INSTITUT PENDIDIKAN GURU KAMPUS

IPOH
31150 HULU KINTA, PERAK DARUL
RIDZUAN

PROGRAM IJAZAH SARJANA MUDA

PERGURUAN DENGAN KEPUJIAN
(BAHASA INGGERIS PENDIDIKAN RENDAH)
Ambilan Januari 2011
NAME
I/C NUMBER
NAME
I/C NUMBER
NAME
I/C NUMBER
NAME
I/C NUMBER
COURSE
SUBJECT
CODE
LECTURERS NAME
SUBMISSION DATE

: ROGHINI PARAMASIVAM
: 910526-10-5396
: HAMIZAH BINTI JAFFAR
: 910514-06-5550
: HIEW WEI MENG
: 900313-04-5343
: TUAN NURUL ATIKAH BINTI TUAN IDZAWI
: 910518-14-6358
: PISMP BI/LIT/MTSN (J4)
:PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY
: TSL 3104
: EN. AHMAD MASDIL FAZLI BIN MUHAMAD
: 15th SEPTEMBER 2011

INSTITUT PENDIDIKAN GURU

KEMENTERIAN PELAJARAN MALAYSIA

CONTENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Content

Page

REPORT

1- 6

Introduction
The Subjects Details
The Data
Analysis and Discussion of Pronunciation Features
and Problems
Possible Causes for the Pronunciation Problem
Conclusion

REFLECTIONS

7 - 12

BIBLIOGRAPHY

13 - 14

COLLABORATION FORM

15 - 16

APPENDICES
17

1.0 THE SUBJECT

8-16

Name
I/C No
Age
Address

:
:
:
:

Iqmal Hakimi bin Ayoub

981104-08-6701
14 years
Lot 1683, Kampung Tersusun, Batu 7 Lekir,

Nationality
Gender
L1
Ethnic Background
School
Level of proficiency

:
:
:
:
:
:

32020 Sitiawan, Perak.

Malaysian
Male
Malay Language
Malay
SMK Batu Sepuluh Lekir, Sitiawan, Perak.
Good

2.0 THE DATA

2.1 The Reading Passage
The boy opened a jar of peanut butter. He spread the peanut butter onto
a slice of bread. Then he opened the refrigerator and took out a jar of grape jelly.
He spread the jelly on top of the peanut butter. He put the jar back into the
refrigerator. He put another slice of bread on top of the peanut butter and grape
jelly. Now he had a sandwich. He opened the refrigerator again. He poured
himself a big glass of milk, and put the milk back into the refrigerator. He put the
sandwich on a plate. He carried the plate and the glass of milk over to the dining
room table. He sat down. He turned on the TV and took a big bite out of his
sandwich.
2.2 Orthographic
De boy opened a jar of peanut butter. He sprid the peanut butter onto a slice
of brid. Then he opened the refrigerator and took out a jer of grape jelly. He sprid
the jelly on top of the peanut butter. He put the jer back into the refrigerator. He
put another slice of bread on top of the peanut butter and grape jelly. Now he had
a sandwich. He opened the refrigerator agein. He poured himself a big gless of
milk, and put the milk back into the refrigerator. He put the sandwich on a plate.
He carried the plate and the glass of milk over to the dining room table. He sat
down. He turned on the TV and took a big bite out of his sandwich.
2.3 Phonemic Transcription

 b pnd dr v pint bt | hi spred pint btr ntu

slas v bred | | en hi pnd rfrdretr nd tk at dr v rep
deli | hi spred deli n tp v pint bt | hi pt d bk nt
rfrdret | hi pt n slas v bred n tp v pint btr nd rep
deli | na hi hd snwd || hi pnd rfrdretr en | hi pd hm
self b ls v mlk | nd pt mlk bk nt rfrdret || hi pt
snwd n plet | hi krd plet nd l s v m lk v t d n
rum tebl l | hi st da n || hi tnd n telvnl nd t k b bat at v z
snwd |
3.0 ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF PRONUNCIATION FEATURES AND
PROBLEM
3.1 Segmental Aspects
The subject, (Iqmal Hakimi) were asked to read the specified text which
contains the consonants and vowels that were the quite difficult to articulate.
Considering vowels, nobody indicated them as problematic items, possibly due to
a variety of the phonemes in Malay Language.( According to Abdullah Hassan
and Heah, originally there were 19 consonant sounds, six vowel sounds and
three diphthongs, which are /ai/ as in pantai /pantai/, /au/ as in pulau /pulau/
and /oi/ as in sepoi /spoi/ in Malay) The major problem was a closing diphthong /
/ which tended to be wrongly articulated as /ou/. Other mistakes were caused
by the influence of other Malay dialects or foreign languages (American English,
Arabic language) on the student.
Besides that, the subject has also mistakenly read the spread with sprid.
The stress language is also another factor that results in mispronunciation.
English is can be thought of as a stress language, for a number of reasons:In
general, meanings of words are not distinguished by pitch alone. Each word has
its own characteristic stress, or prominence pattern. There is no more than one
highly stressed syllable per word. The rhythm of speech in English is dependent
on the stress patterns of the words. Stress is relatively free. There is no easy
way of predicting where the stress will fall in a word. Learners just have to
memorize

the

stress

patterns

characteristics of vocabulary items.

