The Characteristics and Intelligibility of English Plosives Produced by Javanese Speakers

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The Characteristics and Intelligibility of English Plosives Produced by Javanese Speakers PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI THE CHARACTERISTICS AND INTELLIGIBILITY OF ENGLISH PLOSIVES PRODUCED BY JAVANESE SPEAKERS A THESIS Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Magister Humaniora (M.Hum.) Degree In English Language Studies Vincentius Tangguh Atyanto Nugroho Student Number: 136332044 THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2016 i PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, allow me to express my gratitude to the Lord for all of His blessings to everyone. Have faith in Him for He will never let you go astray. My admiration goes to all faculty members of English Language Studies. Their actions are exemplary. They have been considerate and helpful, and I was lucky to find myself in their good hands. The English Language Studies program was my second home for almost three years, and a home is not a home without Pak Mul’s warm smile every time we ran into each other. Last but not least, I thank my family for being there for me. My wife, Christina Yulianti, has been wonderful – as always. Ara, Marend, and Rama – our kids – have been our biggest motivators. Though they wear us out on daily basis, every single day spent with them is worth it. vi PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………………………………. i APPROVAL PAGE ………………………………………………………………………... ii DEFENSE APPROVAL PAGE …………………………………………………………… iii STATEMENT OF WORK ORIGINALITY ………………………………………………. iv LEMBAR PERNYATAAN UNTUK PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH ... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT …………………………………………………………………. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………………………... vii LIST OF TABLES …………………………………………………………………………. xi LIST OF FIGURES ………………………………………………………………………... xii LIST OF APPENDICES …………………………………………………………………… xiii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ……………………………………………………………… xiv ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………………... xv ABSTRAK …………………………………………………………………………………. xvi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………… 1 A. Background of the Study …………………………………………………………... 1 B. Problem Limitation ………………………………………………………………… 5 C. Problem Formulation ………………………………………………………………. 6 D. Research Goals …………………………………………………………………...... 7 E. Benefits of the Study ……………………………………………………………….. 8 CHAPTER II THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ………………………………………… 9 A. Theoretical Reviews ……………………………………………………………...... 9 vii PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 1. Language …………………………………………………………………… 1 2. Speech Organs ………………………………………………………………... 11 3. Speech Production ……………………………………………………………. 12 a. Speech Sounds Production as Proposed by Giegerich ……………………... 13 1) The Initiation Process …………………………………………………... 14 2) The Phonation Process …………………………………………………. 15 a) The Larynx ………………………………………………………….. 16 b) Modification to Airstream by the Larynx…………………………… 17 3) The Oro-Nasal Process …………………………………………………. 21 4) The Articulation Process ……………………………………………….. 22 a) The Vocal Tract ……………………………………………………... 22 b) Modification to Airstream by the Vocal Tract……………………… 23 5) The Interaction of the Four Sequential Events …………………………. 25 b. Speech Production Mechanism as Proposed by Ladefoged and Johnson ….. 26 1) The Airstream Process ………………………………………………… 26 2) The Phonation Process …………………………………………………. 28 a) Phonation of Javanese Plosives ……………………………………... 33 b) Phonation of English Plosives ………………………………………. 37 c) Distribution of Voicing ……………………………………………… 42 3) The Articulatory Process …..…………………………………………… 48 a) Manner of Articulation ……………………………………………… 48 b) Place of Articulation ………………………………………………… 49 viii PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 4. Brunelle’s Arguments Regarding Realization of Phonemic Contrast between Javanese Lax and Tense Plosives …………………………………………….. 52 5. Comparison and Contrast of English – Javanese Plosives …………………… 58 6. Intelligibility ………………………………………………………………….. 61 B. Theoretical Framework …………………………………………………………. 66 CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ……………………………………….. 67 A. Data of the Study and Data Source …………………………………………… 67 B. Approach ……………………………………………………………………… 69 C. Method of the Study …………………………………………………………….. 69 1. Data Collection ………...…………………………………………………….. 70 2. Data Analysis ………………………………………………………………… 73 CHAPTER IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ……………………………………… 77 A. Results ………………………………………………………………………… 77 1. Onset F1 frequency …………………………………………………………... 77 2. VOT length …………………………………………………………………... 80 3. Duration of voiced sound preceding word-final plosive ……………………... 82 B. Discussion ………………………………………………………………………. 