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and velar fricative ɣ as in ghama [ɣɑmɑ] ‘grope’ which may lengthen the inventory of unique global speech sounds.
It is to be regretted, however, that two out of the five characteristic sounds of Nataia are being gradually pushed to the sidelines. The way Antonius Moti
42 and Patrisius Seo 40, two out of the four respondents of this study, pronounced the alveolar fricative ř and the velar implosive ğ indicate that
the younger speakers are beginning to avoid using the two characteristic sounds. Now the younger speakers seem to prefer using the alveolar trill r instead of the
alveolar fricative ř. Thus, the words such as rhasa [řɑsɑ] ‘fence’ and rhoba [řᴐbɑ] ‘sarong’ are now pronounced simply as [rɑsɑ] and [rᴐbɑ], perhaps due to
regular contacts with Bahasa Indonesia and neighboring languages or just for easier pronunciation. In addition, the younger speakers also tend to prefer oe [ᴐe]
to ‘goe [ğᴐe] for negation, pushing the velar implosive sound [ğ] to a cornered position.
This shift in the phonological preference such as in the use of r instead of ř may be taken simply as an indication of a change or may also be a threat. It is to be
noted, however, that there is a bigger problem menacing the existence of Nataia as a whole. Native speakers of the local language are now mingling with
transmigrants from different areas who speak different languages. Therefore, they v e r y often have to speak Bahasa Indonesia as a lingua franca in their daily
communication, pushing their own language to a passive position. As a native speaker, one who learned to speak and think for the first time in
Nataia, the present writer feels obliged to keep track of the language by formally introducing its phonology to the global linguistic community. The phonology of
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Nataia is then compared and contrasted with that of English to find their similarities and differences. The comparison and contrast is also expected to
answer the research questions of this thesis entitled “Potential Difficulties for Nataia Speakers in Learning English Phonology”.
1.2 Statements of the Problems
This is the very first time Nataia has been set down in formal writing. Therefore, the writer takes advantage of this work to introduce all the phonemes of
the local language. At the same time, by way of this work, the writer also tries to find out if there are characteristic phonemes of English that may pose problems for
Nataia speakers in learning English phonology. The following research questions are the formulations of the problem statements.
1. What are the vowel and consonant phonemes found in Nataia? 2. What segmental phonemes of English may cause difficulties for Nataia
speakers in learning English phonology?
3.
What suprasegmental phonemes of English may ca use difficulties for Nataia speakers in learning English phonology?
1.3 Purpose of the Study
In line with the problem statements above, the writer would in the first place like to discover what vowel and consonant phonemes are found in Nataia. Then the
writer studies how these segmental phonemes of the local language are combined to form syllables and words. It is right here that the problems for Nataia speakers
studying English phonology begin. In the second place, these segmental phonemes of Nataia are compared and
contrasted with those of English. The comparison and contrast will eventually PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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show what specific consonants of English are absent from the inventory of the local language. Contrastive analysists claim that these foreign phonemes are potential
trouble spots for Nataia speakers in learning English phonology. Finally, the writer would like to reveal two suprasegmental phonemes of
English whose nature is quite different from those of Nataia. This difference in nature turns out to be the reason why these two suprasegmental phonemes cause
difficulties for Nataia speakers in studying English phonology.
1.4 Significance of the Study
The present work seems to have the following three benefits: 1. By formally introducing the phonemes of Nataia, the present writer wants to
make sure that the local language is also preserved in its written form. Besides, the revelation of the phonemes of the local language may help to lengthen the
list of unique global speech sounds. 2. Comparison and contrast of Nataia phonology with that of English may reveal
which characteristic English phonemes may pose problems for Nataia speakers in learning English phonology. Then, CA can help English teachers
in central Flores as a whole, especially in the Nataia speaking area, to be consciously aware of the problems and prepare necessary steps to help their
students surmount the hurdles. 3. Based on the predictions by a contrastive analyst, English textbook writers can
pinpoint which regional phonological problems in Central Flores, particularly in the Nataia speaking area, should be given special treatment.
