Post on 01-Mar-2023
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RESEARCH PROPOSAL
TORAJANESE PRONUNCIATION OF ENGLISH SOUNDS
By:
Meldianus Sopati
NIM: 09220055
Ottovianus Tandilangi
NIM: 09220053
FAKULTAS KEGURURAN DAN ILMU PENDIDIKAN
UNIVERSITAS KLABAT
December, 2014
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
People communicate everywhere around the globe. When they communicate,
most of the time they use language as the main tool. People use language to express their
ideas and feelings. Language is only parts of communication tools but these two cannot
be separated from each other. Communication is the process where people interact with
other people in their social life and transfer message or information. One factor that
determines the success of communication is the correct pronunciation. Sakul (2011)
defined pronunciation as, “the way people produce a sound of language in a certain
language” (p.1). In addition, Roach (2000) added that, different people that use different
accents and the differences can be in geographical places, social classes, ages and also
educational backgrounds.
Producing correct sound in pronunciation is important to deliver a clear message
in communication. Derwing and Munro (2005) (cited in Nation & Newton, 2009.)
agreed with the above statement when they said that, "having good pronunciation of the
language can help in normal communication, particularly intelligibility" (P. 75). But,
however some obstacle that learner face in produce another of English sound system,
they found that mother tongue influence their pronunciation in English, as the same
manner as sound in communication playing important thing because Inaccurate of
pronounce sound can lead to misunderstanding as the (Brown, 2007) (cited in Fatemi,
Sobhani, & Abolhassani, 2012) said breakdown in communication sometimes as the
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result of incorrect on producing sound. That is why produce correct sound is very
essential in communication.
Background of the study
As the biggest country in Southeast Asia, Indonesia has 17.000 islands as The
Embassy of The Republic of Indonesia Washington DC (2014) state that “ Indonesia is a
vast equatorial archipeago „[archipelago]‟ of 17,000 islands extending 5,150 kilometers
(3,200 miles) east to west, between the Indian and Pacific Oceans in Southeast
Asia”(para, 9). The widespread of this country from Sabang in the West to Merauke in
the East makes this nation to have hundreds of tribes as Maulana (2013) said that, “more
than 200 tribes that sporadically spreads in more than 1.700 islands”. Each tribe speaks
different language and has its own native language properties. Even when people from
specific tribe meets the one from different tribe and speak Bahasa Indonesia as their
national language, miscommunication sometimes occurs, for example when the meaning
is „where are you from?‟ the Torajanese will say in Bahasa Indonesia, „Kita darimana?‟
while for Manadonese, the meaning of „kita‟ is me or „saya.‟ Another example due to
pronunciation aspect, Torajanese is having problems of pronouncing „f‟ sound and
consequently, they will say „five‟ for /paip/, beautiful for /byutipul/.
As a country with so many tribes, Indonesian people speak with different accents.
When speaking, one can tell where a person comes from or from what tribe he or she
belongs to only by listening to the accent. The same cases also occur when Indonesian
people who learn English as a second language sometimes carried over their accent.
Torajanese as one of the tribal languages in Indonesia is spoken by 224.852 people in
Northern part of South Sulawesi Province. The people in Toraja use Torajanese as their
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main language in their social communication. Torajanese accent is different from
another tribal language in Indonesia and of course it is also different with English. The
difference of accent between Torajanese and English can affects students to study
English. The above statement agrees with Odlin (1989) when he stated that the
“similarities and differences between languages (the target language and any other
language which one has acquired previously) influence the overall performance level of
learners in learning the target language” (as cited in Rehman, Khan, & Bukhari. p.1).
There are many factors that contribute to students‟ difficulties to master the English as
the target language and one of them is pronunciation problem.
English in Indonesia has become a compulsory subject taught from the lowest
level of education until the highest level, in this case, university. Even some university
apply bilingual medium of communication: English and Indonesia in their campuses. As
a bilingual campus, Universitas Klabat (Unklab) also uses English as well as Indonesian
in campus life. Prospectus students coming from different parts of Indonesia to study in
Unklab and one of the reason is because they want to speak and learn English. These
native Indonesian, with the background of their own native language wish expect to be
able to speak English like native speaker but they are often find difficulties and
sometimes face failure, some students failed to realize that the target of learning another
language is mastery of all of the subsystems of the language, like Phonology,
Morphology, Syntax, and Vocabulary.
Like other students from different parts of Indonesia, some Torajanese students
tend to have difficulty in producing English sounds because there are several English
sounds, consonants and vowels that which are not exist in Torajanese, for example when
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Torajanese students try to pronounce sound /ə/ they almost pronounce with /ɛ/ because
sound /ə/ isn‟t in Torajanese. This mispronunciation will of course lead to
mispronunciations which will eventually effects in miscommunication breakdowns.
