EFL LEARNERS’ PHONOLOGICAL INTERFERENCE OF ENGLISH ARTICULATION

Ambalegin1 Universitas Putera Batam, Batam, Indonesia [email protected]

Fasaaro Hulu2 Universitas Putera Batam, Batam, Indonesia [email protected]

Abstract This research investigated the mispronunciation of Putera Batam University EFL learners by adapting the standard of (RP) and the factors of English and mispronunciation. This descriptive qualitative research applied observational method with participatory technique in collecting data, and articulatory identity method in analyzing the data. The English mispronunciation was found in the EFL learners‟ English pronunciation. The sounds /ð/, /θ/, /th/, /z/, /r/, /ʃ/, /ʧ/, /ʤ/, /nj/, and consonant-closed sound of /k/ were pronounced incorrectly. The consonant sound /ð/ was pronounced as /d/, /θ/ as /t/, /th/ as /t/, /z/as /ɉ/, /r/ as /ɾ/, /ʃ/ as /s/, /ʧ/ as /s/, /ʤ/ as /d/, and /nj/ is pronounced as /ɲ/. Consonant-closed syllable sound of /k/ is articulated as /Ɂ/. The sounds /ə/ and /æ/ were pronounced incorrectly as /e/ and the sound /eɪ/ were pronounced incorrectly as /e/. These mispronunciation phenomena were caused by some factors based on their background. The factors were; the mother tongue interference (native ), the differences between Indonesian and English sound systems (phonetic ability), the educational background, and the environmental background (amount of exposure).

Keywords: consonants, mispronunciation, Received Pronunciation (RP), vowels

1. INTRODUCTION English is taught as a foreign language Speaking foreign language has been in schools with Standard English. Standard sighted as the most demanding of the four English is generally used in the news, media, skills. For the most people, speaking ability is and in literary works. Standard English is related to knowing the language since sometimes used as a cover term for all speaking is the most fundamental principle of standard varieties of English such as spelling, the human communication (Celce-Murcia, vocabulary, grammar, and particularly 2001). What makes speaking second or pronunciation. Learning pronunciation foreign language difficult? Many of SL or FL possess the Received Pronunciation (RP). RP speakers were shocked when they used their becomes more and more widely spoken SL or FL for the first time in the real accents in formal schools. But nowadays interaction. Brown (2007) stated that American English (AE) exposes to a lot of speaking is seen as the central skill, the he TV programs, in films, in literature more than agreed that speaking is the integration of British English (BE). Nevertheless AE and many subsystems to make speaking a second BE are not too separated . Each or foreign language and becomes formidable area of English speaking has developed its task for language learners yet for many own special characteristics, e.g. vocabulary people. In oral way all elements must be and pronunciation. involved, according to Harris (as cited in