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CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter presents a review of related theories, a review of related studies and a theoretical framework. The review of related theories comprises some basic
ideas in support of this study; the review of related studies reveals contributions of some language scholars to this study; the theoretical review shows how this study
was conducted and completed.
2.1 Review of Related Theories
The review of related theories comprises Nataia and Foreign Language Studies, Nataia and Language Family, Nataia and Verbal Preservation, English
Articulatory Phonetics, English Manner of Articulations, English Phonological System, English Phonological Processes, and Contrastive Analysis CA.
2.1.1 Nataia and Foreign Language Studies
In the 1920-s, Nage and Keo were registered among tens of onderafdeling under the larger Afdeling Flores that was ruled by G.A Bosselaar, the then Dutch
assistent resident. Bosselaar deserves a respectable place in the history of secondary education in Flores because he was the first highest colonial official in
the Southeast Islands who allowed the Catholic Mission of Flores to establish the first formal minor seminary of the island. His permission was considered
‘extraordinary’ because the Dutch government was then dominated and steered by the Protestants, ‘political enemies’ of the Catholics in the Netherlands Steffan
Dietrich, 1942. The establishment of the seminary in Mataloko, Onderafdeling Ngadha, in 1929 was intended primarily to prepare the indigenous people to
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have their own native priests. The local priests were expected to take over the church leadership from the foreign missionaries in due time De Katholieke
Missien en het Christelijk Huisgezin, Uden , 1929: 67 The important fact is that eight decades after its birth, the seminary has
yielded a good number of indigenous priests. Of equal importance is that it has produced thousands of graduates who have served as layman leaders of Flores. Of
no less importance is the silent agreement among the people of the island that the graduates of the minor seminary were fairly good at foreign languages.
Early graduates of the seminary are reputed to be good at Latin and Dutch, the main language courses in the curriculum of the institution. They are said to
have gone through difficult times learning the languages only during the first three years junior high school. Towards the end of the second three years senior high
school, however, they are said to have begun tasting the “sweet fruits” of their tireless efforts.
It is to be noted, however, that they were only good at speaking Dutch. They did not speak Latin, ‘a dead language’ specifically set for church service and bible
studies. Their success in the foreign language learning is said to have been due to several interrelated factors. The first is that Dutch was the language of instruction
in the classroom. The second is that Dutch was a single recommended means of communication between the teachers, the students and their peers within the
compounds of the seminary. The third, the seminary was free to design a curriculum of its own in which language received a very large portion of time.
The last but not the least, there were only a small number of selected participants, PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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seven in the first class of 1929, who wished to identify themselves with the white ruling elite Plechtige Opening van het nieuwe Seminarie, Uden, 1929: 67.
After Indonesia proclaimed her independence in 1945, Dutch was abolished from the curriculum of the new independent state. Soon after, English replaced it
as the main foreign language to be learned at the minor seminary. From early 1950-s to the 1960-s, the English teachers in the institution were native speakers
from the United States, at least from countries such as the Netherlands and the Philippines where practically everybody speaks English with some ease. This time
the participants who were from different local language backgrounds, mostly from the Ngadha-Lio language grouping of which the Nataia is a member, also
turned out to be fairly good speakers of English. Stephanus Djawanai, a former student of the seminary, recalls how the fourth
year students of his generation were often asked by their English teacher to make a short speech or even a sermon in English. “Father Garger also asked us to make
daily notes on who we spoke to, what we talked about and how long we made a conversation in English,” Djawanai wrote in “Learning a Language, Opening Up a
Horizon 2004: 99”, an article in memory of his unforgettable years in the
seminary. Djawanai, now a professor of linguistics, also recalls that his former English
teachers such as William Pop, a Catholic missionary from Chicago, the United States, were very flexible and creative. Though grammar-translation was the
method in vogue at the time, he noted, his teachers did not hesitate to try out a more communicative approach. He also noticed that his teachers applied an
