The Effect of Elsa Speak Application on Students’ English Pronunciation Development

The Effect of Elsa Speak Application on

Students’ English Pronunciation Development
Rabiatul Adawiah1, Andi Muliati2, Samtidar3*

1,2,3
English Education Department, State University of Makassar, Indonesia
*Corresponding E-mail: samtidar@unm.ac.id

Abstract
This research aimed to determine the effect of the ELSA Speak application on students' English pronunciation
development. The research design was pre-experimental. This research was taken place at UPT SMP Negeri 1
Sungguminasa. The participants of this research were the students of the 8A Multimedia, and the total population
was 35 students. The researchers used a quantitative case study with a purposive sampling technique to select the
participants. Based on the pre-test and post-test results, the researchers found that the ELSA Speak application was
effective in developing students' English pronunciation. Based on the study's results, it is known that the post-test
mean score (83.49) is greater than the pre-test means score (77.20). Based on the pre-test to post-test, the score of
N-gain (normalized gain) is used to measure the improvement of science process skills and cognitive learning
outcomes between before and after treatment is 5.5. This indicates that the ELSA Speak Application is quite effective
in improving students' English pronunciation to be better.

Keywords: ELSA speak application; pronunciation, media.

1. Introduction Speak application is designed to help students

speak English in a simple, fluent, and confident
Pronunciation is one aspect that others will manner (Darsih, Wihadi, & Hanggara, 2020).
judge. In speaking English, there are several From the statement above, the researchers
aspects that must be considered. Pronunciation believe that the ELSA app is appropriate for
is one of the first impressions that other people teaching and learning. This app also features
will catch when starting a conversation in the seven Best English Pronunciation Apps
English. So, when speaking in English, it is not (2019), which help students speak English
only our ability to use good vocabulary that clearly, smoothly, and confidently.
will attract attention but how we pronounce it
is also an important aspect to consider. The ELSA Speak application can detect the
user’s mispronunciation with more than 95%
Technology has greatly increased accuracy. The app can also receive advanced
opportunities for interaction, contextual feedback to correct its pronunciation errors.
learning, and support for learning outside This feature is one of the things that distinguish
formal contexts. Along with the improvement ELSA from other applications. That way, this
of instructional technology, it also develops application is hoped to help students improve
and affects learning and teaching activities. their ability to speak English properly and
Many technologies that may be used to support correctly, especially in pronunciation.
learning, coupled with internet access, make it
easier for students to gain broad knowledge. A related previous study investigated students’
The ELSA (English Learning Speech Assistant) perceptions of pronunciation lessons in the

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 Journal of Excellence in English Language Education
Volume 3 No. 1 (2024) ISSN: 2829-4394 (Online)

ELSA Speak application (Samad & Aminullah, pronunciation, and learning pronunciation may
2018). They found that students rated this be a waste of time.
application which uses automatic speech
recognition to provide immediate feedback on 2. 3. Media
the user’s pronunciation and allows the user to
adjust the automatic speech recognition as very Media is every tool to convey information or
good for learning pronunciation. messages from one place to another place. In
the teaching and learning process, teachers
2. Literature Review may use media to make the process effective
and interesting. According to Bakri (2011),
2. 1. ELSA Speak Application media is the plural form of medium, which
derives from the Latin word “medius,” which
English Language Speech Assistant is an means “middle”. When the media brings
acronym for ELSA. English Language Speech instructional messages or information
Assistant (ELSA) can be downloaded for free containing learning purposes, it can be called
from AppStore or Google Play. The teaching media.
importance of using media for teaching is that
it can be used to help the students in their By using media, the material can be more
studies and to make the teaching-learning interesting, concrete, and easier to understand.
process more effective and efficient. In the As we know, teaching media is all tools/ aids
Elsa application itself, there are several that teachers and learners may use to attain
categories, namely daily lesson exercises, certain education objectives. In this last decade,
improved pronunciation, and topic-based mobile phones have been used in every daily
learning (there are 14 topics here, and we can activity to replace computer use, such as
choose according to our abilities). In Elsa reading and editing documents, playing games,
Speak, there are also phonetic symbols for browsing, etc. This is very helpful for teachers
each word, and we can also listen to how the in the teaching and learning process. In this
word is pronounced. case, the ELSA Speak Application is a very
useful application that makes it easier for
2. 2. Pronunciation students to learn pronunciation.