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Ambalegin, Suhardianto, & Kaprawi, 2017), mother tongue or native language as a home pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency, language will form the speaker‟s speech and comprehension are the basic important organ system as well as the native-accent and elements of speaking. mother tongue-accent (Ambalegin & Suryani, Hinofotis and Baily (as cited in 2018). Ambalegin & Arianto, 2018) said that neither EFL students who learned English vocabulary nor grammar makes ESL/EFL faced difficulties in speaking English. learners faulty but pronunciation is in Pronunciation is the important skill in communication process. EFL students must speaking English (Gilakjani as cited in Lin, concern pronunciation as one of the top 2014). Pronunciation brings a meaningful priorities (Davis as cited in Ambalegin & instruction in teaching English as FL. Arianto, 2019). Fraser (as cited in Gilakjani, Problem in pronouncing weakens the 2016) mentioned that English-spoken ability communicative competence. However, many includes vocabulary, grammar, and of university students lack sufficient pragmatic, etc. of which pronunciation is far proficiency in pronouncing even if English is from the most important, and she argued that taught since elementary level. Needless to with a good pronunciation, a speaker is say, teaching correct pronunciation intelligibly drives away from the errors; poor emphasizes to acknowledge errors in pronunciation, English difficult pronunciation and correct them in order to understanding, despite accuracy in other improve the ability of students‟ areas. pronunciation. Teaching pronunciation is Having had experience in teaching fundamentally important for the EFL pronunciation to EFL first semester learners learners. Teaching pronunciation is focused at Putera Batam University, whose students on the segmental features and stress and are able to speak Indonesian from some intonation. However, many teaching ethnicities such as Batak Toba-nese and materials still do not make clear that Karonese (North Sumatera), Javanese (Java), pronunciation is just one tiny piece of the Minangnese (West Sumatera), Malay whole course credits. Seidlhofer (as cited in (Kepulauan Riau), Oki (Palembang), Kemak Murcia, 2001) clearly said that pronunciation and Marae (East Nusa Tenggara), Buginese never ends itself but a means of negotiating and Makassarese (South Sulawesi), and meaning in discourse, embedded in Chinese experience difficulty in pronouncing sociocultural and interpersonal contexts. English sounds such as the combination of Pronunciation instruction needs to be taught , the end sound of , and the end as communicative interaction along with sound /k/. Experiencing the English other aspects of spoken discourse such as pronunciation difficulties made by the EFL pragmatic meaning and nonverbal learners, it investigated the incorrect English communication. pronunciation and the factors of incorrect Allen (as cited in Hakim, 2012) stated English pronunciation made by the EFL that pronunciation has a big contribution for students. better English speaking. Learning pronunciation is not as simple as a process of 2. LITERATURE REVIEW memorizing a number of items that can be 2.1 Vowels, , Triphthongs, and mapped on to mother tongue. Indonesia has a Consonants lot of mother tongues that also interfere other 1. Vowels languages‟ pronunciation. By the use of

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Low (2015) described that vowels are Roach (2012) stated that triphthongs the sound production of with no obstruction have the most complicated vowel sounds as in the vocal tract. According to Kelly (2004), they are difficult to be articulated, and there are three categories of vowel sounds recognized. A triphthong is a collaboration of based on the characteristics of the three vowel sounds where tongue rapidly and articulation; closed vowel sounds (/i:/ /ɪ/ /ʊ/ uninterruptedly moves away from first vowel /u:/), sounds (/e/ /ə/ /з:/ /ͻ:/), and articulation to another vowel articulation, open vowel sounds (/æ/ /ʌ/ /ɑ:/ /ɒ/). then to a third vowel. Roach (2012) listed the a. triphthongs with five close diphthongs with Vowel length is important in English schwa /ə/ eɪə (as in mayor, crayon), aɪə (as in pronunciation to distinct feature in the choir, buyer), ɔɪə (as in loyal, royal), əʊə (as language. this as /ðis/ and these as /ði:s/ in lower, mower), and aʊə (as in flower, experience different meaning due to the coward). different vowel sound length. Colon [;] marks 4. Consonants the long vowels (McMahon, 2002). A consonant is produced by a partial b. Reduced Vowel or complete close of vocal tract (Finegan, There are some letters pronounced 2015). Speech sound is able to be silently (Okeke, 2008). build is pronounced characterized based on the articulatory as /bIld/ that there is no pronounced. properties. The consonants are articulated in Vowels are able to be omitted in some three characteristics: voicing, place of contexts because some extended following articulation, and (Low, syllabic consonant /r/, /l/, /n/ in the syllable 2015). Completely, Low (2015) and Yule absorb the vowel sound such as recruit as (2014) described three term labels describing /rIkrʊt/, bottle as /bɒtl/, and minute as /mInIt/. the main characteristic. c. Nasalization a. Voicing Nasalized vowels are indicated by a It can be heard by differentiating tilde (~) marked above the vowels [ȇ] [ȗ]. between [t] and [d]. When /d/ and /t/ are Vowels are able to be nasalized when air pronounced, the position of tongue within the passes through the nasal cavity. mouth is the same, but these sounds are 2. Diphthongs different from the vibration in the larynx There are three categories of when pronounces /d/ that it is called voicing diphthong sounds based on the characteristics (Low, 2015). of the articulation; centering diphthongs (/ɪə/ b. /ʊə/ /eə/), closing diphthong ending in /ɪ/ (/eɪ/ Place of articulation produced /ͻɪ/ /aɪ/), and closing diphthong ending in /ʊ/ different sounds due to the airflow in the lips, (/əʊ/ /ʌʊ/). oral and nasal cavity, pharynx, and glottis Finegan (2015) stated that diphthong (Low, 2015). According to Yule (as cited in is produced when the tongue starts producing Al-Zayed, 2017), the seven kinds place of vowel in one place and glides to another. articulation; bilabials, labiodentals, dentals, Kelly (as cited in Ambalegin & Arianto, alveolar, palatal, velar, and glottal are seen 2018) agreed that diphthong is the below. combination of two vowels. He cleared that 1. Bilabials the tongue glides from one vowel articulation The sound is articulated with upper and to another vowel position to produced lower lips such as symbol [p] put diphthongs. (voiceless /p/), symbol [b] but (voiced 3. Triphthongs /b/), and symbol [m] may (voiced /m/).

