CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD
F. Data analysis
Having the phonetic transcription of the data which were done manually, the analysis began with the identification of the deviation by comparing the students‘ actual pronunciation with the standard phonetic transcription. Then those deviations found were listed down based on each sound and each position of occurrences in a table. After listing down the deviations, the deviations were explained from the standpoint of English phonetic system based on Oxford Dictionary.
24 CHAPTER IV
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
This chapter deals with research findings and discussion. The findings cover the descriptive answers to the two research quastions and discussion reveals the explanation of the reasearch findings.
A. Findings
Findings were explained in this section based on data analysis collected by researchers through recording techniques. The findings refer to the research questions in previous chapter, namely: the kinds of phonological deviation produced by the English students in pronouncing English words; and the causes of phonological deviation produced by the English students in pronouncing English words.
The findings were grouped based on the three consonantal sounds investigated in this study; they are [θ], [ð], and [ʒ]. For additional description, each of those sounds was then classified into three categories in relation to the positions of their occurrences; they are initial, middle, and final positions.
a. The kinds of phonological deviation produced by the English students in pronouncing English words
Kind of phonological deviation produced by the English students. based on the data obtioned from the the pronounciation test, the researcher found that
25
the students produced various deviation in pronouncing the dental and palato alveolar sound as the following table ;
1. The pronunciation of the voiceless dental sound [θ]
In general, [θ] is categorized as a voiceless dental fricative. Voiceless dental sound [θ] is consonantal sound that is typically English sound;
therefore, other languages, especially Indonesian, may not have this exact sound in their phonetic systems. Hence, the English department students as the participants of this research deviated the sound to several possibilities in their attempts of articulating voiceless dental sound [θ] as seen in table 1.
Voiceless dental sound [θ] was deviated into six possible errors, from the replacement of [θ] with [t] to the deletion of [θ].
Table 1. The Deviation of the sound [θ]
Positions Words
Standard Phonetic Transcription
Students‘
Actual Pronunciation
Deviation
% of Errors
Initial
Thursday thigh thought theme
[θз:rzdeι]
[θai]
[θo:t]
[θi:m]
[te:rzdeι]
[tai]
[tho:t]
[di:m]
[ti:m]
[θ → t]
[θ → t]
[θ → th] [θ → d]
[θ → t]
69 % 12 % 8 % 8 % 8 %
Middle
Monthly birthday breathless
[mΛnθli]
[bз:rθdeι]
[breθləs]
[mΛnsli]
[bз:sdeι]
[bretləs]
[θ → s]
[θ → s]
[θ → t]
45 % 8 % 50 %
Final
Health worth month
[helθ]
[wз:rθ]
[mΛnθ]
[helt]
[wз:rth] [mΛnt]
[θ → t]
[θ → th] [θ → t]
54 % 33 % 21%
a) Voiceless dental sound [θ] pronounced as [t]
Table 1 shows clearly that sound [θ] was often deviated to [t] in the initial, medial, and final positions. It can happen since both [θ] and [t]
share one thing in common, that is, both of them are voiceless sounds.
Nonetheless, when the students replaced [θ] with [t], they diverged two important features of [θ]: they changed the place of articulation of [θ] from dental to alveolar and in terms of the manner of articulation, they stopped the air stream for a brief of time and the released it abruptly, creating stop instead of fricative. Thus, by replacing [θ] with [t], the students made their first deviation. For example, there are 12% students pronounced it as /t/
like in the word ―thigh‖ the actual pronounciation is /θai/ but the students pronounced it as /tai/.
b) Sound [θ] pronounced as [d]
The second deviation found in the articulation of [θ] was the substitution of [θ] with [d]. In this case the students obviously altered the sound production of [θ]. In the first place, they deviated the sound by vibrating the vocal cords when they should not vibrate them at all. Then they move the place of articulation from dental to alveolar. In the end, they produced a stop when they should have produced a fricative.
Consequently, the students generated the next deviation in the pronunciation of [θ] when they replaced [θ] with [d]. For example, there are 8 % students pronounced it as /d/ like in the word ―theme‖ the actual pronounciation is /θi:m/ but the students pronounced it as /di:m/.