Based on the facts mentioned above, the researchers are attracting to study the
subsystem of phonology, in this case, the Torajanese freshmen mispronunciation of the
production of on some English sound. Torajanese and English are different in
phonological features and the above fact is supported by Sloat, Taylor, and Hoard (1978)
when they argued that every language in the world has its own sound system and is
different from the other. There are none of the two languages which have exactly the
same.
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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter presents the review of theory and research related to the study. The
first contains the related literature of English pronunciation, English alphabets: vowels
and consonants, and the Torajanese language that include Toraja-Sa‟dan alphabet.
English pronunciation
As define of pronunciation Yates and Zielinsky (2009) pronunciation is the way
people produce sound in communication to transfer the meaning. Pronunciation is
important to communicate and to be understood, as Burns and Claire (2012) state that,
even though learner is good in grammar, it‟s better to be understood if they good in
pronunciation. Listener understood what was said by the speaker is far more essential
therefore that the speaker should able to pronounce speech sounds that intelligible, as in
the pronunciation of English (Burns, 2003). On the other hand Gilankjani ( 2012) said
that “Pronunciation is a set of habits of producing sounds” (p.1). Cook (1996) argue that
“learning to pronounce a second language means building up new pronunciation habits
and overcoming the bias of the first language” (cited by Aarif, Isnin, & Jusoh). It shows
that the learner needs to practice again and again until the learner is familiar with sound
as the sounds is provided under the section of the language, and generally speech sounds
divided into two types, vowel and consonants sound, as English have 12 vowels, 8
diphthongs and 24 consonants.
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Vowel Sounds
“Vowel are produced when the passage of the air from the larynx to the lips is
relaively unrestriced” Deterding & Poedjosoedarmo, 1998, p. 15). Table 2.1 below
shows the movement of English vowels.
English vowels: General America (GA)
Table 2.1. English short and long vowel alphabet
The long vowel of GA The short vowel of GA
/i:/ heat /I/ hit
/ɜ:/ heat I/ hit
/ɔ:/ port /e/ bet
/ɑ:/ part /ə/ about
/u:/ cool /æ/ bat
/ʌ/ but
/ʊ/ cook
Vowel quality is classified in three-term systems, and they are: 1). Open/close:
vowel produced with the jaw lowered is called open vowel, 2). Front/back: vowel
produced with the tongue is pushed a little further forward/ toward the front or bunched
at the back of the mouth and, 3). Rounded/unrounded: vowel produced by spreading or
pursing/ protruding the lips.
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English consonants:
English has 24 consonant classified according to their respective place of
articulation, manner of articulation, voicing, voiced or voiceless.
English Consonants in terms of phonetics:
Table 2. 2. English IPA chart (from: www.tuninst.net)
Bil
abia
l
Lab
io-
den
tal
Den
tal
Alv
eola
r
Ret
rofl
ex
Post
-
alveo
lar
Pal
atal
Vel
ar
glo
ttal
Plosives p b t d k g
Affricative
s
ʧ ʤ
fricatives f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ
nasal m N ƞ h
Lateral L
Glides w r J
Place of articulation
Based on place of articulation, consonants are grouped into the followings:
Lips: Bilabial consonants /p, b, m, w/
Lips and teeth: Labiodentals consonants: /f, v/
Teeth: dental consonants /θ/ , ð/
Alveolar ridge: Alveolar consonants /t, d, s, z, n, l/
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Central plate: Post alveolar consonants / ʃ /, ʒ, r, tʃ, dʒ/
Central plate : palatal consonant / j /
Velum (or soft palate): Velar consonants /k, g, ŋ /
Glottis: Glottal fricative /h/
Manner of articulation
The process by which the moving column of air is shaped is called the manner of
articulation. For English, these are:
Stops/Plosive: /p, t, k, b, d, g/
Fricatives: /f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, h/
Affricates: / tʃ, dʒ/
Nasals: /m, n, ŋ/ (sometimes called “nasal stops”)
Lateral Approximant: / l /
Approximant: /w, r, j/
Toraja vernacular
One of the tribes in Indonesia is the Toraja Tribe with their mother language
known as Bahasa Toraja or Toraja language. Toraja language is the dominant language
spoken in Torajanese, a region located in the highland, in the northern part of South
Sulawesi Province. The Toraja Sa'dan is the main language dialect. Sa'dan Toraja
dialects used in some areas, such as Makale (Tallulembangna), Rantepao (Kesu'), and the
West Toraja (Toraja West, Mappa-Pana). Toraja-Sa'dan language is included in the
“Malayo-Polynesian language of the Austronesian” (Pangala, 2012). Toraja-Sa‟dan is
an Austronesian language of West Sulawesi, Indonesia (Wikipedia). Toraja-Sa'dan
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language is one of the languages spoken in the area surrounding Tana Toraja, South
Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Although Indonesian language is the official language that is spoken in the
community, all elementary schools in Tana Toraja teach Toraja vernacular. Indonesian
language overwhelmed by the whole Toraja society whether young and old. This is
because the effect of the spread of Christianity that use Indonesian as media in delivering
the religious messages.
