound systems, and 2) variables that negatively affect pronunciation. Finally, the students said that one of the factors affecting their pronunciation was previous English pronunciation learning. English pronunciation is commonly recognized as being neglected in primary and secondary schools. The majority of the material will be about grammar. When students were studying for a bachelor's degree, this made it harder for them to learn. Students regularly and instinctively pronounce the term inaccurately, according to the researcher. They came to a halt after that and repeated the proper pronunciation they had heard in class. As a result, pupils claimed that their previous learning experiences with pronunciation had harmed their English pronunciation. Conclusion To recapitulate, the given data explained that the students’ cluster articulation may be a concern and more research is needed to find the most effective techniques for supporting students in fixing their pronunciation challenges so that they may communicate in English clearly and comprehensibly. Finally, the lecturer for the English Phonetics course at the University of Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara's Faculty of Religious Studies should prepare more intensive exercises, activities, and multimedia to assist students in resolving issues related to the sound system differences between English and Indonesian, as well as other factors that affect English pronunciation learning. References Endahati, N., & Hum, S. P. M. (2018). Peningkatan Kemampuan Pronunciation Mahasiswa Kelas A1 Semester I Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Fkip Upy Ta 2013/2014 Melalui Pendekatan Audiolingual. Yogayarkta: UPY Press. Gilakjani, A. P. (2016). 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