27
c) Sound [θ] pronounced as [th]
The third deviation occurred due to the fact that the students changed the sound of [θ] with [th]. In this case, the students aspirated the [t] sound that they made. Still, on this particular deviation, the students did not alter all the features of [θ]. They still produced the right state of the vocal cords for the sound required, that is, voiceless. On the other hand, they also still deviated the place and manner of articulation, from dental to alveolar and from fricative to stop.Thus, by producing [th], they deviated [θ].For example, there are 33 % students pronounced it as /th/ like in the word ―worth‖ the actual pronounciation is /wз:rθ/ but the students pronounced it as / wз:rth /.
d) Sound [θ] pronounced as [s]
In this deviation, they produced the sound [s] in place of [θ].
Overall, [s] is characterized as voiceless alveolar fricative, whereas [θ] is known as voiceless dental fricative. By contrasting the two sounds, it can be seen that in substituting the sound [θ] with [s], they merely diverged the place of articulation of the required sound. Instead of producing the sound in the dental position, they produced it in the alveolar position. For that reason, when the students replaced [θ] with [s], they made another deviation of [θ].For example, there are 45 % students pronounced it as /th/
like in the word ―monthly‖ the actual pronounciation is /mΛnθli/ but the students pronounced it as /mΛnsli/.
2. The Pronunciation of voiced dental sound [ð]
Sound [ð] is another original English consonantal sound that does not exist in Indonesian phonetic system. In English, it is listed as voiced dental fricative. Many English learners produced as participants of this research still produced errors when they had to articulate [ð] correctly as seen in Table 2.
Table 2. The Deviation of the sound [ð]
Positions Words
Standard Phonetic Transcription
Students‘
Actual Pronunciation
Deviation
% of Errors
Initial
They there them though
[ðeι]
[ðər]
[ðəm]
[ðou]
[deι]
[dər]
[dəm]
[dou]
[ð → d]
[ð → d]
[ð → d]
[ð → d]
25 % 33 % 29 % 12 %
Middle
Bother although worthy
[ba:ðər]
[o:lðəu]
[wз:ðι]
[ba:dər]
[o:ldəu]
[wз:tι]
[ð → d]
[ð → d]
[ð → t]
38 % 46 % 8 %
Final
Breathe Bathe
[bri:ð]
[beιð]
[bri:t]
[bet]
[ð → t]
[ð → t]
8 % 33 %
a) Voiced dental sound [ð] pronounced as [d]
The replacement of [ð] with [d], in articulating [ð] signified that [ð]
as a voiced dental fricative was being replaced with [d] which is a voiced
29
alveolar stop. In this deviation, the students fulfilled one feature of the [ð]
sound since [ð] and [d] share the one identical characteristic, that is, voiced. However, when they articulated [d], the two other important elements of [ð] sound were deviated. The divergence could be observed because of the different place and manner of articulation of the two sounds. Normally, to make the sound [ð], the tip of the tongue is put behind the upper front teeth. However, in this case, the students put the front part of their tongue on their alveolar ridge, causing the alveolar sound to be produced rather than dental sound. In terms of manner of articulation, [ð] should be produced with almost blocked air stream being pushed through the narrow opening and as a result creating ‗hissing noise‘.
Yet, the students completely stopped the air stream and the released it abruptly resulting on a very different manner of articulation, that is, stop.
Consequently, the students made deviation by replacing [ð] with [d]. For example, there are 46 % students pronounced it as /d/ like in the word
―although‖ the actual pronounciation is /o:lðəu/ but the students pronounced it as /o:ldəu/.
b) Voiced dental sound [ð] pronounced as [t]
The second deviation found in the pronunciation of [ð] was the substitution of [ð] with [t]. in this deviation, the students completely altered all of the elements of [ð]. Firstly, in terms of state of the vocal cords, they did not vibrate their vocal cords as they should. Secondly, they constructed alveolar sound in place of dental. Finally, for the manner of
articulation, they were more likely to produce a stop sound rather than a fricative sound. As a result, they produced a very distinct sound from [ð], that is, [t]. For example, there are 42 % students pronounced it as /th/ like in the word ―breathe‖ the actual pronounciation is /bri:ð/ but the students pronounced it as /bri:t/.