83 1. Parameters in the study ………………………………………………………. 83 2. Javanese informants ………………………………………………………….. 86 3. The characteristics of English plosives produced by Javanese informants ….. 90 a. English plosive in word-initial position ……………………………………. 91 1) Reduction in F1 frequency ……………………………………………... 92 ix PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 2) Perceived aspiration ……………………………………………………. 98 3) Prevoicing ……………………………………………………………… 124 b. Duration of voiced sound preceding word-final plosives ………………….. 133 4. The plausibility of plosives produced by Javanese informants to be recognized as English ………………………………………………………… 140 CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ……………………… 146 A. Conclusions …………………………………………………………………….. 146 B. Recommendations ………………………………………………………………. 148 REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………………. 150 APPENDICES …………………………………………………………………………. 154 x PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Ladefoged and Maddieson’s continuum of phonation types ………………. 32 Table 2. English-Javanese Plosives …………………………………………………. 60 Table 3. Range of F1 frequencies ………………………………………………….... 78 Table 4. Comparison of F1 frequencies at the onset of vowel following word-initial voiceless-voiced plosives …………………………………………………... 79 Table 5. Comparison of VOT lengths of voiceless-voiced plosives ………………... 82 Table 6. Comparison of duration of voiced sound preceding final plosives ………... 83 Table 7. Description of F1 frequency of vowel following voiced plosive as compared to F1 of the same vowel following the corresponding voiceless plosive ..………….…………………………………………………………. 93 Table 8. Comparison of VOT length of word-initial voiceless-voiced plosives ……. 99 Table 9. Word pairs reflecting expected realization of contrast between voiced- voiceless plosive in word-initial position ………………………………….. 111 Table 10. Differences in duration of vowel occurring before word-final plosives …… 134 xi PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. [b̥ ɑ] – [pɑ] ………………………………………………………………. 55 Figure 2. [˳d̪ ɑ] – [t̪ɑ] ………………………………………………………………. 56 Figure 3. [ɖ,̥ɔ] – [ʈɔ] ………………………………………………………………. 57 Figure 4. [g̥ ɑ] – [kɑ] ………………………………………………………………. 57 Figure 5. Range of intelligibility levels …………………………………………. 68 Figure 6. VOT lengths of voiceless and voiced plosives ………………………… 81 Figure 7. Comparison of formants frequency reduction ………………………… 97 Figure 8. VOT of word-initial /p/ …………………………………………………. 116 Figure 9. VOT of word-initial /t/ …………………………………………………. 117 Figure 10. VOT of word-initial /k/ …………………………………………………. 119 Figure 11. The pair pull – bull by Mita ……………………………………………. 127 Figure 12. Gap in duration of vowel preceding word-final bilabials ………………. 139 Figure 13. Empirical perception of degree of intelligibility by Kristen and Mum …. 143 Figure 14. Mean values of intelligibility as perceived by Kristen ………………….. 144 xii PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1. Initially-positioned /p/ and /b/ ……………………………………… 154 Appendix 2. Group 3: Finally-positioned /p/ and /b/ ……………………………. 155 Appendix 3. Group 4: Initially-positioned /t/ and /d/ …………………………….. 157 Appendix 4. Group 6: Finally-positioned /t/ and /d/ ……………………………… 159 Appendix 5. Group 7: Initially-positioned /k/ and /g/ ……………………………. 161 Appendix 6. Group 9: Finally-positioned /k and /g/ ……………………………… 162 Appendix 7. Gap in duration of vowel preceding final alveolars ………………… 164 Appendix 8. Gap in duration of vowel preceding final velars ……………………. 164 Appendix 9. General impression of levels of intelligibility as perceived by Kristen and Mum ……………………………………………………………… 164 Appendix 10. Levels of intelligibility as perceived by Kristen ……………………… 165 Appendix 11. Mita’s TOEFL Certificate …………………………………………….. 165 Appendix 12. Yudi’s TOEFL Certificate …………………………………………….. 166 Appendix 13. Doni’s TOEFL Certificate …………………………………………….. 166 Appendix 14. Nurul’s TOEFL Certificate ………………………..…………………. 166 Appendix 15. Adi’s TOEFL Certificate ………………………..…………………….. 167 Appendix 16. Nana’s TOEFL Certificate ………………………..…………………... 167 xiii PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS F1 : First Formant VOT : Voice Onset Time xiv PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI ABSTRACT Vincentius Tangguh Atyanto Nugroho. 2016. The Characteristics and Intelligibility of English Plosives Produced by Javanese Speakers, Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in English Language Studies, Sanata Dharma University. It is a matter of fact that sound production of English as L2 is affected by an extent of transfer from the phonological rules of L1 already set firmly within the speaker. In the case of Javanese speakers, their production of English indicates transfer from Javanese, a language over which they have already acquired native mastery. The study attempted to understand the acoustic characteristics of English
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