CHALLENGES IN PRONOUNCING THE LETTER "R" IN THE INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET

This research aims to explore the challenges faced by students in pronouncing the letter "r" in English words. A descriptive quantitative research design was used, incorporating pronunciation tests to gather data. The study focused on eighth-grade students at SMP Islam An Nizam Medan, with a sample of 15 students selected through simple random sampling from a total of 30 students. The students' pronunciation was recorded as they read aloud from three different texts, and their performance was analyzed for errors in pronouncing the "r" sound. The results revealed significant difficulties, with a total of 79 errors across all three texts. Specifically, Text 1 contained 21 errors (26.5%), Text 2 had 39 errors (49.3%), and Text 3 accounted for 19 errors (24%). The findings highlight the widespread difficulties students face in pronouncing the "r" sound, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions and teaching strategies to help improve pronunciation skills. This study contributes valuable insights into the specific pronunciation challenges encountered by non-native English learners.