ANALYSIS OF SHORT STORY “The Emperor’s New Clothes”
By: Hans Christian Andersen
MANY YEARS AGO, there was an Emperor, who was so excessively fond of new clothes, that he spent all his money in dress. He did not trouble himself in the least about his soldiers; nor did he care to go either to the theatre or the chase, except for the opportunities then afforded him for displaying his new clothes. He had a different suit for each hour of the day; and as of any other king or emperor, one is accustomed to say, "he is sitting in council," it was always said of him, "The Emperor is sitting in his wardrobe."
Time passed merrily in the large town which was his capital; strangers arrived every day at the court. One day, two rogues, calling themselves weavers, made their appearance. They gave out that they knew how to weave stuffs of the most beautiful colors and elaborate patterns, the clothes manufactured from which should have the wonderful property of remaining invisible to everyone who was unfit for the office he held, or who was extraordinarily simple in character.
"These must, indeed, be splendid clothes!" thought the Emperor. "Had I such a suit, I might at once find out what men in my realms are unfit for their office, and also be able to distinguish the wise from the foolish! This stuff must be woven for me immediately." And he caused large sums of money to be given to both the weavers in order that they might begin their work directly.
So the two pretended weavers set up two looms, and affected to work very busily, though in reality they did nothing at all. They asked for the most delicate silk and the purest gold thread; put both into their own knapsacks; and then continued their pretended work at the empty looms until late at night.
"I should like to know how the weavers are getting on with my cloth," said the Emperor to himself, after some little time had elapsed; he was, however, rather embarrassed, when he remembered that a simpleton, or one unfit for his office, would be unable to see the manufacture. To be sure, he thought he had nothing to risk in his own person; but yet, he would prefer sending somebody else, to bring him intelligence about the weavers, and their work, before he troubled himself in the affair. All the people throughout the city had heard of the wonderful property the cloth was to possess; and all were anxious to learn how wise, or how ignorant, their neighbors might prove to be.
"I will send my faithful old minister to the weavers," said the Emperor at last, after some deliberation, "he will be best able to see how the cloth looks; for he is a man of sense, and no one can be more suitable for his office than he is."
So the faithful old minister went into the hall, where the knaves were working with all their might, at their empty looms. "What can be the meaning of this?" thought the old man, opening his eyes very wide. "I cannot discover the least bit of thread on the looms." However, he did not express his thoughts aloud.
The impostors requested him very courteously to be so good as to come nearer their looms; and then asked him whether the design pleased him, and whether the colors were not very beautiful; at the same time pointing to the empty frames. The poor old minister looked and looked, he could not discover anything on the looms, for a very good reason, viz: there was nothing there. "What!" thought he again. "Is it possible that I am a simpleton? I have never thought so myself; and no one must know it now if I am so. Can it be, that I am unfit for my office? No, that must not be said either. I will never confess that I could not see the stuff."
"Well, Sir Minister!" said one of the knaves, still pretending to work. "You do not say whether the stuff pleases you."
"Oh, it is excellent!" replied the old minister, looking at the loom through his spectacles. "This pattern, and the colors, yes, I will tell the Emperor without delay, how very beautiful I think them."
"We shall be much obliged to you," said the impostors, and then they named the different colors and described the pattern of the pretended stuff. The old minister listened attentively to their words, in order that he might repeat them to the Emperor; and then the knaves asked for more silk and gold, saying that it was necessary to complete what they had begun. However, they put all that was given them into their knapsacks; and continued to work with as much apparent diligence as before at their empty looms.
The Emperor now sent another officer of his court to see how the men were getting on, and to ascertain whether the cloth would soon be ready. It was just the same with this gentleman as with the minister; he surveyed the looms on all sides, but could see nothing at all but the empty frames.
"Does not the stuff appear as beautiful to you, as it did to my lord the minister?" asked the impostors of the Emperor's second ambassador; at the same time making the same gestures as before, and talking of the design and colors which were not there.