Pronunciation is the act or method of 3. Research Methodology

pronouncing a word. According to Hammer
(2007), learning pronunciation has some 3. 1. Research Design
problems for the learners; some learners have
great difficulty hearing the pronunciation from This research used a pre-experimental research
speakers who speak from different native design to answer the research questions. In this
languages that might have a different sound in research, the researchers chose one class as a
their pronunciation (what students hear). When sample. Sugiyono (2014) stated that pre-
learners want to learn some foreign languages, experimental designs are designs that include
they often have a problem using physical only one group or class undergoing pre- and
unfamiliarity (what students say), then some post-tests. In this study, the researchers only
learners have a great difficulty in identifying used the experimental group without the
the different of rising and falling patterns control group.
(intonation). According to Harmer (2001),
many teachers do not pay enough attention to 3. 2. Research Variables
English pronunciation. There are different
reasons for this negligence. Many learners This quantitative research used two variables:
state that they do not have to learn the student’s pronunciation as the independent
and the ELSA Speak Application as the

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 The Effect of Elsa Speak Application on Students’ English Pronunciation Development

dependent variable. To make the variable in In the pre-test, the researchers gave a
this research clearer, below is the operational pronunciation test using 20 vocabularies with
definition of the two variables: similar pronunciation and then asked students
one by one in front of the class to read in front
a. Pronunciation of the class to assess their pronunciation,
Pronunciation is the act or method of which covered fluency, accuracy, and
pronouncing a word. Graphical representations intonation.
of linguistic utterances, wording, especially
accepted or generally understood methods, and b. Treatment
phonetic symbols.
The researchers gave training and instruction
b. ELSA Speak Application toward operating ELSA Speak. The students
ELSA is an EFL/ESL pronunciation were enthusiastic and motivated to learn. They
development app designed which is based in got opportunities to know the errors and
the United States, with over 1200 exercises to mistakes in sounding words in responses to the
help learners sound like native speakers. The system of the application. The correction and
software is used by millions of language feedback were immediately given.
learners worldwide.
c. Post Test
3. 3. Subject
The researchers used the ELSA Speak
In choosing the research participants, the application to give the post-test. The test has
researchers used a purposive sampling been provided by the ELSA Speak application.
technique. The subjects chosen for this
investigation were the second-grade students 3. 6. Technique of Data Analysis
of SMPN 1 Sungguminasa. The reason was
because it fits the criteria in this study. The researchers analyzed the data using the
Social Science Statistical Package (SPSS).
3. 4. Research Instrument Data analysis is a real effort to increase data
reliability, to know the difference between
This research used measured social and natural value methods, and to organize data well.
context. Questionnaire and interview as the Analysis of this data helps to determine score
instrument. Measurement tools in research are differences between pronunciation
usually known as research instruments. The performance scores of students taught using
use of research instruments is to measure the the ELSA Speak application.
observed natural and social context.
Specifically, all these phenomena are known as 4. Findings
research variables (Sugiyono, 2012). The exam
is administered as a pre-exam and a post- The findings in this study are related to the
examination. The purpose of the pre-test is to students’ pre-test and post-test results by
determine the students’ pronunciation level applying the techniques explained in the
before using the ELSA Speak app, and the previous chapter. The pre-test is given to
purpose of the post-test is to determine the students by preparing some vocabulary with
student’s improvement in pronunciation after similar pronunciation before giving treatment
using the ELSA Speak app. using the Elsa Speak application. While the
post-test was given after the treatment to
3. 5. Procedure of Data Collection determine the effect of the Elsa Speak
Application on student pronunciation. The data
a. Pre-Test was taken at SMP 1 Sungguminasa. This
research's findings show students' scores,
including accuracy, fluency, and intonation.

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 Journal of Excellence in English Language Education
Volume 3 No. 1 (2024) ISSN: 2829-4394 (Online)

Based on the pre-test score with a mean score after being given treatment with the category
of 77.20, it can be classified that the students’ of Good.
score is included in the Fair category. After
giving treatment, the researchers gave a post- 4. 1. The Frequency and Rate Percentage of
test to assess if there was any improvement in the Pre-Test and Post-Test Scores of
the student’s pronunciation. Based on the post, Students’ Pronunciation
the mean score of students is 83.49, which can
be classified as an increase in student scores

Table 1. The Frequency and Rate Percentage of the Pre-Test and Post-Test Scores of Students’
Pronunciation
Pre-Test Post Test
No. Classification Score
Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage
1. Very Good 90-100 0 0 8 22.85
2. Good 80-89 8 22.85 23 65.71
3. Fair 70-79 22 62.85 3 8.57
4. Poor 60-69 5 14.28 1 2.85
5. Very Poor 0-59 0 0 0 0
Total 35 100 35 100

