Demonstrating Reading Aloud in Improving EFL Student’s Pronunciation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29240/ef.v9i2%20November.14855Keywords:
Reading aloud, Pronunciation, EFL LearnersAbstract
The pronunciation of the English phonemes /ʃ/, /ð/ and /θ/ remains challenging for EFL learners in Indonesia due to the absence of these sounds in the Indonesian Phonological system. A preliminary study conducted with eleventh-grade students at SMK Al-Mu’ien revealed that the average pronunciation score was only 46.97, which was far below the minimum criterian of succes (70). This classroom action research aimed to determine how to improve students’ pronunciation by applying the Reading Aloud technique to XI grade students at SMK Al-Mu’ien in Jember. Data were collected through a pronunciation test to measure students' accuracy in pronouncing 51 targeted phonemes. Classroom observations were done to document the application of the Reading Aloud technique during each cycle. The data were then analyzed quantitatively to evaluate the improvements the students have made in their pronunciation and to capture how the learning process has taken place. The finding continuous improvement from the preliminary study (46.97) to Cycle 1 (53.58) and Cycle 2 (66.36), with 63.63% of students achieving the success criteria. The result suggest that the use of Reading Aloud, supported by teacher modeling, corrective feedback, and repetitive practice can significantly enhance students’ pronunciation. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on pronunciation teaching and highlights the pedagogical value of Reading Aloud for EFL learners.
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References
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Anjani, R. P. W., Wahyuni, H. I. W., Nugraheni, M. P. P., & Bram, B. B. B. (2023). Problematic English Consonant Sounds for Indonesian EFL Learners. Journey: Journal of English Language and Pedagogy, 6(3), 592–604. https://doi.org/10.33503/journey.v6i3.708.
Antaris, I., & Omolu, F. A. (2019). Factors Affecting Pronunciation Difficulties of 8th Grade Students of MTSN Palu Barat. Journal of Foreign Language and Educational Research, 2(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.31934/jofler.v2i2.1349.
Arsi, A. K., Farahdiba, S., & Ariyani, A. (2025). The Influence of Pronunciation on Students’ Speaking Confidence. Journal of Excellence in English Language Education, 4(1, January), 26–32. https://doi.org/10.26858/joeele.v4i1.
Badawi, A. M. M., Alnour, N. T. B., Alamin, M., & Sanhori, S. B. (2021). The Role of Reading Aloud Strategy on Improving Reading and Pronunciation for Efl Pupils at Private Basic Schools: Teachers Perspectives. LLT Journal: A Journal on Language and Language Teaching, 24(2), 461–470. https://doi.org/10.24071/llt.v24i2.2910.
Bibyana, B., & Edi, S. (2023). IMPROVING STUDENT PRONUNCIATION SKILL THROUGH READING ALOUD AT 8TH GRADE STUDENTS OF SMP WIDURI JAYA JAKARTA. SECONDARY: Jurnal Inovasi Pendidikan Menengah, 3(3), 237–244. https://doi.org/10.51878/secondary.v3i3.2396.
Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D. M., & Goodwin, J. M. (2010). Teaching Pronunciation Hardback with Audio CDs (2): A Course Book and Reference Guide. Cambridge University Press.
Derwing, T. M. (2023). An Overview of Pronunciation Teaching and Training. https://www.scribd.com/document/905199134/02-Derwing-2023
Djuhari, A. R., & Faridah, D. (2024). The Impact of Repetitive Methods to Enhance Students’ Pronunciation in The Post-Pandemic. Journal of English Education Program (JEEP), 11(2), 115. https://doi.org/10.25157/(jeep).v11i2.15476.
Dörnyei, Z. (Ed.). (2001). Background knowledge. In Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom (pp. 5–30). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511667343.002.
Ehri, L. C. (1995). Phases of development in learning to read words by sight. Journal of Research in Reading, 18(2), 116–125. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9817.1995.tb00077.x
Flege, J. (1995). Second language speech learning: Theory, findings and problems. In W. Strange (Ed.), Speech perception and linguistic experience: Issues in cross-language research (pp. 229–273). York Press.
Gail Gillon. (2018). Phonological Awareness: From Research to Practice. Second Edition Guilford Press | Request PDF. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330553686_Phonological_Awareness_From_Research_to_Practice_Second_Edition_Guilford_Press.
Gapasin, R. B. (2025). (PDF) Factors Influencing Learners’ Motivation in Learning English as a Second Language. https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i01.37058.
Gibson, S. (2008). Reading aloud: A useful learning tool? ELT Journal, 62(1), 29–36. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccm075.
Hamzah, A., Rauf, W., Haq, M. Z. U., & Nur, A. M. (2025). An Experimental Study on the Role of Narrative Text in Enhancing Student Motivation in Reading Comprehension. Jurnal Edukasi Saintifik, 5(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.56185/jes.v5i1.850.
