Improving English pronunciation skills using tongue twister technique through Twistify application in junior high school

The objective of this research was to find out the result of the pronunciation skills of students in Junior High School before and after being given treatment using the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application. The populations in this research were students of class VIII SMP Negeri 1 Tayu, Pati, Central Java, Indonesia. The sample consisted of 34 students from class VIII B. The researcher used pre-experimental and implemented one group pre-test and post-test design. Based on the results, there was an increase in students’ pronunciation skills from the pre-test with a mean score of 58.35 to the post-test with a mean score of 80 and an increase from the pre-test to the post-test by 37.10%. From the data calculation, the researcher found that the t-test result was 46.442, and the value of df (degree of freedom) was 33. The t-table value was obtained from df = 33 so that t-table = 2.035, so (t0 > tt), 46.442 > 2.035. The Alternative Hypothesis (Ha) was accepted, and the Null Hypothesis (H0) was rejected. Thus, there was a significant difference between students’ pronunciation skills before and after being given treatment using the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application.


Introduction
Language functions as a tool humans use to communicate in daily social interactions.With language, humans can provide information, express opinions, give criticism and suggestions, and persuade someone and others.Crystal & Robins (2023) states that language is a conventional system consisting of manual, spoken, and written symbols that allow all people in a particular culture to interact or communicate.Therefore, humans without language cannot communicate with each other.In this world, many languages are used by humans to communicate.The premier source of linguistic data is approximately 7,168 spoken languages today (Eberhard et al., 2023).However, this number is constantly changing and is not included in dialects.Language has a number that is not fixed because language develops and changes according to society and situations.
In this world, there are various kinds of languages that humans can use to communicate, one of which is English.English is also referred to as an international language worldwide, so many people use English to communicate.According to Roux (2014), many people use English, so English has become the language commonly used and the dominant language for international business, academia, science, and technology.English is designated as the official language in 67 countries, while 27 countries adopt English as a second language (Ilyosovna, 2020).Because of the importance of using English as an international communication tool, everyone should learn English as early as possible.
Students must master the four main English skills: speaking, reading, writing, and listening.Speaking is one of the priority abilities that students must master.Richards (2008) argues that speaking ability is an important priority for second and foreign-language learners.Therefore, a student must have good pronunciation and speaking skills.If the speaker has very bad pronunciation, the listener cannot understand the meaning of the speaker's speech (Gilakjani, 2011).This is because good and correct pronunciation makes the listener understand the message and intent to be conveyed by the speaker.
The research location was at SMP Negeri 1 Tayu.According to the observation that the researcher made before, it was found that the students were still struggling to pronounce English fluently.Students at SMP Negeri 1 Tayu admitted that they had difficulty pronouncing English words or sentences because the sound of English words or sentences differed from the written form.Many students also felt confused because the pronunciation of words in English was very different from the pronunciation in Indonesian.They added that they felt insecure and nervous when they pronounced English.Besides that, there were several factors, such as the lack of hours of learning English and the habit of students using their mother tongue or regional languages.
Teachers can use many techniques, strategies, or methods, like technological tools, to improve students' English.Many apps, like Duolingo and Twistify, are provided in the Google Store nowadays to improve students' pronunciation skills.Using Duolingo improved students' attitudes toward the language learning process (Kurniadi & Suprapto, 2023).Another effective technique for teaching pronunciation to students in an easy and fun way is the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application.Tongue twister refers to a collection of words presenting difficulties in correctly, fluently, and quickly pronouncing words (Carmen, 2010).This technique makes students practice pronouncing English correctly by using several similar words.A tongue twister is highly interesting because it incorporates similar sounds, often with distinct meanings and written forms.Also, tongue twisters can make learning pronunciation fun and easy, motivating them to be enthusiastic about learning pronunciation.
Twistify is an application to test students' pronunciation fluency by using difficult-topronounce phrases, commonly known as tongue twister.Twistify was created by Davin Seng and released on June 15, 2020.Twistify is listed in the education category on the Google Play Store, and over 10,000 people have downloaded it.Twistify application can be a tool to measure pronunciation skills and identify weaknesses to improve pronunciation skills.Twistify application can help students learn English pronunciation in an easier and more fun way.
According to the background of the research, the problem statements can be summarized as follows: 1. How is the pronunciation skill of students in grade 8th of SMP Negeri 1 Tayu before they are taught using the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application?2. How is the pronunciation skill of students in grade 8th of SMP Negeri 1 Tayu after they are taught using the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application?3. Is there any significant difference in the pronunciation skill of students in 8th grade of SMP Negeri 1 Tayu before and after being taught using the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application?

