THE USE OF MOBILE-ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING APPLICATION IN PRONUNCIATION TRAINING

Abstract

Pronunciation is one of the most important things to master when it comes to Second
Language Acquisition (SLA). Nowadays, mobile-assisted language learning (MALL)
applications have been emerging. Learners can practice at the reach of their fingertips
through the use of their own mobile devices. This study aims to investigate whether the
existing mobile-assisted language learning application (ELSA Speak) is effective to
help EFL learners train and improve their pronunciations. This study also seeks to
know the most difficult sounds to pronounce by Indonesian EFL learners and highlights
learners’ thoughts on the application itself including the ease of use, the clarity of
pronunciation models by native speakers, as well as the strength and weaknesses of the
application. 15 EFL learner participants were involved in this study. They were asked
to do a pretest before using the application. The participants then practiced their
pronunciation on their own using this application for a week. A post-test was conducted
to know their pronunciation progress. They were also given a questionnaire to examine
their perceptions of the application. The results show that the mobile-assisted language
learning application ELSA speak is quite effective to help learners train and improve
their pronunciation. This application is also easily operated and has a lot of features
that help learners train their pronunciation easily. Thus, it supports distance language
education (DLE). The most difficult English sounds to pronounce according to the
participants are Ɵ, t, f, v, tʃ, e, æ, ð, and d, with Ɵ and t as the majority. Lastly, despite
being considered as a helpful and convenient pronunciation training application, some
things need to be improved, such as the need for Indonesian translation on the words
provided to enrich learners’ vocabulary at the same time.
Keywords: Pronunciation, Pronunciation Training App,