Hancock, M. (2012). English Pronunciation in Use Intermediate with Answers and Audio CDs (4) (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Huang, L. (2010). Reading Aloud in the Foreign Language Teaching. Asian Social Science, 6(4), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v6n4p148.
Inayah, N., Muslem, A., & Muriza, U. (2016). THE ANIMATED STORYTELLING IN AN EFL CLASSROOM: THE EFFECT ON STUDENTS’ READING ALOUD ABILITY, Proceedings of the 1st English Education International Conference (EEIC). 1(2).
Kemmis, S., McTaggart, R., & Nixon, R. (2014). The Action Research Planner. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4560-67-2.
Kenworthy, J. (1987). Teaching English Pronunciation. Longman.
Kustila, A. W., Ardini, S. N., & Adi, A. P. K. (2025). (PDF) The Impact of Reading Aloud on Students’ Pronunciation Awareness to Improve Silent Letters: Perceptions & Recognition. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/391071710_The_Impact_of_Reading_Aloud_on_Students'_Pronunciation_Awareness_to_Improve_Silent_Letters_Perceptions_Recognition.
Larosa, N., & Qamariah, H. (2020). The Implementation Of Repetition Drill In Teaching Speaking Skill. Jurnal Mahasiswa Pendidikan, 1.
Latifah, R., & Apsari, Y. (2024). Learning Phoneme Identification Using Reading Aloud Technique: Efl Learners’ Perception. 7(6), 1253.
Mahdi, D., & Saadany, N. E. (2013). Oral Feedback in the EFL classroom [Unpublished report]. University of Malmö Högskola, Scania.
Mardiah, A., Safitri, L., Eliza, E., & Syahrul, S. (2024). Improving Students Ability in Pronunciation Through Reading Aloud for the 8th Grade of SMPN 2 Bukittinggi. Continuous Education: Journal of Science and Research, 5(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.51178/ce.v5i2.2038.
Merrita, D. (2021). PRONUNCIATON ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH CONSONANTS /θ/ AND /ð/ BY ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS. Lingua: Jurnal Ilmiah, 17(2), 26–44.
Ninsuwan, P. (2015). The Effectiveness of Teaching English by Using Reading Aloud Technique towards EFL Beginners. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 197, 1835–1840. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.07.243.
Plailek, T., & Al, E. (2021). Pronunciation Problems and Factors Affecting English Pronunciation of EFL Students. Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education (TURCOMAT), 12(12), 2026–2033. https://doi.org/10.17762/turcomat.v12i12.7734.
Purwanto, M. N. (2000). Prinsip-prinsip dan teknik evaluasi pengajaran. Remaja Rosdakarya.
Radant, H.-L. H. J., James, H., & Huang, H. (2009). Chinese phonotactic patterns and the pronunciation difficulties of Mandarin-Speaking EFL learners. The Asian EFL Journal Quarterly, 11(4), 115.
Saito, K., & Lyster. (2025). (PDF) Effects of Form‐Focused Instruction and Corrective Feedback on L2 Pronunciation Development of /ɹ/ by Japanese Learners of English. ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227622444_Effects_of_Form-Focused_Instruction_and_Corrective_Feedback_on_L2_Pronunciation_Development_of_by_Japanese_Learners_of_English.
Saito, K., Hanzawa, K., Petrova, K., Kachlicka, M., Suzukida, Y., & Tierney, A. (2022). Incidental and Multimodal High Variability Phonetic Training: Potential, Limits, and Future Directions. Language Learning, 72(4), 1049–1091. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12503.
Syakur, A., Azis, R., & Sukarsih. (2020). Developing Reading Learning Model to Increase Reading Skill for Animal Husbandry Students in Higher Education. Britain International of Linguistics Arts and Education (BIoLAE) Journal, 2(1), 484–493. https://doi.org/10.33258/biolae.v2i1.220.
Syiyami, I. A., Haryanti, E., Nurwanti, D. I., & Kurniawati, N. (2021). The Use of Reading Aloud Method to Improve Students’ Speaking Ability: Indonesian Secondary School. 250–256. https://www.scitepress.org/PublicationsDetail.aspx?ID=pO/hA8X0dDA=&t=1.
Trysnawati, I., Mulyani, S., & Syam, A. (2020). Error Analysis on English Consonant Pronunciation Produced By The Fifth Semester Students of English Education Department. Tamaddun, 19(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.33096/tamaddun.v19i2.77.
Waheeb S. Albiladi. (2019). Teaching English Pronunciation Revisited: The Challenges of Teaching Efl in Non-English-Speaking Countries. European Journal of Foreign Language Teaching. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.3566658.