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Symbol [w] is bilabial in way, walk, velar because the air flows through nasal world. cavity. 7. Glottals Glottal is pronounced with no tongue and 2. Labiodentals other parts of the mouth actively. /h/ The sound is articulated with upper teeth occurs in home, hey, whose, who. [h] is and the lower lip such as symbol [f] fat, voiceless glottal. Glottis is between vocal symbols [p] photo (voiceless /f/), and folds in larynx. When the glottis opens symbol [v] vat (voiced /v/) and safe, and the air passes out of the mouth cough and save (the final sounds /f/ and freely, /h/ is produced. /v/). c. Manner of Articulation 3. Dentals Manner of articulation is how The position of tongue tip behind upper consonants pronounced. Yule (as cited in front teeth pronounces dental sound. Maiza, 2014) mentioned that manner of Think and teeth are voiceless dentals articulation in consonants consist of stops, symbolized by theta /θ/. The, there, then, affricative, nasal, liquid, and glides feather are voiced dental symbolized by which stated below. /ð/ (“eth”). 1. Stops 4. Alveolars Stop or is articulated by blocking Front tongue on the alveolar ridge or stopping effect of the air stream. produces alveolars such as tip, deep, say, Phonemes [b, d, g, k, p, t] are produced by zoo and not. /t/ and /s/ are voiceless stopping of the air stream and letting it go whereas /z/, /n/, and /d/ are voiced. /l/ in unexpectedly. like and light and /r/ in right and run are 2. Affricative other alveolars. The combination of stops and 5. Palatals (friction) produces voiceless /ʧ/ A hard part in the mouth roof is behind and voiced affricates /ʤ/. the alveolar ridge. Front tongue and hard 3. Nasal palate produces palatals or alveo- The position of velum is lowered touching palatals. shy and catch are voiceless the tongue back and the air streams, finally palatals. sh is symbolized as [ʃ] and ch is the air flows out through the nose to symbolized as [ʧ]. Measure is voiced produce voiced nasals /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/. palatals symbolized as [ʒ]. Badge is also 4. Liquid voiced palatals symbolized as [ʤ]. [j] is The air flows around the sides of the the other voiced palatal such as yes and tongue as the tongue tip touches the young. alveolar ridge. It pronounces voiced 6. Velars liquids in /r/ and lateral voiced liquid /l/. Beyond the hard palate, soft palate or 5. Fricative velum is at the mouth roof. Back of the /f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ/ are pronounced when tongue against the velum produces the air stream is almost blocked and air is velars. A voiceless velar is symbolized as pushed through the very narrow opening. [k] such as kind, come, and queen. A Fricatives occur when there is a friction as voiced velar is heard in good, game, and the air is pushed through. ghost symbolized as [ɡ]. sing is 6. Glides represented by [ŋ]. [ŋ] is nasal voiced The voiced glides are /w/ and /j/. They are also semi-vowels because they can act as

