Shalahudin Al-ayyubi Pengarang SANTRI EMILIN PINGSABOI DJAHIMO Dosen Pembimbing 1 MARCELIANUS AKOLI Dosen Pembimbing 2 Sebastianus Fernandez Ketua Penguji Santri Emilin Pingsaboi Djahimo Penguji 1 Marcelianus Akoli Penguji 2

This study is entitled "First Language Interference In Speaking English Performance Of The Lamaholot Students In English Class At Islamic Boarding School Madinatunajah Kesultanan Menanga". The study was conducted to answer the following problems: 1. How does first language interference influence the Lamaholot students in pronouncing English words? 2. What are the factors that influence the Lamaholot students in developing their English pronunciation skills?. The aims are to describe and identify the influence of Lamaholot language on English speaking in pronouncing English words, as well as identify the factors that influence the students in developing their English speaking skills.In conducting this researcher used qualitative research to describe, identify, and explain the interference of the first language in speaking performance at English classes at the Islamic Boarding School Madinatunnajah Kesultanan Menanga. In this study, data was gathered through interviews and recording. In conducting this research, the writer used a descriptive qualitative method. The techniques of data collection were recording, elicitation, and documentation. The researcher used some techniques in analyzing the data that related to the problems of the study. There are Transcribe audio data, Make a few structures for the interviewed data and write about the observed data. Transcribe audio is the term for a process by which an audio and/or video recording is interpreted or translated into words, and it can be found in how students pronounce English words. The results showed that students at the Islamic Boarding School Madinatunnajah Kesultanan Menanga had difficulties in pronouncing English words, especially consonant sounds (labiodental, dental, palato-alveolar, and palato-alveolar affricate sounds). This is because there are no consonants like /v/, /θ/, /ð/, /ʧ/ and /ʤ/ in the Lamaholot grammar, even in their daily conversation. Due to the difference between the consonants of English and Lamaholot words, it is difficult for students to pronounce English words, and they sometimes use the wrong articulation when pronouncing English words. The results of this research might be beneficial to know that the most students’ problems of pronunciation is the difficulties in identification of foreign sounds and the poor ability of the foreign sounds in listening. The students must often listen to English or native speaker and practice it to say the word after native speaker to have better in pronunciation. They must improve their speaking by practice English word that student have every day and always memorize new vocabulary and practice it to always remind the vocab. Keywords: interfierence, Lamaholot language, speaking ability, L1.