"I certainly am not stupid!" thought the messenger. "It must be, that I am not fit for my good, profitable office! That is very odd; however, no one shall know anything about it." And accordingly he praised the stuff he could not see, and declared that he was delighted with both colors and patterns. "Indeed, please your Imperial Majesty," said he to his sovereign when he returned, "the cloth which the weavers are preparing is extraordinarily magnificent."
The whole city was talking of the splendid cloth which the Emperor had ordered to be woven at his own expense.
And now the Emperor himself wished to see the costly manufacture, while it was still in the loom. Accompanied by a select number of officers of the court, among whom were the two honest men who had already admired the cloth, he went to the crafty impostors, who, as soon as they were aware of the Emperor's approach, went on working more diligently than ever; although they still did not pass a single thread through the looms.
"Is not the work absolutely magnificent?" said the two officers of the crown, already mentioned. "If your Majesty will only be pleased to look at it! What a splendid design! What glorious colors!" and at the same time they pointed to the empty frames; for they imagined that everyone else could see this exquisite piece of workmanship.
"How is this?" said the Emperor to himself. "I can see nothing! This is indeed a terrible affair! Am I a simpleton, or am I unfit to be an Emperor? That would be the worst thing that could happen--Oh! the cloth is charming," said he, aloud. "It has my complete approbation." And he smiled most graciously, and looked closely at the empty looms; for on no account would he say that he could not see what two of the officers of his court had praised so much. All his retinue now strained their eyes, hoping to discover something on the looms, but they could see no more than the others; nevertheless, they all exclaimed, "Oh, how beautiful!" and advised his majesty to have some new clothes made from this splendid material, for the approaching procession. "Magnificent! Charming! Excellent!" resounded on all sides; and everyone was uncommonly gay. The Emperor shared in the general satisfaction; and presented the impostors with the riband of an order of knighthood, to be worn in their button-holes, and the title of "Gentlemen Weavers."
The rogues sat up the whole of the night before the day on which the procession was to take place, and had sixteen lights burning, so that everyone might see how anxious they were to finish the Emperor's new suit. They pretended to roll the cloth off the looms; cut the air with their scissors; and sewed with needles without any thread in them. "See!" cried they, at last. "The Emperor's new clothes are ready!"
And now the Emperor, with all the grandees of his court, came to the weavers; and the rogues raised their arms, as if in the act of holding something up, saying, "Here are your Majesty's trousers! Here is the scarf! Here is the mantle! The whole suit is as light as a cobweb; one might fancy one has nothing at all on, when dressed in it; that, however, is the great virtue of this delicate cloth."
"Yes indeed!" said all the courtiers, although not one of them could see anything of this exquisite manufacture.
"If your Imperial Majesty will be graciously pleased to take off your clothes, we will fit on the new suit, in front of the looking glass."
The Emperor was accordingly undressed, and the rogues pretended to array him in his new suit; the Emperor turning round, from side to side, before the looking glass.
"How splendid his Majesty looks in his new clothes, and how well they fit!" everyone cried out. "What a design! What colors! These are indeed royal robes!"
"The canopy which is to be borne over your Majesty, in the procession, is waiting," announced the chief master of the ceremonies.
"I am quite ready," answered the Emperor. "Do my new clothes fit well?" asked he, turning himself round again before the looking glass, in order that he might appear to be examining his handsome suit.
The lords of the bedchamber, who were to carry his Majesty's train felt about on the ground, as if they were lifting up the ends of the mantle; and pretended to be carrying something; for they would by no means betray anything like simplicity, or unfitness for their office.
So now the Emperor walked under his high canopy in the midst of the procession, through the streets of his capital; and all the people standing by, and those at the windows, cried out, "Oh! How beautiful are our Emperor's new clothes! What a magnificent train there is to the mantle; and how gracefully the scarf hangs!" in short, no one would allow that he could not see these much-admired clothes; because, in doing so, he would have declared himself either a simpleton or unfit for his office. Certainly, none of the Emperor's various suits, had ever made so great an impression, as these invisible ones.
"But the Emperor has nothing at all on!" said a little child.
"Listen to the voice of innocence!" exclaimed his father; and what the child had said was whispered from one to another.
"But he has nothing at all on!" at last cried out all the people. The Emperor was vexed, for he knew that the people were right; but he thought the procession must go on now! And the lords of the bedchamber took greater pains than ever, to appear holding up a train, although, in reality, there was no train to hold.