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vowel /i/ and /ʊ/. Tongue glides to or from It was claimed that factors such as a the vowels‟ position when glide is person‟s „sense of identity‟ and feelings of pronounced. „group affiliation‟ are strong determiners 2.2 Factors Affecting Pronunciation of the acquisition of accurate Carter & Nunan (2001) said that mother pronunciation of a foreign language. tongue clearly influences on learning L2 3. RESEARCH METHOD pronunciation, while mother tongue-like This qualitative-descriptive research accent is interfering the English (Creswell, 2012) used the competence in pronunciation, phonology performs one‟s observation method and participatory knowledge of the sound system of a technique (Sudaryanto, 2015) in collecting language, then it concerns with a data. The data were taken by interviewing, competence. noting, and recording. The data were Kenworthy (1987, pp. 4-7) stated that analyzed by identification the EFL learners‟ factors that affect pronunciation are shown as pronunciation. The sounds produced by the follows. EFL learners were explained related to a. The Native Language articulatory properties and place of The more different the native language articulation in the vocal tract for the sounds characteristics from English, the consonants and the anatomy of the vowels. more difficult someone pronounces Then, the sounds were analyzed to match English. based on Oxford dictionary (RP). Finally, the b. The Age Factor sounds pronounced incorrectly were This is a contrastive analysis. Some identified to find out the mispronunciation of researchers concluded that age influences phonetic articulation. The English sound the accuracy of a learner‟s pronunciation; mispronunciation was the final result for the others argued that age does not EFL learners English pronunciation interference in pronouncing foreign difficulties. This analysis applied identity sounds. method in term of articulatory phonetic c. Amount of Exposure identity (Sudaryanto, 2015). The EFL It is showing to view this simply as a learners‟ background taken from the deep matter of whether the speaker lives in an interview was the information to draw the English-speaking country or not. If this is factor influencing the English pronunciation the case, then the speaker is „surrounded‟ difficulties. by English and this constant exposure should affect pronunciation skills. 4. RESULT AND DISCUSSION d. Phonetic Ability There were 41 first semester EFL This skill has been variously termed learners taking the pronunciation class. There „aptitude for oral mimicry‟, „phonetic were 11 ethnics which brought their own coding ability‟ or „auditory discrimination characteristics. But 9 students have stayed in ability‟. Researchers have designed tests Batam as the residents. Their home-language which measure this ability and have did not influence their pronunciation. While demonstrated that some people are able to pronouncing the English sounds, the EFL discriminate between two sounds better Learners made some mistakes. Below are the than others, and/or are able to mimic tables the sound pronounced incorrectly by sounds more accurate. the EFL learners. e. Attitude and Identity 4.1 The English Mispronunciation Table 1. The Number of Students’ English Mispronunciation

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Before Practicing After Practicing 24 cake /keIk/ /kek/ /eɪ/ /e/ Soun 25 make /meIk/ /mek/ /eɪ/ /e/ No Percent Percenta 26 bay /beI/ /bɅj/ /eɪ/ /Ʌj/ ds Number Number age (%) ge (%) 1 /ð/ 38 93% 35 93% 2 /θ/ 34 83% 31 76% 4.2 Discussion 3 /t/ 35 85% 30 85% a. Dentals [θ] and [ð] 4 /z/ 25 61% 20 49% /ð/ = /d/ 5 /r/ 31 76% 25 61% /θ/ = /t/ 6 /ʃ/ 30 73% 29 71% /θ/ and /ð/ are produced when the tip tongue 7 /tʃ/ 27 68% 24 59% touches the upper teeth and the air is blocked 8 /ʤ/ 23 56% 22 54% 9 /nj/ 40 98% 35 85% firstly before it is pushed away. Voiceless /θ/ 1 and voiced /ð/ are produced from the letter /k/ 25 61% 22 54% 0 such as think, thank, thing for /θ/ and 1 /ə/ 38 93% 22 54% the, mother, they for /ð/. Indonesian does not 1 have /θ/ and /ð/. Mostly the EFL learners 1 /з:/ 35 85% 5 12% pronounced /θ/ and /ð/ as /t/ and /d/. /t/ and 2 1 /d/ is voiced and voiceless unaspirated- /æ/ 40 98% 38 93% 3 alveolar that is produced in Indonesian. 1 b. Alveolars [th], [z], [r] /eɪ/ 38 93% 31 76% 4 /th/ = /t/ 1 /Iə/ 22 54% 7 17% English is voiceless fricative (aspirated) 5 stop /th/ (Odden, 2005). EFL learners