Pronunciation
According to Oxford Learner's Dictionaries (n.d.), pronunciation is how people pronounce a language or a certain word or sound.Yates and Zielinski (2009) stated that pronunciation is how sound is produced to give meaning when speaking.Pronunciation is one of the priority aspects in speaking English because pronunciation can affect the meaning of the speech.Gilakjani (2011) also adds that if the speaker has very bad pronunciation, the listener cannot understand the meaning of the speaker's speech.When the listener cannot understand the speaker's pronunciation, it causes miscommunication with other individuals.Therefore, pronunciation is an important component in oral communication, so when people pronounce words correctly and clearly, they produce a collection of speech units (Berry, 2021).In short, pronunciation refers to how people pronounce words to ensure that others can understand the contents of the conversation.

Tongue Twister
Tongue twister refers to a collection of words presenting difficulties correctly, fluently, and quickly (Carmen, 2010).It is difficult to pronounce because they contain many similar sounds.Not only that, tongue twisters are highly interesting because they incorporate similar sounds while often having distinct meanings and written forms.Further, Gonzales (2009) asserts that tongue twister is a fun activity in every language class.The faster someone can pronounce tongue-twister sentences without stuttering, the better their language skills (Lutfiani, 2017).Tongue twister exercises can benefit people learning English as they strengthen their speaking skills.The tongue twister also has the benefit of stimulating the brain to develop pronunciation skills.From this theory, it can be concluded that tongue twisters are words with a different written form but have the same pronunciation and must be spoken quickly.Tongue twisters can make learning pronunciation fun and easy so that they are motivated to be enthusiastic about learning pronunciation.

Twistify
Twistify is an application to test students' pronunciation fluency by using difficult-topronounce phrases commonly known as tongue twisters.Twistify is an application published by Davin Seng and released on June 15, 2020.Twistify is listed in the education category on the Google Play Store, and over 10,000 people have downloaded it.According to Seng, Twistify is made for people who want to improve their speech fluency, especially those with speech difficulties.Seng adds that Twistify is different from other applications in that it can score the speech performance of tongue twisters.Therefore, the Twistify application can be a tool to measure pronunciation skills and identify weaknesses to improve pronunciation skills.

Research Method
In this research, the researcher used a quantitative design.The researcher used preexperimental and implemented one group pre-test and post-test design.The researcher in this study only used one group without a control group.The group was given treatment using the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application.
The populations in this research were students of class VIII SMP Negeri 1 Tayu, Pati, Central Java, Indonesia.In this study, a technique, namely the purposive sampling technique, was used to obtain a sample.The sample for this study comprised 34 students from class VIII B. The researcher chose this class out of nine existing classes because there were still many students who were unable to pronounce English words or sentences in this class.In class VIII B, only a few students mastered English pronunciation skills.This class was also a recommendation from the English teacher at SMP Negeri 1 Tayu.
The research instrument was conducted with a pronunciation test before and after treatment.The test used the Twistify application, where students had to pronounce several tongue twister sentences individually.Twistify application was able to check the correctness of students' pronunciation using the voice recognition service.An automatic score was available on the Twistify application after a student pronounces a tongue twister sentence.
The researcher in this study used statistical data analysis techniques.The researcher used software, namely the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24, to analyze the data to determine the results of student tests conducted before and after treatment.