Toraja Sa'dan dialect is similar to the Batak, fast and loud in speaking, they talk
like people screaming, probably because the Toraja area is mountains so they have to
speak loudly so that people who are invited talk across or down below could be heard.
Torajanese has its own phonology. Sloat, Taylor, and Hoard, 1978) state that
“phonology is the science of speech sounds and sound patterns” (p.1). Toraja language
has 21 sounds alphabets of language (phonemes). It has 5 vowel sounds: a, i, u, e, o. and
17 consonant sounds, namely: b, d, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, ng, ', p, r, s, t, w, y. (retrieved from:
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/torajasadan.htm)
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Toraja Sa'dan Alphabet
Table 2.3.Toraja Sa‟dan Alphabet (from:www.omniglot.com/writing/torajasadan.htm)
Vowels
A e I o u
[a] [ɛ] [i] [ɔ] [u]
Consonants
B d G k L m n ng
[b] [d] [g] [k] [l] [m] [n] [ŋ]
P r S t W y ʔ
[p] [r] [s] [t] [w] [j] [ʔ]
Vowels
/a/ – ah. It has the sound of “a” as in Toraja “male” (go), and “Ha!, father” in English.
/e/ – e, stressed “e” as in Toraja “den” (there are/is), and “met, set” in English.
/i/ – ee, Has the sound of “i” as in Toraja “iko”(you), and “in, bee” in English .
/o/ – oh. Has the sound of “o” as in Toraja “oto” (mobil), and “hot, know” in English.
/u/ – oo. Has the sound of “u” as in Toraja “tau” (people), and “put, sue” in English.
Consonants
/b/ – be, Has the sound of “b” as in Toraja “banua” (house), and “baby” in English.
/d/ – de, Has the sound of “d” as in Toraja “dassi” (bird), and “dance” in English.
/g/ – ge. Has the sound of “g” as in Toraja “gandang” (drum), and “get” in English.
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/k/ – ka, but short. Like in English, except that in final position it is “unreleased”
(glottal stop). As in Toraja “kumande” (eat), and “sink” in English.
/l/ – el, Has the sound of “l” as in Toraja “lemo” (orange fruit), and “real” in English.
/m/ – em, Has the sound of “m” as in Toraja “mabongi” (night), and “made” in
English.
/n/ – en, Has the sound of “n” as in Toraja “kande” (food), and “negative” in English.
/p/ – pe, Has the sound of “p” as in Toraja “pao” (mango”), and “pay” in English.
/r/ – air. This letter is always sounded, no matter where it occurs. It is lightly rolled
“r”, not the American “r”. as in Toraja “kadera” (chair).
/s/ – ess, Has the sound of “s” as in Toraja “sanga” (name), and “snake” in English.
/t/ – te, Has the sound of “t” as in Toraja “tanta” (aunt), and “tourist” in English.
/w/ – we, Has the sound of “w” as in Toraja “wai” (water), and “way”. in English.
/y/ – ye, Has the sound of “y” as in Toraja “mentoyang” (hanging), and “yellow” in
English.
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Table 2.4. Comparison of English vs Torajanese vowels and consonants sounds
Vowels Consonants
English Toraja English Toraja
/i:/ /i/ /p/ /p/
/ɜ:/ /ɜ/ /b/ /b/
/ɔ:/ /ɔ/ /t/ /t/
/ɑ:/ /a/ /d/ /d/
/u:/ /u/ /k/ /k/
/I/ - /g/ /g/
/ɒ/ - /s/ /s/
/e/ - /m/ /m/
/ə/ - /n/ /n/
/æ/ - / ŋ/ / ŋ/
/æ/ - /h/ /h/
/ʌ/ - /l/ /l/
/ʊ/ - /w/ /w/
/r/ /r/
/j/ /j/
/ʧ/ -
/ʤ/ -
/f/ -
/v/ -
/θ/ -
/ð/ -
/z/ -
/ʃ/ -
/ʒ/ -
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From the table above can be found that Toraja people cannot pronounce some
English sounds because there are some English sound doesn‟t exist in Torajanese
alphabet. The pronunciation of the Toraja language is the same as Indonesian. However,
some of the graphemes do not exist in the Toraja language (c, f, v, x, z). On the other
hand it is very common in Toraja that, unlike in Indonesian, letters are doubled (e.g. r, k,
l). The Toraja language also distinguished itself with its utilization of the glottal stop,
which is indicated in the text by an apostrophe (e.g. Sa‟dan, ambe‟ (father), tae'
(no/nothing) kantoro' (office) etc.). The absence of some voices in the system of Toraja
language causing the Toraja people difficult to pronounce the sound and replace it with
other sounds that are considered the same or close, for example /c/ become /s/, in
Indonesian “baca (read)” become “basa”. Sound /f/ and /v/ become /p/ in “fanatik
(fanatic)” becomes “panatik”, “fondasi (foundation)” becomes “pondasi”. Sound /v/ in
“vitamin” becomes “pitamin”
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