Phonetic symbols present linguistics feature to how the words are pronounced or spelled and they offer a way to easily identify and recognize the words. Phonetic symbols were applied in this research to give the students clear input and a comprehension toward English words. Moreover, these phonetic symbols were applied within audio-lingual method which provided repetitions, memorizations, and drills through audio media. This research used Classroom Action Research (CAR) design. The objective of this research was to improve the students' listening skill through phonetic symbols applied within audiolingual method. The instruments used were observation and test. The result showed that the students were encouraged to identify spoken words based on phonetic symbols. They were able to differentiate phonetic symbols used that helped them to identify words on spoken text. Meanwhile, the result of test showed that there were 30 students of 40 students who achieved the passing grade, 75. The percentage of students' achievement test met the target of this research success that was 75% of the students got score ≥ 75. As the target of the research was successfully done that it showed to the students' improvement, this CAR was able to improve the students listening skill.