Students' Pronunciation Skill Before Using the Tongue Twister Technique through Twistify Application
The pre-test was given to students using the Twistify application by pronouncing tongue twister sentences to test students' pronunciation skills before being given treatment.The pretest was conducted on April 3, 2023.It consisted of 34 students.The results of the pre-test can be seen in the following table: From the pre-test results, the researcher found that the smallest score was 50, and the greatest score was 73.Meanwhile, the mean score was 58.35; many students got less than 60.This shows that the results of students' pronunciation skill scores are still low.Therefore, the researcher conducted treatment using the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application to improve students' pronunciation skills.

Students' Pronunciation Skill After Using the Tongue Twister Technique through Twistify Application
The post-test was given after receiving treatment to find out the comparison of students' pronunciation skills.The post-test was conducted on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.It consisted of 34 students.In this study, the post-test was to determine students' pronunciation skills after treatment using the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application.The results of the post-test can be seen in the following table: From the post-test results, the researcher found that the smallest score was 69, and the greatest score was 90.Meanwhile, the mean score was 80; many students got over 80.This shows that the results of the students' pronunciation skills are good.There was an increase in students' pronunciation skills from the pre-test with a mean score of 58.35 to the post-test with a mean score of 80 and an increase from the pre-test to the post-test by 37.10%.
Based on the result of this study, the researcher demonstrated that the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application can be used as a new technique and application for learning English, especially to improve pronunciation.The researcher demonstrated that using the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application significantly improved students' pronunciation skills.The researcher demonstrated that the students' pronunciation improved significantly before and after being given treatment using the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application.It can be a good reason for teachers to start experimenting with new techniques and more interesting and fun applications in classroom learning activities, such as using the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application.

Conclusion (and Suggestion)
The result of the pronunciation skill scores of the junior high school students before being given treatment using the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application was that the smallest score was 50, and the greatest score was 73.The mean of students' pre-test scores was 58.35, and many got less than 60.It was concluded that the students' pronunciation skills were still low before being given treatment with the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application.
The result of the pronunciation skill scores of the junior high school students after treatment using the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application was that the smallest score was 69, and the greatest score was 90.The mean of students' scores from the post-test was 80, and many students got more than 80.There was an increase in students' pronunciation skills from the pre-test with a mean score of 58.35 to the post-test with a mean score of 80, and students experienced an increase of 37.10%.It was concluded that after treatment with the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application, the students' pronunciation skills were good.
From the paired sample t-test, the researcher found that the t-test result was 46.442, and the value of df (degree of freedom) was 33.The t-table value was obtained from df = 33 so that t-table = 2.035, so (t0 > tt), 46.442 > 2.035.Thus, there was a significant difference between students' pronunciation skills before and after being given treatment using the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application.Therefore, the Alternative Hypothesis (Ha) was accepted, and the Null Hypothesis (H0) was rejected.Based on the research result, the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application effectively improves students' pronunciation skills.So far, the researcher was the first to conduct research using the Twistify application.
Following the conclusions above, the researcher has several suggestions.Teachers should use the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application as a new technique and application for learning English, especially to improve students' pronunciation skills.Teachers should start experimenting with new techniques and applications that are more interesting and fun in classroom learning activities, especially in learning English.Teachers should use technological advances to make teaching and learning English easier and more enjoyable.Students should use the tongue twister technique through the Twistify application because it can improve the students' pronunciation skills.Students should use technological advances to improve their skills, especially pronunciation skills.Students should be more active and focused in learning and teaching activities in the classroom.In the future, researchers should close the gaps and weaknesses in this research.Future researchers should conduct research using new techniques and applications to improve students' English skills, especially pronunciation skills.

Table 1 .
The List of Pre-Test Score

Table 2 .
Descriptive Statistics Pre-Test

Table 3 .
The List of Post-Test Score

Table 4 .
Descriptive Statistics Post-Test