Table 1 shows that on the pre-test score no student who got very poor score. The
classification, no students got very good scores. students’ post-test scores show that there is a
The students who got good scores were 8 big difference if compared with the pre-test
(22.85%), students who got fair scores were 22 score. The number of students who got good
(62.85%), and students who got poor scores scores were drastically increased. Based on the
were 5 (14.28%). The post-test score data above, the researchers concluded that the
classification in Table 1 shows that there are 8 rate percentage of post-test scores was higher
(22.85) students who got very good scores, the than the pre-test.
number of students who got good scores was
23 (65.71%), while the students that got fair 4. 2. Students’ Mean Score and Standard
scores were 3 (8.57%), the number of students Deviation in the Pre-Test and the Post-Test
that got poor score was 1 (2.85%), and there is

Table 2. Students’ Mean Score and Standard Deviation in the Pre-Test and the Post Test
Mean N Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
Pretest 77.20 35 6.053 1.023
Pair 1
Posttest 83.49 35 6.896 1.166

Table 2 shows that the students’ mean score on was 6.896. The data was processed using SPSS
the pre-test was 77.20. This score is in the poor 21 and the table showed that the students’
classification; the standard deviation score in mean score in the post-test was higher than the
the pre-test was 6.053. The table also showed mean score in the pre-test.
the students’ mean score in the post-test was
83.49. This score is in the good classification, 4. 3. Students’ T-Test of Pre-Test and Post-
and the standard deviation score in the post-test Test

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 The Effect of Elsa Speak Application on Students’ English Pronunciation Development

Table 3. Student's T-Test of Pre-Test and Post-Test

Sig.
Paired Differences t df (2-
tailed)
95% Confidence
Std.
Std. Interval of the
Mean Error
Deviation Difference
Mean
Lower Upper
Pretest-
Pair 1 -6.286 3.511 -5.93 -7.492 -5.080 -10.591 34 .000
posttest

Based on Table 3, the paired sample test shows that other people will catch when starting a
that 𝒕𝟎 (𝒕𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕) = 10.591, and degree of conversation in English. This section discussed
freedom (df) = 34 with the standard of the results of the data analysis obtained by the
signification 0,05. Based on the data shown in researchers. To get the results of this study, the
Table 3, the value of 𝒕𝒕 = 2.056. Based on the researchers used three steps as follows:
data, it can be seen that 𝒕𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 > 𝒕𝒕
(10.591>2.056). It means that there was a The first step in carrying out this research is to
significant effect between the pre-test and do a pre-test. The pre-test was conducted using
post-test using the ELSA Speak application for words with similar pronunciation. The pre-test
students’ speaking skills before and after results show 77,2 as the mean score, meaning
treatment. Based on the output table of the t- that the students' pronunciation ability is
test, the value of sig = 0.000, which means the classified as fair. The pre-test results showed
significance or the probability value was that none of the students got a very good score.
smaller than 𝜶 0,05. This indicates that the null One of the problems of students who are not
hypothesis (𝑯𝟎) was rejected, and the fluent in English is the lack of confidence and
alternative hypothesis (𝑯𝒂) was accepted. Elsa interest in learning English.
Speak application can improve students’
pronunciation. This increase also means an In this second step, the researchers applied the
increase in the three components of treatment twice to the students using the ELSA
pronunciation that are assessed, namely Speak application. For the first treatment, the
fluency, accuracy, and intonation. The most researchers explained the ELSA Speak
improvement component of speaking in this application and how to use it to the students. In
research is accuracy. the second treatment, the researchers asked
students to follow the dialogue contained in the
5. Discussions ELSA Speak application. The researchers used
sentences from many features in ELSA Speak
One of the technologies that can be used in to help the students speak. Each of these
learning pronunciation is pronunciation treatments aims to educate students and
software. Pronunciation software is a way in analyze whether the ELSA Application can be
which a language or specific word or sound is helpful in learning how to speak English and
spoken through software as a medium that improve their pronunciation skills.
combines all commands for information
processing and serves as an interactive After the treatment, the researchers then
medium (Sarmita & Aminullah, 2019). conducted a posttest to measure the students'
speaking skills. The researcher repeats the
Pronunciation is one of the aspects that others same process as in the pre-test. The mean score
will judge. In speaking English, there are on the student’s post-test is classified as good.
several aspects that must be considered. At this step, the students demonstrate their
Pronunciation is one of the first impressions ability to speak clearly and well.

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 Journal of Excellence in English Language Education
Volume 3 No. 1 (2024) ISSN: 2829-4394 (Online)

It can be concluded that the ELSA Speak IDEAS: Journal on English Language
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