There are four elements which will be analyzed in this short story. They are characters, setting, point of view and theme.
A. Characters
1. The Emperor
The king loves clothes very much
“MANY YEARS AGO, there was an Emperor, who was so excessively fond of new clothes, that he spent all his money in dress.” (Paragraph 1)

Extravagant
“…, that he spent all his money in dress.” (Paragraph 1)

Irresponsible
“He did not trouble himself in the least about his soldiers; nor did he care to go either to the theatre or the chase, except for the opportunities then afforded him for displaying his new clothes.” (Paragraph 1)

Foolish
“I can see nothing! This is indeed a terrible affair! Am I a simpleton, or am I unfit to be an Emperor? That would be the worst thing that could happen.”(Paragraph 18)

Dishonest
“Oh! The cloth is charming," said he, aloud. "It has my complete approbation." And he smiled most graciously, and looked closely at the empty looms; for on no account would he say that he could not see what two of the officers of his court had praised so much.” (Paragraph 18)

Proud
“…."But he has nothing at all on!" at last cried out all the people. The Emperor was vexed, for he knew that the people were right; but he thought the procession must go on now!” (Paragraph 31)

2. Two Rogues, Pretended as Weaves
Liar
“They gave out that they knew how to weave stuffs of the most beautiful colors and elaborate patterns, the clothes manufactured from which should have the wonderful property of remaining invisible to everyone who was unfit for the office he held, or who was extraordinarily simple in character.” (Paragraph 2)

Tricky
“So the two pretended weavers set up two looms, and affected to work very busily, though in reality they did nothing at all.” (Paragraph 4)

Greedy
“….and then the knaves asked for more silk and gold, saying that it was necessary to complete what they had begun. However, they put all that was given them into their knapsacks; and continued to work with as much apparent diligence as before at their empty looms.” (Paragraph 11)
Crafty
“…as soon as they were aware of the Emperor's approach, went on working more diligently than ever; although they still did not pass a single thread through the looms.” (Paragraph 16)
3. The old minister

Faithful
"I will send my faithful old minister to the weavers," said the Emperor at last, after some deliberation, "he will be best able to see how the cloth looks; for he is a man of sense, and no one can be more suitable for his office than he is." (Paragraph 6)

Foolish
“The poor old minister looked and looked, he could not discover anything on the looms, for a very good reason, viz: there was nothing there. "What!" thought he again. "Is it possible that I am a simpleton? I have never thought so myself; and no one must know it now if I am so. Can it be, that I am unfit for my office? No, that must not be said either.” (Paragraph 8)

Dishonest
“I will never confess that I could not see the stuff.” (Paragraph 8, last sentence)

4. The emperor’s second ambassador

Foolish
"I certainly am not stupid!" thought the messenger. "It must be, that I am not fit for my good, profitable office! That is very odd; however, no one shall know anything about it." (Paragraph 14)

Dishonest
And accordingly he praised the stuff he could not see, and declared that he was delighted with both colors and patterns. "Indeed, please your Imperial Majesty," said he to his sovereign when he returned, "the cloth which the weavers are preparing is extraordinarily magnificent." (Paragraph 14)

5. All courtiers
Dishonest
“"Yes indeed!" said all the courtiers, although not one of them could see anything of this exquisite manufacture.” (Paragraph 21)

6. Lords of bedchamber
Dishonest
“The lords of the bedchamber, who were to carry his Majesty's train felt about on the ground, as if they were lifting up the ends of the mantle; and pretended to be carrying something; for they would by no means betray anything like simplicity, or unfitness for their office.”
(Paragraph 27)

7. All people (Society)
Inconsistent
“…and all the people standing by, and those at the windows, cried out, "Oh! How beautiful are our Emperor's new clothes! What a magnificent train there is to the mantle; and how gracefully the scarf hangs!"”
“"But he has nothing at all on!" at last cried out all the people.” (Paragraph 28 and 31)

8. A little Child
Honest
“"But the Emperor has nothing at all on!" said a little child.”
(Paragraph 29)

Innocent
“"Listen to the voice of innocence!" exclaimed his father; and what the child had said was whispered from one to another.” (Paragraph 30)

9. The child’s father
Wise
“"Listen to the voice of innocence!" exclaimed his father; and what the child had said was whispered from one to another.” (Paragraph 30)

B. Setting

1. Place
Large town
“Time passed merrily in the large town which was his capital…” (Paragraph 2)

Court
“…strangers arrived every day at the court.” (Paragraph 2)

Hall
“So the faithful old minister went into the hall, where the knaves were working with all their might, at their empty looms.” (Paragraph 7)