as

they

memorize

other

phonological

As most students are getting familiar with the pattern of the grapheme ea
with the sound of /i/ like the words of read, beak, bean, mean, so that he will
apply the same stress patterns when he sees one within a word. So the teacher
should have variations of vocabulary with the other sounds that could represent
the grapheme of ea.
3.2 Suprasegmental Aspects
The second part of the analysis focused on various phenomena of
connected speech which create the melody of a language: word and sentence
stress, weak forms and rhythm, assimilation, elision, linking and intonation. As
phoneticians maintain that some phonological processes (such as weak forms,
accentuation, linking, etc) are more vital for foreign learners to be mastered than
others (such as assimilation, juncture, etc.) (Cruttenden, 2001; Roach, 2000), the
major focus was on the difference between function and lexical words, weak and
strong forms of function words and linking of words smoothly into sense groups.
The attention was mainly on reading which would help him sound more fluent.
Due to that, mispronunciation of words and wrong articulation of sounds
occurred. The second problem was students unawareness of weak forms caused
by discrepancy in the melodies of English and Malay language: English is stress
timed whereas Malay is syllable timed. As a result, the subject would place
sentence stress applying the rules of his native language.
Assimilation of sounds, although considered of secondary importance, had
to be practiced more than intended since types of assimilation in English and
Malay differ. The student would use regressive voice assimilation whenever the
consonants of different voicing meet in their speech under the influence of his
language. Therefore, it was necessary to introduce sound assimilation rules of
the English language and enhance students perception of possible mistakes.
As concerns intonation, mainly tonality and tonicity were addressed during
the reading session as the issues related to accentuation. This can be applied
directly by engaging the pupils in language competitions such as public speaking,
choral speaking, story-telling, spelling spree and choir. The features of the
suprasegmental like word and sentence stress, weak forms and rhythm,
assimilation, elision, linking and intonation are important

4.0 POSSIBLE CAUSES FOR THE PRONUNCIATION PROBLEM

4.1 Incorrect Manner of Articulation
One of the main causes for the pronunciation problem of the student is
due to the incorrect place of articulation. Place of articulation means the place
where the obstruction of the air flow occurs. The places of articulation for English
consonants include the lips (bilabials), the lips and teeth (labio-dentals), the soft
palate (velar), the glottis (glottal) and many more. Moreover, for the English
language, different speech sounds are produced on the different place of
articulation. For example, the student had wrongly pronounced the word the as
de. This is due to the incorrect place of articulation. He had mixed up with []
and [d]. The place of articulation for the [] is dental. Dental is the process in
which the tongue is placed to the upper teeth. On the other hand, the place of
articulation for the [d] is alveolar. The alveolar is the process in which the the
narrowing of the vocal tract involves the tongue tip and the alveolar ridge.
Therefore, the student had to learn the proper way to pronounce the word the
which is placing his tongue blade to the alveolar ridge.
4.2 Wrong Manner of Articulation

In addition, the wrong manner of articulation are also another reason for
the non-native speakers of English to have problems with pronunciation of
English consonant. Manner of articulation refers to the degree to which the flow
of air is obstructed. However, manner of articulation is also important. The
manner of articulation in English sounds include nasals, plosives or stops,
fricatives and so on. For example, the student pronounced the word the
wrongly. This is due to the wrong manner of articulation. He did not know how to
differentiate in pronouncing the words the and de. His teacher has to teach
him how to pronounce the word the correctly by using the correct manner of
articulation. The manner of articulation for the [] is fricative. Fricative is produced
when there is a continuous friction at the place of articulation. On the contrary,
the manner of articulation for the [d] is oral stop. It is produced as when the
narrowing is complete -- the tongue is completely blocking off airflow through the
mouth. There is also no airflow through the nose. It is also voiced where the vocal

folds are vibrating. Once the teacher has taught him about the manner of
pronouncing the word with, he will not find any difficulty in pronouncing it next
time.
5.0 CONCLUSION
As a conclusion, the student had made some mistakes on his
pronunciation. He had overlooked many problems regarding to segmental and
suprasegmental aspects which are place of articulation, manner of articulation
and phonation. Therefore, he needs to pay more concentration on the segmental
and suprasegmental features in order to improve his pronunciation in the future.
They acquired knowledge and understanding of the different phonemic systems
of languages, of the processes in continuous speech and their effect on fluency
and became capable of identifying their own mistakes in pronunciation. Further
analysis and observation is necessary to be undertaken to improve the course,
eliminate the material of secondary importance and avoid tasks that confuse
learners and carry no practical usage.