Error Analysis of Silent Letters and Its Relevance to the Teaching of English

Abstract

This research analyzes pronunciation errors of English words containing silent letters made by the first-year students of English Education Study Program at Tadulako University. The methodology used in this research is qualitative descriptive studies. The sample was selected by using purposive sampling techniques in which one class out of five parallel classes was chosen intentionally for research participants consisting of 37 students. Data were collected through test, in-depth interview, and questionnaire. In this research, the researcher found that the student commonly made pronunciation errors in three types; they are pre-systematic error, systematic error, and post-systematic error. The dominant type of students' pronunciation error is systematic error. It can be proved by seeing the data that 21 students were in the range between 31%-70 % of the percentage of error. It is followed by post-systematic errors in which 9 students made errors in the range between 0%-30%. The last is pre-systematic error in which the students committed errors in the range of 71%-100%. The researcher concludes that the students made an interference error due to the influence of other languages; first language acquisition or mother tongue. Students' first language acquisition with dialect, accent, and culture had influenced their performance while pronouncing English words containing silent letters.