Streets
“So now the Emperor walked under his high canopy in the midst of the procession, through the streets of his capital;…” (Paragraph 28)
2. Time
Many years ago
“MANY YEARS AGO, there was an Emperor, who was so excessively fond of new clothes, that he spent all his money in dress.” (Paragraph 1)

At night
“…and then continued their pretended work at the empty looms until late at night.” (Paragraph 5)






C. Point of View
The point of view which used in this short story is third person point of view. In the third-person point of view, each and every character is referred to by the narrator as "he", "she", "it", or "they". This point of view is divided into two, they are:

1. Third person objective.
The narrator can only tell the reader what is happening with a character, but is not allowed to go inside their head to figure out what they are thinking or feeling. The narrator has to convey everything to the reader through the character’s actions alone.
 Notice that there aren’t any references to “s/he was thinking” or “s/he thought”. We couldn’t know what types of thoughts going through the character’s head.

“…He did not trouble himself in the least about his soldiers; nor did he care to go either to the theatre or the chase, except for the opportunities then afforded him for displaying his new clothes. He had a different suit for each hour of the day; and as of any other king or emperor, one is accustomed to say, "he is sitting in council," it was always said of him, "The Emperor is sitting in his wardrobe."” (Paragraph 1)

“…They gave out that they knew how to weave stuffs of the most beautiful colors and elaborate patterns, the clothes manufactured from which should have the wonderful property of remaining invisible to everyone who was unfit for the office he held, or who was extraordinarily simple in character.” (Paragraph 2)


2. Third person omniscient.
To tell the reader exactly what is going on inside various characters’ head in regards to their thoughts and feelings, while also showing their action.
 Notice the word like “he thought”. It indicates what is going on inside the character’s head.

“…To be sure, he thought he had nothing to risk in his own person; but yet, he would prefer sending somebody else, to bring him intelligence about the weavers, and their work, before he troubled himself in the affair.” (Paragraph 5)

“…The Emperor was vexed, for he knew that the people were right; but he thought the procession must go on now!” (Paragraph 31)

D. Theme

This short story brings out theme about foolishness. The emperor who can not see the clothes pretends that he can because he fears of appearing stupid. All of his courtiers do the same. So, almost all characters in this story are dishonest just because they do not want to be called foolish people. However, it shows that they are really foolish, especially the emperor because he can be tricked by the rogues easily.

Observation of Teaching Reading for Students Grade XI in SMAN 1 Geger

PART I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of Study
Reading is a receptive skill since learners do not need to produce language; they receive and understand the written form. The teacher can choose what types of written language to be included in teaching reading. For example, there are reports, articles, short stories, recipes, maps, schedules and so on. Reading can be difficult because the written text is more complex than speech. Therefore, the teacher should know the appropriate techniques to teach reading to make it easy. Brown (2001) noted strategies for reading comprehension, they are:
1. Identify the purpose in reading.
2. Use graphemic rules and patterns to aid in bottom-up decoding. (especially for beginners)
3. Use efficient silent reading techniques for relatively rapid comprehension.
4. Skim the text for main idea.
5. Scan the text for specific information.
6. Use semantic mapping or clustering.
7. Guess when you are not certain.
8. Analyze vocabulary.
9. Distinguish between literal and implied meanings.
10. Capitalize on discourse markers to process relationships.
Each of those strategies can be applied to the teacher’s classroom techniques.
In developing the reading skill, the teacher also includes some cognitive skills of comprehension. Richard (1983) noted some micro skills that should be involved, they are:
• Discriminate among the distinctive graphemes and orthographic patterns of English.
• Process writing at an efficient rate of speed to suit the purpose.
• Recognize a core of words, and interpret word order patterns and their significance.
• Recognize grammatical word classes, systems, patterns, rules, and elliptical form.
• Recognize cohesive devices in written discourse and their role in signaling the relationship between and among clauses.
• Recognize the communicative functions of written text, according to form and purposes.
• Infer context that is not explicit by using background knowledge.
• Infer links and connections between events, ideas, etc., deduce causes and effects, and detect such relations as main idea, supporting idea, new information, given information, generalization, and exemplification.


B. Questions Research
To measure whether the teacher has taught reading skill appropriately, these following questions should be answered:
1. What is the aim of teaching reading in the class?
2. What type of written language is used?
3. What techniques are used by the teacher in teaching reading?
4. What micro skills of reading comprehension are used?
5. What type of reading classroom performance is done?
6. How does the teacher subdivide the reading activities?
7. How does the teacher give feedback in teaching reading?