pronounced as voiceless unaspirated stop Table 2. The EFL Learners’ English /t/. Indonesian does not have /th/ sound. Mispronunciation h Mispr Aspirated [t ] is pronounced with the friction EFL Learners‟ Correct h No Words Standard RP onun- Pronunciation Sounds of air on the tongue. English /t / is produced ciation when tongue tip touched alveolar placed 1 the, /ðe/ /de/ /ð/ /d/ 2 this /ðIs/ /dIs/ /ð/ /d/ behind the canine then the air is released as 3 think, /θIŋk/ /tIŋ/ /θ/ /t/ well as the sound /t/ and /h/ are produced 4 thank /θæŋk/ /teŋ/ /θ/ /t/ aspiratedly. 5 ten /then/ /ten/ /th/ /t/ 6 two /thu:/ /tu/ /th/ /t/ /z/ = /ɉ/ 7 thousand /θʌʊznd/ /tʌuɉen/ /z/ /ɉ/ [z] is an alveolar sound in which the position 8 busy /bIzI/ /bIsI/ /z/ /s/ of front tongue touches the protuberance and 9 easy /i:zI/ /i:ɉI/ /z/ /ɉ/ there is an air friction to produce the fricative 10 reading, /rIdIŋ/ /ɾidiŋ/ /r/ /ɾ/ 11 bar /ba:(r)/ /bɅɾ/ /r/ /ɾ/ sound. For the EFL learners, there is rare to 12 harbour /ha:bə(r)/ /hʌɾbəɾ/ /r/ /ɾ/ find the /z/ sound in their everyday 13 English, /IŋglIʃ/ /IŋglIs/ /ʃ/ /s/ conversation. /ɉ/ is produced to represent the 14 she /ʃI/ /sI/ /ʃ/ /s/ /z/ sound such as in izin = /IzIn/ as /IɉIn/, 15 such, /sʌʧ/ /sʌs/ /ʧ/ /s/ 16 badge /bæʤ/ /bed/ /ʤ/ /d/ zaman = /zʌmʌn/ as / ɉʌmʌn/. 17 continue, /kəntInju:/ /kɒntIɲʊ/ /nj/ /ɲ/ /r/ = /ɾ/ 18 annual /ænjʊəl/ /ɅnʊɅl/ /nj/ /ɲ/ English and Indonesia‟s voiced liquid sounds 19 practice, /præktIs/ /pɾeɁtIs/ /k/ /Ɂ/ are different in pronouncing. The position of 20 pragmat /prægmæt /pɾɅɁmɅtik /g/ /Ɂ/ ic Ik/ / the tongue is hanging in the area of mouth. /stju:d(ə)n /e/ The tongue does not touch any part of 21 Student /stʊden/ /ə/ t/ articulatory organs in oral cavity. While the 22 second /sekənd/ /seken/ /ə/ /e/ 23 take /teIk/ /tek/ /eɪ/ /e/