Wahyuni, P. (2022). The Effect of Teaching Reading Aloud Technique in Improving English Pronunciation. EBONY: Journal of English Language Teaching, Linguistics, and Literature, 2(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.37304/ebony.v2i1.4041.
Aini, D. L., Sukmawati, K., & Amroni, T. W. (2025). Innovative Reading Aloud Approach for Enhancing Pronunciation and Speaking Fluency of Students. JINEA: Journal of Innovation in Education and Learning. JINEA: Journal of Innovation in Education and Learning, 1, 9–18.
Akbari, Z. (2015). Current Challenges in Teaching/Learning English for EFL Learners: The Case of Junior High School and High School. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 199, 394–401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.07.524.
Amelia, I., Nugraha, M. A., & Yulianto, S. W. (2024). AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH, Journal of English Language Teaching in Indonesia. 12(1). https://doi.org/10.22460/eltin.v12i1
Anjani, R. P. W., Wahyuni, H. I. W., Nugraheni, M. P. P., & Bram, B. B. B. (2023). Problematic English Consonant Sounds for Indonesian EFL Learners. Journey: Journal of English Language and Pedagogy, 6(3), 592–604. https://doi.org/10.33503/journey.v6i3.708.
Antaris, I., & Omolu, F. A. (2019). Factors Affecting Pronunciation Difficulties of 8th Grade Students of MTSN Palu Barat. Journal of Foreign Language and Educational Research, 2(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.31934/jofler.v2i2.1349.
Arsi, A. K., Farahdiba, S., & Ariyani, A. (2025). The Influence of Pronunciation on Students’ Speaking Confidence. Journal of Excellence in English Language Education, 4(1, January), 26–32. https://doi.org/10.26858/joeele.v4i1.
Badawi, A. M. M., Alnour, N. T. B., Alamin, M., & Sanhori, S. B. (2021). The Role of Reading Aloud Strategy on Improving Reading and Pronunciation for Efl Pupils at Private Basic Schools: Teachers Perspectives. LLT Journal: A Journal on Language and Language Teaching, 24(2), 461–470. https://doi.org/10.24071/llt.v24i2.2910.
Bibyana, B., & Edi, S. (2023). IMPROVING STUDENT PRONUNCIATION SKILL THROUGH READING ALOUD AT 8TH GRADE STUDENTS OF SMP WIDURI JAYA JAKARTA. SECONDARY: Jurnal Inovasi Pendidikan Menengah, 3(3), 237–244. https://doi.org/10.51878/secondary.v3i3.2396.
Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D. M., & Goodwin, J. M. (2010). Teaching Pronunciation Hardback with Audio CDs (2): A Course Book and Reference Guide. Cambridge University Press.
Derwing, T. M. (2023). An Overview of Pronunciation Teaching and Training. https://www.scribd.com/document/905199134/02-Derwing-2023
Djuhari, A. R., & Faridah, D. (2024). The Impact of Repetitive Methods to Enhance Students’ Pronunciation in The Post-Pandemic. Journal of English Education Program (JEEP), 11(2), 115. https://doi.org/10.25157/(jeep).v11i2.15476.
Dörnyei, Z. (Ed.). (2001). Background knowledge. In Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom (pp. 5–30). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511667343.002.
Ehri, L. C. (1995). Phases of development in learning to read words by sight. Journal of Research in Reading, 18(2), 116–125. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9817.1995.tb00077.x
Flege, J. (1995). Second language speech learning: Theory, findings and problems. In W. Strange (Ed.), Speech perception and linguistic experience: Issues in cross-language research (pp. 229–273). York Press.
Gail Gillon. (2018). Phonological Awareness: From Research to Practice. Second Edition Guilford Press | Request PDF. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330553686_Phonological_Awareness_From_Research_to_Practice_Second_Edition_Guilford_Press.
Gapasin, R. B. (2025). (PDF) Factors Influencing Learners’ Motivation in Learning English as a Second Language. https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i01.37058.
Gibson, S. (2008). Reading aloud: A useful learning tool? ELT Journal, 62(1), 29–36. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccm075.
Hamzah, A., Rauf, W., Haq, M. Z. U., & Nur, A. M. (2025). An Experimental Study on the Role of Narrative Text in Enhancing Student Motivation in Reading Comprehension. Jurnal Edukasi Saintifik, 5(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.56185/jes.v5i1.850.
Hancock, M. (2012). English Pronunciation in Use Intermediate with Answers and Audio CDs (4) (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Huang, L. (2010). Reading Aloud in the Foreign Language Teaching. Asian Social Science, 6(4), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v6n4p148.
Inayah, N., Muslem, A., & Muriza, U. (2016). THE ANIMATED STORYTELLING IN AN EFL CLASSROOM: THE EFFECT ON STUDENTS’ READING ALOUD ABILITY, Proceedings of the 1st English Education International Conference (EEIC). 1(2).
