The Analysis of Pronouncing Post-Alveolar Fricative Faced by the English Education Students of Tanjungpura University

Abstract

The objective of this research is to describe the percentage of post-alveolar fricative sound pronunciation acceptability among the English Language Education students in  their  sixth  semester  at  the  University  of  Tanjungpura.  The  scope  of  the  study would  be  limited  to  the  comparison  of  the  first  and  second  formants  of  the participants  with  those  of  the  native  speaker,  whose  formants  were  evaluated utilizing  the  PRAAT  software.  The  data  was  gathered  from  a  pronunciation performance test that was conducted via an audio recording procedure. The study involved  a  total  of  15  participants  who  were  categorized  into  three  distinct  ethnic groups,   including   Indonesian   Tionghoa,   Dayak,   and   Malay.   Each   participant pronouncing a set of 20 words, consisting of both voiceless and voiced post-alveolar fricatives.  According  to  the  findings  of  the  study,  1)  the  percentage  of  voiceless post-alveolar  fricative  sounds  that  were  considered ‘Acceptable’ was  40.5%, whereas  the  percentage  of  those  that  were  considered ‘Not  Acceptable’ was 59.5%.,  2)  the  percentage  of ‘Acceptable’ pronunciation  of  voiced  post-alveolar fricative sounds was 42%, while the percentage of those that were ‘Not Acceptable’ was  58%. The  inference  that  can  be  drawn  is  that students  encounter  challenges when attempting to articulate post-alveolar fricative sounds.

HIGHLIGHTS :

• The study revealed that 31% of students exhibited exceptional proficiency in voiceless post-alveolar fricative pronunciation, whereas 33% achieved excellence in voiced pronunciation. This indicates a diverse distribution of skill levels among students.

• The acceptable criteria for pronunciation show that pronunciations that fall within the excellent to fair categories are in agreement with the expectations of native speakers. The correct pronunciation was achieved in around 40.5% of cases for voiceless fricatives and 42% for voiced fricatives, indicating places where pronunciation was considered acceptable.

• A significant number of sixth-semester English Language Education students had obstacles in pronouncing post-alveolar fricatives. The study proposes the implementation of an appropriate educational setting, the development of phonetic learning awareness, and the investigation of curricular enhancements for addressing pronunciation difficulties.