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/r/ is produced, the air flow trills the tongue. The production sounds of /tʃ/ and /ʤ/ is Then English /r/ is sounded. started from the tip of the tongue touching the The front tongue touches the protuberance alveolar to produce the sound /t/ or /d/ then while pronouncing the Indonesian /ɾ/. The air the plosive is created to produce /c/ and /ʒ/ as flow is blocked by the tongue, then the air well as the air friction over the tongue. flows through the left and right sides of the /nj/ = /ɲ/ tongue. The /r/ is produced while the air flaps English has no [ɲ]. English separates [n] and the tongue. The vibrating sound is clearly [j] while pronouncing such as in /kəntInju:/. heard. EFL learners pronounced continue as The EFL learners pronounced /ɾ/ when /kɒntIɲʊ/. pronouncing /r/. It is caused that there is a /ɲ/ is palatal sound. When the tongue back different position of tongue between native touches the hard palate, the air flow is and EFL learners while pronouncing the blocked by the tongue and flows not through voiced liquid sound. the mouth but the nose. EFL learners could not pronounce the sound [n] and [j] in one c. Palatal [ʃ], [tʃ], [ʤ] [nj] differently separated sound production. EFL /ʃ/ = /s/ learners pronounced [n] and [j] as /ɲ/. [ɲ] is /ʃ/ is a fricative sound that does not exist in one single sound produced when the front EFL learners‟ language sound. /ʃ/ is similar to tongue and palate block the air flow from the /s/. /ʃ/ is the combination of and . lungs then makes the air flow out through the The post-alveolar sound /ʃ/ does not exist in nasal cavity. Indonesian. /ʃ/ is produced when the air flows d. Consonant-closed syllable sound of velar through the tiny hole made by the tongue. [k] and [g] The fricative sound occurs when there is the practice = /præktIs/ = /preɁtIs/ air friction. pragmatic = /prægmætIk/ = pɾɅɁmɅtIk /tʃ/ = /s/ /k/ = /Ɂ/ Voiceless palato-alveolar /tʃ/ is the /g/ = /Ɂ/ combination of [t] and [ʃ]. [t] is voiceless stop [Ɂ] is familiar in EFL learners‟ language. The and [ʃ] is fricative. The combination of voiceless stop and fricative produces consonant-closed syllable sound of [k, g] is voiceless affricative sound. The EFL learners pronounced as /Ɂ/ in EFL learners‟ language. pronounce [tʃ] as /s/ when [tʃ] is positioned in The sound /Ɂ/ influences the EFL learners the final of consonant-closed syllable sound when pronounce sound /k, g/ in the such as in such /sʌtʃ/ as /sʌs/. consonant-closed syllable sound of [k, g] of /ʤ/ = /d/ English words. [Ɂ] does not produce the Voiced post-alveolar affricate /ʤ/ is the sound that functions to stop the previous combination of [d] and [ʒ]. [d] is voiced stop sound and appears in the final of the and [ʒ] is fricative. The combination of consonant-closed syllable sound. When the voiced stop and fricative produces voiced air from the lungs flows to the pharynx, the affricative. air flow is blocked in the glottal a while to EFL learners language has stop [t] and [d] end the sound. [Ɂ] substitutes the sound velar and fricative [ϲ], [s], and plosive [ɉ] but no plosive. affricative. The EFL learners pronounced [ʤ] e. Closed-mid central [ə] as /d/ when it is positioned in the final student = /stju:d(ə)nt/ = /stʊden/ consonant-closed syllable sound. second = /sekənd/ = /seken/ /ə/ = /e/

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The EFL learners pronounce a lax vowel /ə/ vernaculars to communicate with others and as a tense vowel /e/. It is caused some of the their families. EFL learners brought their mother tongue Vernacular accented-stress influences accent into English such as Batak Toba-nese EFL learners while they were speaking and Buginese. Indonesian or foreign language. Subandowo f. Mid-open front unrounded [æ] (2017, pp. 205-206) stated that there are cat = /kæt/ = /ket/ factors influencing while sounding English hat = /hæt/ = /het/ vowels and consonants such as, mother There is no [æ] in EFL learners‟ language. tongue, the concept of interference, mother The sound /æ/ is closed to sound /e/ that it tongue interference, concept of belongs to EFL learners‟ language. [æ] and pronunciation, learning, [e] have the same front position of tongue and speaking ability. because the tongue moves forward. It was found that EFL learners were not g. Closing-diphthong ending with /i/ [eɪ] able to pronounce the sounds /θ/, /ð/, /t/, take = /teɪk/ = /tek/ /z/, /r/, /ʃ, /tʃ/, /ʤ/, /nj/ /ə/, /æ/, and /eI/ cake = /keɪk/ = /kek/ consonant-closed syllable sound of /k/. They bay = /beɪ/ = /bɅɪ/ experienced the mispronunciation of English [eI] is the combination of [e] and [I] that consonants and vowels because of some produces diphthong /eɪ/. In EFL learners‟ factors. The factors are as follows; language, there is no diphthong sound /eI/ a. Mother tongue interference (native between consonants. The EFL learners language) pronounced /eɪ/ as /e/. Besides Indonesian, the EFL learners used 4.3 Factors Affecting Mispronunciation the mother tongue when they Factors influencing the English vowels communicated at home or with their same and consonants mispronunciation were ethnic friends. Thus, it influenced their started from the information of EFL learners‟ pronunciation when they spoke second or background related to the education third language. background, work experience, and language b. Sound system differences of Indonesian acquisition. They were born and grew up in and English (phonetic ability) Indonesia, in some places where Indonesian Indonesian has 24 consonants and 6 and mother tongues are their languages. The vowels meanwhile English has 24 EFL learners spent their study in Indonesia. consonants and 12 vowels, 8 diphthongs, They attended public and private primary and 5 triphthongs. The speech organs of schools and high schools. Then, the educators Indonesians are not prepared to articulate as the ones to transfer the knowledge to the such unfamiliar of English sound systems. EFL learners gave the courses as well as the c. Educational background textbooks given that (Kieffer & Lesaux, The EFL learners spent mostly their study 2012). The ELF learners informed that in Indonesia. They studied mostly in English was not a subject to be concerned. As public primary school in their hometowns English is not targeted as a habit, makes the where English was not learned. They spent EFL learners get problem in learning English their high schools also in their hometown (Nagy, Berninger, & Abbott, 2008) They in public junior and senior high schools. attended at Putera Batam University majoring They learnt English in high schools once of English literature where they did not used in a week for two hours. Thus, English to speak English fully. They sometimes used was not learnt primarily.