Kemmis, S., McTaggart, R., & Nixon, R. (2014). The Action Research Planner. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4560-67-2.
Kenworthy, J. (1987). Teaching English Pronunciation. Longman.
Kustila, A. W., Ardini, S. N., & Adi, A. P. K. (2025). (PDF) The Impact of Reading Aloud on Students’ Pronunciation Awareness to Improve Silent Letters: Perceptions & Recognition. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/391071710_The_Impact_of_Reading_Aloud_on_Students'_Pronunciation_Awareness_to_Improve_Silent_Letters_Perceptions_Recognition.
Larosa, N., & Qamariah, H. (2020). The Implementation Of Repetition Drill In Teaching Speaking Skill. Jurnal Mahasiswa Pendidikan, 1.
Latifah, R., & Apsari, Y. (2024). Learning Phoneme Identification Using Reading Aloud Technique: Efl Learners’ Perception. 7(6), 1253.
Mahdi, D., & Saadany, N. E. (2013). Oral Feedback in the EFL classroom [Unpublished report]. University of Malmö Högskola, Scania.
Mardiah, A., Safitri, L., Eliza, E., & Syahrul, S. (2024). Improving Students Ability in Pronunciation Through Reading Aloud for the 8th Grade of SMPN 2 Bukittinggi. Continuous Education: Journal of Science and Research, 5(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.51178/ce.v5i2.2038.
Merrita, D. (2021). PRONUNCIATON ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH CONSONANTS /θ/ AND /ð/ BY ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS. Lingua: Jurnal Ilmiah, 17(2), 26–44.
Ninsuwan, P. (2015). The Effectiveness of Teaching English by Using Reading Aloud Technique towards EFL Beginners. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 197, 1835–1840. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.07.243.
Plailek, T., & Al, E. (2021). Pronunciation Problems and Factors Affecting English Pronunciation of EFL Students. Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education (TURCOMAT), 12(12), 2026–2033. https://doi.org/10.17762/turcomat.v12i12.7734.
Purwanto, M. N. (2000). Prinsip-prinsip dan teknik evaluasi pengajaran. Remaja Rosdakarya.
Radant, H.-L. H. J., James, H., & Huang, H. (2009). Chinese phonotactic patterns and the pronunciation difficulties of Mandarin-Speaking EFL learners. The Asian EFL Journal Quarterly, 11(4), 115.
Saito, K., & Lyster. (2025). (PDF) Effects of Form‐Focused Instruction and Corrective Feedback on L2 Pronunciation Development of /ɹ/ by Japanese Learners of English. ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227622444_Effects_of_Form-Focused_Instruction_and_Corrective_Feedback_on_L2_Pronunciation_Development_of_by_Japanese_Learners_of_English.
Saito, K., Hanzawa, K., Petrova, K., Kachlicka, M., Suzukida, Y., & Tierney, A. (2022). Incidental and Multimodal High Variability Phonetic Training: Potential, Limits, and Future Directions. Language Learning, 72(4), 1049–1091. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12503.
Syakur, A., Azis, R., & Sukarsih. (2020). Developing Reading Learning Model to Increase Reading Skill for Animal Husbandry Students in Higher Education. Britain International of Linguistics Arts and Education (BIoLAE) Journal, 2(1), 484–493. https://doi.org/10.33258/biolae.v2i1.220.
Syiyami, I. A., Haryanti, E., Nurwanti, D. I., & Kurniawati, N. (2021). The Use of Reading Aloud Method to Improve Students’ Speaking Ability: Indonesian Secondary School. 250–256. https://www.scitepress.org/PublicationsDetail.aspx?ID=pO/hA8X0dDA=&t=1.
Trysnawati, I., Mulyani, S., & Syam, A. (2020). Error Analysis on English Consonant Pronunciation Produced By The Fifth Semester Students of English Education Department. Tamaddun, 19(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.33096/tamaddun.v19i2.77.
Waheeb S. Albiladi. (2019). Teaching English Pronunciation Revisited: The Challenges of Teaching Efl in Non-English-Speaking Countries. European Journal of Foreign Language Teaching. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.3566658.
Wahyuni, P. (2022). The Effect of Teaching Reading Aloud Technique in Improving English Pronunciation. EBONY: Journal of English Language Teaching, Linguistics, and Literature, 2(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.37304/ebony.v2i1.4041.
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2025-11-30
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Latifah, A., Kristi Nuraini, Henri Fatkurochman, & Wahyudi, D. (2025). Demonstrating Reading Aloud in Improving EFL Student’s Pronunciation. ENGLISH FRANCA : Academic Journal of English Language and Education, 9(2 November), 327–342. https://doi.org/10.29240/ef.v9i2 November.14855
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