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positions, tʃ is pronounced as c and dʒ as j. Th e Nataia L1 sounds which appear instead of the English sounds L2 are clear signs of the first
language interference. In conclusion, all the six specific segmental sounds of English as a group turn
out to be the third potential difficulties for Nataia speakers in learning English phonology.
5.1.3 Suprasegmental Phonemes with Potential Difficulties
Finally, big challenges for Nataia speakers in learning English phonology come from ‘stress and rhythm’ which are vital aspects of the
suprasegmental phonemes. Stress poses a big problem because in Nataia it is not phonemic i.e, it does not differentiate words. This is just to say that the meaning
of a word is not affected in any way by a stress assignment. On the opposite end, stress in English is to a limited extent phonemic i.e, it can differentiate words
Giegerich, 1992: 180. There are some pairs of English words such as differ and defer which are segmentally identical but distinct in meaning, owing to a difference
in stress placement. There are also a number of other words such as pervert and import where stress placement signals a different syntactic category.
When speaking English, Nataia speakers may not realize that different positions of stress may lead to different meanings. So they may assign the wrong
stress in words such as differ and defer, resulting in global errors which cause a problem of intelligibility. They may also assign the wrong stress on words such
as import which may cause a minor problem of ‘irritation or amusement’ and at the same time emphasize the foreign accent of non-native speakers.
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Fortunately, Giegerich maintains 1992: 180, the phonemic function of stress in English is not very significant. In a vast majority of English words, stress does
not give rise to phonemic distinctions. However, the phonetician argues, speakers cannot assign stress on whichever syllable they like because each English word has
a single possible stress pattern. This is just to say that stress in English is systematic. On the opposite side, stress in Nataia is unsystematic i.e the stress assignment can
depend on the personal preference of a speaker, although as a general rule, stress is assigned on the second syllable before the last penultimate stress. The logical
consequence is that a three syllable English word such as diligent which should have an antepenultimate stress is more likely to be pronounced as [dɪ’lɪdʒənt],
rather than [‘dɪlɪdʒənt], the standard British English BE pronunciation as shown in Hornby’s Oxtord Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English 1974.
Furthermore, given a limited number of minimal pairs in which stress is phonemic, Giegerich concludes, the main function of stress in English cannot be to
differentiate words, but to maintain rhythm in connected speech 1992: 181. Rhythm is the “patterns of the timing of syllables in speech” Collins and Mees,
2003: 248. Syllables in English are pronounced in different timing or length of utterance based on their significance in the utterance Alip, 2016: 20. Certain
words or syllables are more significant than others, so they receive more prominence and accordingly, they require more time. Syllables which are not so
significant, are made less prominent by assigning less time in their pronunciation. As a result, spoken English exhibits a marked contrast between
its stressed strong and unstressed weak syllables, a fact which largely accounts for its characteristic rhythmic patterns. Perhaps, this is the reason why
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English is referred to as a stress-timed language in which the length of an utterance depends entirely on the number of stresses.
A lot of languages make very little difference between syllables in the matter of stress. Native speakers of such languages usually find it difficult to
achieve a natural speech-flow in English Stannard Allen, 1960:1. This seems to be also true for native speakers of Nataia, a syllable-timed language, in which
the length of an utterance depends on the number of syllables. The logical consequence is that Nataia speakers might end up speaking English with
syllable timing. In conclusion, stress and rhythm turn out to be the fourth potential
difficulty for Nataia speakers in learning English phonology.
5.2 Suggestions
Suggestions are specified into three different parts as follows:
5.2.1 Further Research
This is the very first time a phonological study of Nataia has been conducted. Therefore, it is perfectly understandable if the skeptical eyes of linguistic
scholars may readily detect serious mistakes somewhere in this work. In addition to providing corrections, those linguistic scholar are expected to conduct
further research so as to obtain a more accurate description of Nataia phonology. The results of the present study along with those of later researches are expected
to ensure that all the Nataia vowel and consonant phonemes are preserved both in the oral and written forms. Additionally, anyone responsible for the teaching
and learning of English in Central Flores, where Nataia is just a small member of the Ngada-Lio grouping, should keep in mind that all the members of the group