PART II
RESULT

A. Setting of Observation
School : SMAN 1 GEGER MADIUN
Teacher’s name : Sofiah, S.Pd.
Class : XI Science 4
Class Time : 07.00-08.30
Date : 12/12/2009

B. Empirical Data
 The teacher reviews the previous texts about “Global Warming” and “Drugs”.
 To know whether the students understand the texts or not, the teacher asks some questions relate to the texts.
 She explains the definition of global warming by drawing on the whiteboard.
 Before reading activity, she teaches a particular grammar about simple present tense and gives the grammar rule.
 She also explains what subjects are followed by Vs/es or V without s/es.
 After giving explanation, the students are asked to do exercises in the textbook about simple present tense.
 The teacher checks the students’ answers after they finished their work.
 In reading activity, she gives a text about weather report taken from the textbook.
 She chooses a student to read the text loudly.
 When the student mispronounces a word, the teacher corrects it directly.
 After reading activity, she asks her students what the text is about, what the genre is, and what the purpose of the text is.
 Then, they do vocabulary study and the teacher translates the difficult words into students’ native language.
 For the second time, she asks her students to do exercises about vocabulary and connectors.
 She gives short explanation about the difference between before, after, and until by drawing on the whiteboard.
 At the end of the lesson, the teacher concludes what materials that they have learned; they are simple present tense, a report text, vocabulary study, and connectors.
 She uses English to explain and give instructions, but she uses her native language to translate the difficult words.












PART III
DISCUSSION
The aim of teaching reading to the students grade XI in SMAN 1 Geger is enable students to understand a genre text. At the beginning of the lesson, the teacher reviews the texts that they have been discussed to know whether the students understand the passage or not. Reviewing the previous texts is an important activity to rebuild the students’ knowledge about the texts. To achieve the goal, the teacher prepares the materials and chooses the appropriate classroom activities before she starts the lesson. In teaching reading, there is a written language that will be discussed. First, the teacher decides what type of the text. In this class, she gives a text about weather report taken from students’ textbook. Since the text is about weather, the type of written language which is used by the teacher is a map. It is to show the weather condition of Asia. The students are asked to get information from the map. By using map, there will be a transfer of information in reading process. The weather information from the map can be transferred into a verbal form. This transfer of information helps students to understand the map and gives the teacher instant feedback because she can know immediately whether the students have received information from the map.
Before discussing a text, the teacher explains a particular grammar about simple present tense. She uses bottom-up processing, so the students must recognize the linguistics signals such as grammatical cues which relate to the text that will be discussed. Since the teacher wants to discuss a report text, she precedes the activity by explaining simple present tense which is used in a report text. The grammar about simple present tense is taught deductively. The teacher gives a grammar rule of the tense and also explains what subjects are followed by Vs/es and V without s/es. After giving the rule, she asks her students to do exercises about simple present tense. However, giving the explicit grammar rule is not appropriate. It does not give students a chance to figure out the rule by themselves. If a concept is found by them, it will be stored longer in their memory.
In teaching reading, one thing that the teacher should bear in mind is whether she teaches or tests her students. Therefore, the materials and activities in teaching reading should help the students to improve their reading ability. An efficient reading strategy is reading with a purpose (abbott, greenwood, McKeating, & Wingard, 1981). Before the students read a text, they should know the purpose for their reading. In fact, the teacher asks her students to read a text about weather report and gives questions after they read. That is the normal procedures that mostly done by teachers in teaching reading. If the teacher always uses that procedure, it means that she is not teaching reading because questions set afterwards act as a testing device. So, the teacher can set the questions before the text as a learning device.
To establish a purpose for reading, the teacher involves the relevant micro skills for reading comprehension. She develops some micro skills such as:
 Recognize the grammatical rule. It is done by giving the rule of simple present tense that links to a report text.
 Recognize the communicative functions of written text. The students are asked to find the purpose of a report text.
 Detect such relations as new information and given information from the text. From the map, the teacher asks her students to find some information about weather and temperature in Asia.
By developing those micro skills, the teacher expects that students reading ability can improve and they can comprehend the reading text well.
In this class, the teacher applies oral reading because she chooses a student to read the text loudly. At the beginning and intermediate levels, oral reading can serve as evaluation check, pronunciation check and student participation. But, this type of classroom reading performance is not suitable to be applied for students grade XI. Reading aloud is not effective because as Brown (2001) stated that oral reading is not a very authentic language activity and while one student is reading, others can easily lose attention. Moreover, reading aloud is done since the teacher wants a change activity or a rest.
To design interactive reading techniques, one of the principles is subdividing the techniques into pre-reading, during-reading, and after-reading phases (Brown, 2001). In reality, what the teacher has done is not including pre-reading activity. She does not spend some time to introduce the topic of the text, so the students do not have a purpose in their reading. So, the students read the text because of teacher’s command, not a purpose. In while reading activity, they are not asked to find the main idea and the supporting details from the passage which usually done during the reading activity. Consequently, in post-reading activity, the students just asked to answer the questions based on the text. Moreover, the teacher also asks about what the text is about, the type of text, and the writer’s purpose. After reading the text, the students do follow up activities from the textbook such as vocabulary study and connectors. In follow up activities, the teacher still explains the difference between before, after and until. It is better to give explanation in the beginning of the lesson.
At the end of the lesson, the teacher concludes all activities that have been done to check whether her students have difficulty during the learning process. They have learned about simple present tense, a report text, and vocabulary study. From this feedback, she knows that vocabulary is the most difficult part for students in reading. Therefore, she translates the difficult words in students’ native language. However, during the teaching process, the teacher speaks English to explain and give instruction to her students.