3. The Pronunciation of the voiced palate alveolar sound [ʒ]
The last English consonantal sound that was problematic for the participants as English department students was sound [ʒ]. In general, English phonetic illustrates [ʒ] as a voice alveopalatal fricative. Regardless of the conventional transcription of [ʒ], this particular sound becomes a problem for the learners since it does not exist in Indonesian phonetic system. In table 3, it can be seen that in articulating this distinct English sound, students tended to deviate it. There were six deviations made by the students in articulating [ʒ]: the replacement of [ʒ] with [z], [s], [j], [∫], [dʒ], [g].
Table 3. The Deviation of the sound [ʒ]
Positions Words
Standard Phonetic
Students‘
Actual Deviation
% of Errors
31
Transcription Pronunciation
Initial
Genre [ʒa:nrə]
[ʒa:nrə]
[ʒa:nrə]
[dʒe:nrə]
[ge:nrə]
[je:nrə]
[ʒ → dʒ]
[ʒ → g]
[ʒ → j]
42 % 8 % 50 %
Middle
Conclusion
Unusual Measure
Treasure
[kəŋklu:ʒn]
[Λnju:ʒəl]
[meʒər]
[treʒər]
[kəŋklu:zhən]
[kəŋklu:sion]
[Λnju:∫əl]
[mezər]
[mesər]
[trezər]
[tresər]
[ʒ → z]
[ʒ → s]
[ʒ → ∫]
[ʒ → z]
[ʒ → s]
[ʒ → z]
[ʒ → s]
42 % 17 % 50 % 25 % 17 % 17 % 30 %
Final
Garage Prestige
[gəra:ʒ]
[presti:ʒ]
[gəra:dʒ]
[presti:s]
[ʒ → dʒ]
[ʒ → s]
38 % 30 %
a) Sound [ʒ] pronounced as [z]
The first deviation was the replacement of [ʒ] with [z]. In this replacement of voiced alveopalatal fricative with the voiced alveolar fricative, the students altered only one feature of [ʒ]. The students in making this deviation only replaced the place of articulation from alveopalatal to alveolar. It means that they placed the front part of their tongue on the alveolar ridge rather than raised it to the hard palate. Hence, it is clear that by producing [z] instead of [ʒ], they deviated the sound [ʒ].
For example, there are 17 % students pronounced it as /z/ like in the word
―treasure‖ the actual pronounciation is /treʒər/ but the students pronounced it as /tezər/.
b) Sound [ʒ] pronounced as [s]
Another deviation was the replacement of voiced alveopalatal fricative [ʒ] with voiceless alveolar fricative [s]. In this deviation, the students once again altered two features of the sound [ʒ], that is, the state of the vocal cords and the place of articulations. For one thing, in producing this deviation they did not vibrate their vocal cords as what is required in the sound production of [ʒ]. Then, in terms of place of articulation, they yet again replaced alveopalatal sound with alveolar sound. Thus, by replacing [ʒ] with [s], the students made completely different sound and as a result, they created another deviation. For example, there are 30 % students pronounced it as /s/ like in the word
―prestige‖ the actual pronounciation is /presti:ʒ/ but the students pronounced it as /presti:s/.
c) Sound [ʒ] pronounced as [j]
The third deviation was the substitution of [ʒ] with [j] which that the sound of voiced alveopalatal fricative was being replaced with the sound of voiced palatal stop. In this deviation, the students altered two features of [ʒ], namely, the manner of articulation and the place of articulation. On the subject of manner of articulation, they replaced the fricative sound with the stop sound, which means that they made an abrupt release of the air stream after stopping it completely when they theoretically should produce a ‗hissing noise‘. Then, when dealing with the movement of the air, they made a sudden release of the blocked air stream instead of released the articulators slightly to produce friction.
