8 the English liquid r or l, but rather it is considered to be an in-between sound
of English r and l. The exact articulation point is not specified for the Japanese r sound. In this study, the researcher analyzes the pronunciation
process of Japanese singer when he is producing liquids in English words.
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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter presents the review of literatures, theoretical writings and researches which are related to the study. This chapter includes two sections. The first
section is theoretical description which includes the theories which are relevant to the study being discussed. The theories are about the phonological analysis, tense vowels,
liquids, Japanese phonology, and Japanese singer who is considered as EFL English as Foreign Language speakers. The second section is theoretical framework. It
summarizes all major relevant theories which will help the researcher conduct the study to solve the research problems.
A. Theoretical Description
In this section, the researcher uses four theories which are directly related to the study matter. This section describes the definitions, kinds and some important
information of the phonological analysis, tense vowels, liquids and Japanese singer who is considered as EFL English as Foreign Language speakers.
1. Phonological Analysis
Phonological has meaning as relating to the nature of sounds of certain language, in this case is English Fromkin, Rodman, Hyams, 2007. Therefore, phonological
analysis can be defined as the theoretical and practical steps in analyzing the sound patterns of English produced by foreign
10 speakers and the strategies they use to solve the problems in producing the English
sounds. Steps of phonological analysis can be divided into three major steps. As Veen
and Mve 2010 said, the first step of phonological analysis is carrying out preliminary inquiries in which the researcher has to determine the clear goals of the research and the
sound representations. The second step is performing phonetic transcription. This is the necessary step yet it consumes a plenty of time to work on. The final step is analysis.
Veen and Mve 2010 also stated that in working on phonological analysis, there are some important things to consider. Being rigorous, meticulous and accurate are must
in working on phonological analysis, especially in terms of transcription, data management and storage, analysis, and description. They are very important since doing
a phonological analysis is a task that combines specific analytical skills, techniques and reasoning describing problems and giving solutions. The ability to manage the time
and being patient are also important since when the researcher does the phonetic transcription it will take a plenty of time. It requires careful observation in watching and
listening. In addition, it requires repetition in identifying the exact pronunciation of the subjects.
Besides, phonological analysis is going to identify the acts of the subjects in solving their problems in producing English sounds which are usually called as
phonological strategies. There are five types of phonological strategies.
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a. Sound Substitution
In producing English words, there will be a lot of problems faced by English non- native speakers. They often find some sounds in English which do not exist in their
language. For example, as Ohata 1994 said
,
Japanese has a liquid sound which is similar to both English r and l. However the liquid does not exactly correspond to
either of the English liquids and they are often pronounced as a kind of in-between sound of the English r and l. In this case, Japanese students often change the English
r and l sounds Suski, 1931. Therefore they usually change l into r at one time and r into l at another. Because of this interchangeable use of both l and r, the
words such as light and arrive may sound like right and alive to English native
speakers. Thus, that is usually called as a sound substitution strategy. That is the strategy
used by non-native English speakers in labeling the non-existing sound with the sound which is present in their language and has the closest quality with the English sound.
b. Sound Deletion
Sound deletion refers to the phonological process in which one sound with a syllable is omitted Jenkins, 2000. Jenkins 2000 said that there are three kinds of
sound deletion, namely aphesis or apheresis, syncope, and apocope. Aphesis or apheresis is the type of deletion which occurs in the initial vowel of a word. As the
example, [we
ɪ] can refer to two words, way and away. However, the former phonetic
transcription must be a part of away əweɪ. In this case the schwa sound is omitted.