PART IV
CONCLUSION
A. Conclusion
The goal of teaching reading for students grade XI in SMAN 1 Geger is enable students to understand a report text. The teacher has prepared appropriate materials to achieve the goal and explained difficult concepts. On the other hand, the teacher has some deficiencies in helping her students to improve their reading ability. The learning process is focused on reading skill, but the teacher has not completely applied the techniques in teaching reading. Those deficiencies are:
 The grammatical rule which relates to the passage is taught deductively.
 The teacher applies reading aloud as a technique.
 There is not reading with a purpose.
 There is not subdivision into pre-reading, while-reading, and post-reading phases in reading activity.
B. Suggestion
Some suggestions for the teacher to help students developing their reading skill are:
• The grammatical rule should be taught inductively.
• The teacher should apply silent reading rather than oral reading.
• Give the students a purpose before they read a text.
• The reading activity should be subdivided into pre-reading activity, while-reading activity, and post-reading activity.
REFERENCES
1. Brown, Douglas. 2001. Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.
2. Abbott, Gerry, et al. 1981. The Teaching of English as an International Language: A Practical Guide. Great Britain: William Collins Sons and Co. Ltd.
3. Larsen-freeman, Diane. 2000. Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. New York: Oxford University Press.
4. Richards, Jack. 2001. Curriculum Development in Language Teaching. USA: Cambridge University Press.

Teaching Pronunciation through Games to the Elementary School Students

Elementary school students are children at the age of six to eleven. Wendy A. Scott and Lisbeth H. Ytreberg in Teaching English to Children (1990) assumed that young learners are between five and ten or eleven years old. So elementary school students are young learners who are at the beginning level. At this level, students have a language with all the basic elements. They are competent users of their mother tongue and they are aware of the main rules in their own language. When it comes to learning a foreign language, students will have some sort of language awareness and readiness which they bring with them into the foreign language classroom. Moreover, elementary school is an appropriate time to teach English due to the students’ awareness toward foreign language.

On teaching pronunciation for young learners, Brown (2001, p.284) stated “At the beginning levels, we want learners to surpass that threshold beneath which pronunciation detracts from their ability to communicate”. Therefore, children should be taught pronunciation as early as possible so that they can practice to speak English with a good pronunciation. And the goal of teaching pronunciation should be more realistically focused on clear, comprehensible pronunciation. However, Michael Wei Ph. D found that many students and teachers believe that spending time on pronunciation is useless because it would be difficult, if possible for students to hear differences, for instance, between ship and sheep (as cited in Wong, 1993). Pronunciation is the first material to be taught to elementary school students. It is the proper material at this level because teaching pronunciation includes intonation, stress, rhythm, consonants and vowels which support the communicative process. Listeners can not get the meaning if the rhythm and intonation are different. A wrong intonation will not fail to convey meaning, but it will succeed in conveying a meaning different from that intended by the speaker. Furthermore, teaching pronunciation to elementary school students is important. The purpose of teaching foreign language is enable students to communicate in the target language. Therefore, anyone who wants to gain communicative competence has to study pronunciation. Michael Wei PhD pointed out that even when the non-native speakers’ vocabulary and grammar are excellent, if their pronunciation falls below a certain threshold level; they are unable to communicate effectively (as cited in Wong, 1987). If children are taught pronunciation earlier, they will speak English as well as a native speaker. Since Brown (2001) stated that children under the age of puberty stand an excellent chance of ‘sounding like a native’. In addition, good pronunciation makes people understand what one has to say because it is more easily understood and more pleasant to listen than faulty pronunciation; as a result people pay closer attention to a speaker whose pronunciation is good (James,1958).