33
Therefore, by producing a voiced palatal stop [j] instead of voiced alveopalatal fricative [ʒ], the students made another deviation of [ʒ]. For example, there are 50 % students pronounced it as /j/ like in the word
―genre‖ the actual pronounciation is /ʒa:nrə/ but the students pronounced it as /je:nrə/.
d) Sound [ʒ] pronounced as [∫]
The fourth deviation done by the students was the substitution of [ʒ] with [∫]. If it seen from the general characteristics of the two sounds, [ʒ] and [∫] can almost be categorized as similar sounds for the reason that they were two distinct sounds if being observed from the state of the vocal cords. Whereas, [ʒ] is a voiced sound, [∫] is a voiceless sound.
Consequently, when the students changed [ʒ] to [∫], they in fact had generated a deviation in their pronunciation. For example, there are 58 % students pronounced it as /∫/ like in the word ―unusual‖ the actual pronounciation is /Λnju:ʒəl/ but the students pronounced it as /Λnju:∫əl/.
e) [ʒ] pronounced as [dʒ]
The replacement of voiced alveopalatal fricative [ʒ] with voiced palatal affricate [dʒ] was another deviation found in the students‘
pronunciation. In this deviation, the students deviated two features of [ʒ], namely, the manner of articulation and the place of articulation. In this deviation, they briefly stopped the air stream completely and then released the articulators slightly so that friction is produced rather than partially blocked the air stream while it is pushed through the narrow opening.
Thus, by producing [dʒ] instead of [ʒ], the students had produced another deviation.For example, there are 38 % students pronounced it as /dʒ/ like in the word ―garage‖ the actual pronounciation is /gəra:ʒ/ but the students pronounced it as /gəra:dʒ/.
f) Sound [ʒ] pronounced as [g]
The last deviation was the replacement of [ʒ] with [g]: [ʒ] is generally voiced alveopalatal fricative, whereas [g] is essentially voiced velar stop. Initially, the students managed to produce the sound in the correct state of articulation in which they vibrated their vocal cords.
However, in terms of place and manner of articulation, they produced deviation since they raised their front of the tongue to the hard palate instead of raising the front part of the tongue to the hard palate, and also for the reason that they stopped the air stream completely before releasing it abruptly when they actually should create ‗hissing noise‘. Accordingly, it is apparent that the students generated deviation when replacing [ʒ] with [g]. For example, there are 8 % students pronounced it as /g/ like in the word ―genre‖ the actual pronounciation is /ʒa:nrə/ but the students pronounced it as /ga:nrə/.
b. The causes of phonological deviation produced by the English students in pronouncing English words
After the researchers conducted interviews with several English students who became participants at the University of Muhammadiyah
35
Makassar, the researchers found the cause of the problem of phonological deviation in sound or pronunciation. There are many students who do not know the pronunciation in standard phonetic terms, so that almost every word they mention produces incorrect pronunciation. The contributing factor is the transfer between types of sound. The pronouncement of speech occurs because of a change from one symbol to another which results in pronunciation that looks the same but is produced by different articulation movements and sounds.
There are many students say the words not according to the standard phonetic. This case happened to several students, for example in the symbol [θ], in the pronunciation of the word "Thursday" some students said the word with [tз: rzdeι] which should have been pronounced correctly namely [θз: rzdeι]. Thus comes the deviation from [θ → t]. Another example in the symbol [ð], in the pronunciation of the word "although" some students say the word with [o: ldəu] which should be pronounced correctly, namely [o: lðəu]. And for the symbol [ʒ], in the pronunciation of the word
"measure" some students say the word with [meʒər] which can be pronounced correctly, namely [mezər]. Thus, it arises a deviation from [ʒ → z].
Interview results showed that students still have difficulty in saying a few words in English because they have just found a way to pronounce English that is good and right on the lecture bench, because when they were in middle and high school they only focused on learning the meaning of
English words and not really learn about the pronunciation of English in accordance with phonetic standards. Except there are some of them who practice their English pronunciation by reading the dictionary by paying attention to the phonetic standard of each word they read.
