STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN PHONETIC AND PHONOLOGY SUBJECT AT FIFTH SEMESTER STUDENTS OF ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM BENGKULU UNIVERSITY

Pronunciation is an important component in English that can effect a word or
sentence so it can be understood by others. However as an EFL student,
pronunciation is a difficult thing. This study aimed to find out the difficulties
encountered by the fifth semester students. This study used qualitative method and
the data were collected from questionnaire and interview. The subject of this
research was 38 students in class B at the fifth semester of English Education
study program University Bengkulu. The result of this study was divided into
three factors. On the teacher factor, student perceive that teacher rarely make
lessons interestin, rarely provide practical exercises in the classroom and did not
pay attention to student readiness before the lesson. On the content factors,
students had difficulty understanding the material, that there are too many
concepts, symbols, and complicated terms to remember. On the student factors, A
majority of students feel they lack sufficient background knowledge in phonetics
and phonology, which may contribute to their difficulties in the course. The
conclusion of this study is that of the three factors that most affect students'
difficulties, they are teachers and also the content of phonetics and phonology. For
the next researcher, it is expected to investigate difficulties of students with a
wider scope, not just one class.
Keywords: Pronunciation, Student Difficulty, Phonetic and Phonology