Teaching by using games helps the elementary school students to learn pronnciation. Michael Wei PhD noted that pronunciation should be taught in all seconds language classes through a variety of activities (as cited in Scorcella and Oxford, 1994). Most activities for young learners should include movement and involve the sense and games are appropriate for them. The teacher should be creative to make various activities so that students can learn how to use the language. Playing games is an interesting activity to study pronunciation. Games influence students’ condition in the classroom. Games can reduce students’ physical barriers in learning pronunciation. In the beginning, most students have a feeling that they can not be successful or the negative association they may have toward studying (Larsen-Freeman, 2000). Therefore, the teacher should recognize the students’ feeling and help them to break their physical barriers. Susanto (2009) stated that teaching through games make students feel fresh and fun since games function as relaxation and entertainment in studying. Games can be used as ice breaker and energizer, so the students will not bored and they will have high motivation to study. In addition, playing games has the same feature with learning pronunciation. Games practice students to communicate in real situation and also learn how to use the correct pronunciation in speaking. The games should include the materials about pronunciation. So the students get the theory and apply it directly through communicative activities such as pronunciation games. Mark Hancock in Pronunciation Games (1995) noted that pronunciation games should contain enjoyable activities designed to raise learners’ awareness of an aspect of English pronunciation. Therefore, the games include minimal pairs, stress, intonation, syllables and so on.

Teacher applies many kinds of games in teaching pronunciation. Case (2008) created 15 top fun pronunciation games; they are shadow reading, syllable snap, word stress pellmanism, The Yes?! Games, Yes. Yes! Yes!, sound brainstorming board race, minimal pairs stations, sounds same or different, sounds same or different pair work, tell me when I’m odd, silently mouthing, sound puzzle, pronunciation maze, common pronunciation pictures, no sounds listening comprehension. The teacher can choose which games are appropriate for the students in learning pronunciation. For example Romualdez (1999) created pronunciation games about minimal pairs and word stress. “Minimal pairs are words that differ by only one sound. Examples include the words "fourteen" and "forty," "ferry" and "very," and "climb" and "crime." These words can often be confusing for students trying to learn English. Students are paired and given flash cards with a minimal pair of words on each card. One student says one of the words written on the flashcard, and then shows his partner the flashcard. The partner must then determine which word was spoken. The person trying to figure out the word can ask the person speaking to repeat the word as often as she wants” (Romualdez, 1999, para. 2). The second game is word stress game. “Words with more than one syllable have different intonations or stress on a certain syllable. Stress on certain syllables can completely change the word itself, so knowing how words are properly stressed helps not only with English pronunciation but with understanding the meaning of words as well. For example, if the stress is on the first syllable for the word "record," the word becomes a verb; if the stress is on the second syllable, the word becomes a noun. For instance, "Please record our conversation" (verb) versus "We are listening to this old record" (noun). For the word-stress game, divide the class into two or three groups. On the blackboard, draw a table with three columns, marking each column with the numbers one through three (representing which syllable should be stressed). Read a word with three or more syllables out loud and have the first team to start write the answer in the correct column. For example, if you say the word "happily" the team should write the word under the first column; if you say "understand" the team should write the word under the third column. Each team should be given different colored chalk to differentiate among teams so you can check how many answers each team got right at the end” (Romualdez, 1999, para. 3).

Games activity is a good way to teach pronunciation to the elementary school students. Because games can reduce students’ barriers and have the same feature with learning pronunciation. It helps them to learn about minimal pairs, word stress, intonation, syllables and so on. The teacher applies which games activity is attractive for students, so they have great motivation in learning pronunciation. Studying in the classroom will be interesting and fun with games. For instance, the students play minimal pairs game and word stress game.