From 24 students, 60% of students answered that the difficulty in saying the words because they did not know the phonetic symbol of the words. As show in the following result of interview:
S1 : “ saya tidak mengetahui simbol phonetic dari kata-kata itu ” ( I do not know the phonetic symbols of the words )
S8 : “ saya tidak mengetahui simbol phoneticnya. Karena saya baru mendapatkan pelajaran mengenai simbol-simbol phoneticdalam kata bahasa inggris “
( I do not know the phonetic symbols. Because I just learned a lesson about phonetic symbols in English words )
There are 25% of students answered that they deviated the sound because they did not practice enough to be stiff in pronouncing the words.As show in the following result of interview:
S7: “ ada bebrapa kata yang jarang saya sebutkan, kemungkinan dari situ muncul kesalahan penyebutan "
( there are a few words that I rarely mention, so from which there is an error in their mention )
37
S20 : ― saya tidak sering berlatih dalam mengucapkan kata-kata bahasa inggris, sehingga saya kaku dalam menyebutkan kata itu dan muncullah kesalahan dalam penyebutan “ ( I do not often practice pronouncing in English words, so I stiff in pronouncing the words and there are errors in the mention of it )
At last, there are 15% of students perceived that the pronunciation of the words is not difficult or not easy, as shown in the following result of interview:
S12 : “ saya rasa kesalahan itu muncul karena saya masih mengikutkan bahasa pertama saya “
( I think the error came because I still included my first language )
S3 : “ saya rasa itu karena gangguan bahasa yang biasa saya gunakan, sehingga ada beberapa kata yang salah dalam penyebutannya “
( think it is because of the language disorder that I usually used so there are some words that are wrong in the mention )
Most students have difficulty in recognizing phonetic letters and symbols so that they make deviation on the sound of the given words.
B. Discussion
After identifying and analyzing the phonological deviation of students in pronouncing English words, specifically on two types of sounds namely dental [θ and ð] and palato alveolar [ʒ]. The researcher explains the findings have been investigated in this section to answer research questions.
a) Pronounciation of [θ]
There are 10 English words that consist of a starting, middle and final position. In the pronunciation of [θ] there are four deviations arise, namely [t], [th], [d], [s]. in the initial position there are four words, first on the word "Thursday" in this word out of 24 students there are 69% of students who make deviations. disturbance that occurs is pronunciation deviation, is changes (θ - t), standard phonetic transcription /θз: rzdeι/
experiencing deviation to /te : rzdeι/. secondly on the word "thigh" in this word out of 24 students there were 12% of students who committed irregularities. disturbance that occurs is pronunciation deviation namely change (θ - t), standard phonetic transcription /θai/ experiencing deviation /tai /. the third in the word "think" in this word out of 24 students there are 8% of students who commit irregularities. Disturbances that occur are pronunciation deviation is changes (θ – th), standard phonetic transcription /θo:t/ experiencing deviation /tho:t/. and the last in the word "theme" there are two deviations that occur, namely (θ - d) there are 8% of students who make this deviation and (θ - t) there are 8% who do this deviation, phonetic transcription standards /θi:m/ deviations from experience of being /di:m/ and becoming /ti:m/.
39
In the middle position there are 3 words. the first is the word
"monthly" in this word out of 24 students there are 45% of students who commit irregularities. Disturbances that occur are pronunciation deviations namely changes (θ - s), standard phonetic transcription /mΛnθli/
experiencing deviations /mΛnsli/. the second in the word "birthday" in this word there are 8% of students who commit irregularities. Interference that occurs is pronunciation deviation is change (θ - s), standard phonetic transcription /bз:rθdeι/ experiencing deviation /bз:sdeι/. and the last word
"breathless" in this word there are 50% of students who commit deviations. Disturbances that occur are pronunciation deviation is changes (θ - t), standard phonetic transcription /breθləs/ experiencing deviation /bretləs/.
In the final position there are 3 words. the first is the word "health"
in this word there are 54% of students who commit deviations.
Disturbances that occur are pronunciation deviations namely changes (θ - t), standard phonetic transcription /helθ/ experiencing deviation /helt/.
the second to the word "worth" in this word there are 33% of students who commit irregularities. Disturbances that occur are pronunciation deviation is changes (θ – th), standard phonetic transcription /wз:rθ/ experiencing deviation /wз:rth/. and finally the word "month" in this word is 21% of students who commit irregularities. Disturbances that occur are pronunciation deviation is changes (θ - t), standard phonetic transcription /mΛnθ/ experiencing deviation /mΛnt/.