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d. Environmental background (amount of REFERENCES exposure) Al-Zayed, N. N. (2017). Non-native The EFL learners have lived in their pronunciation of English: problems and hometown for more than 15 years. solutions. American International Indonesian and vernaculars were used to Journal of Contemporary Research, communicating among them. It made them 7(3), 86–90. Retrieved from have vernacular accented stress. Besides, www.aijcrnet.com their environment did not support the use Ambalegin, & Arianto, T. (2018). English of foreign language or English. It vowels and consonants definitely influenced them to pronounce mispronunciation of the seventh foreign languages or English. president of Republic of Indonesia in his official English speeches and its 5. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION influencing factors. Langauge Literacy , The English mispronunciation was Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and found in the EFL learners‟ English Language Teaching, 2(2), 113–128. pronunciation. The consonant sounds /ð/, /θ/, https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.3074 /th/, /z/, /r/, /ʃ/, /ʧ/, /ʤ/, /nj/, and consonant- 3/ll.v2i2.678 closed syllable sound of /k/ were pronounced Ambalegin, & Arianto, T. (2019). A incorrectly. The vowel sounds /ə/ and /æ/, phonology-based study: English and the diphthong sounds /eɪ/ was pronunciation inconsistency. In The 2nd pronounced incorrectly. These Annual International Conference on mispronunciation phenomena were caused by Language and Literature (AICLL 2019) some factors based on their background. The (pp. 106–124). Medan: KnE Social factors influencing the English vowels and Sciences. consonants mispronunciation of the EFL https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.18502/k learners were mother tongue interference ss.v3i19.4834 (native language), sound systems of Ambalegin, Suhardianto, & Kaprawi, N. Indonesian and English differences (phonetic (2017). Obstacles facing learners in ability), educational background, and speaking English: Non-English teachers‟ environmental background (amount of perspective, Putra Batam School. exposure). Pertanika Journal Social Sciences & Considering the positive effect of Humanities, 25(1), 122. knowing English as one of the skills to Ambalegin, & Suryani, M. S. (2018). Mother enhance the young generation‟s future, the tongue affecting the English vowel basic important elements of English spoken pronounciation of Batak Toba adults. In must be taught professionally to upgrade the AICLL The 1st Annual International stage of English into an advanced level Conference on Language and Literature especially in teaching English articulation. It (pp. 66, 80). Medan: KnE Social was recommended teachers or lecturers to Sciences & Humanities. take an in-depth look at the EFL learners‟ https://doi.org/10.18502/kss.v3i4.1920 difficulties and problems in pronouncing Brown, H. D. (2007). Teaching by principles: English. The knowledge of teachers or An interactive approach to langauge lectures in English pronunciation becomes a pedagogy (3rd ed.). San Francisco, great impact on EFL learners‟ pronunciation USA: Pearson Longman. improvement. Carter, R., & Nunan, D. (2001). The Cambridge to teaching English to

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