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Table 2.11 The l Sound Pronunciation Errors in the Final Position of English Words
Word Word
Production Standard
Sound Changes Singer
All ɔːɾu
ɔːl l becomes
ɾ, followed by „ʊ‟
Singer 8 People
ˈpiːpəʊ piːpl
l is omitted Singer 1
ˈpiːpəʊ Singer 2
ˈpiːpəʊ Singer 5
ˈpiːpəʊ Singer 9
Single ˈs ŋgəɾ
s ŋɡl
l become ɾ
Singer 1 Girl
ɡʌɾ ɡɜːrl
l is become ɾ
Singer 6 Cool
kuːɾu kuːl
l becomes ɾ,
followed by „ʊ‟ Singer 7
Firstly, the l sound changed into r sound and was followed by a vowel „ʊ‟.
Table 2.11 shows that the l sound in the word all and cool is pronounced as ɾ and
followed by a vowel „ʊ‟. Both all and cool are ended with consonant „l‟, so it means that the words all and cool are closed syllable. Kawarazaki 1997 as cited in
Sudjianto and Dahidi 2007, p. 22 claims that closed-
syllable „t‟ and „d‟ should be followed by „ɔ‟, and closed-syllable „c‟, „b‟, f, „g‟, „k‟, „l‟, „m‟, „p‟, and „s‟ should be
followed by „ʊ‟.
Secondly, the l sound error was also found in the word people piːpl. From
Table 2.11, the vocalization of the l sound in the word people can be seen. According to Johnson and Britain 2003, “the l vocalization is equivalent to the
vocalization of dark in the syllable rhymes” as cited in Akihiko, 2014, pp. 62-63.
The l sound in the word people is dark since the l sound occurs after a
29
29 consonant and before a vowel Vizental, 2008, p. 79. Besides, the l sound in the
word people is also located in syllable rhyme. According to Harrington and Manell 2008, “rhyme is all phonemes from the vowel to the end of the syllable.” Here, the
syllable rhyme for the word people piːpl is iːpl. According to Akihiko 2014, “l
in a syllable rhyme can become like a vowel or an approximant; e.g, it will be „u‟, „o‟, or „w‟” p. 63. From Table 2.11, the l sound in the word people is pronounced like
a vowel „u‟. Besides, the l sound in the word single s ŋɡl is also dark because the l sound occurs after a
consonant „g‟ and before a vowel „e‟. Then it is also located in syllable rhyme;
ŋɡl. Although the l sounds in the words, people and single
are in the same environment, the results of the sound production are different. Table 2.11 shows that the l sound in the word single is changed into an alveolar
approximant flap ɾ. From those two words, people and single, it can be concluded
that the change of dark in the syllable rhyme can be like a vowel and an approximant alveolar flap
ɾ.
The errors were also found in the word girl. Here, the r and l sounds are adjoining together. From Table 2.11, the l sound in the word girl is pronounced as
an alveolar flap ɾ. It shows that it is still confusing for Japanese female singers in
pronouncing the l and r sounds when they are placed together. Vance 1987 states that Japanese speakers have problems with the English r-l identifications because
the Japanese language has a flap which is generally described as an apico-alveolar tap
30
30 as cited in Hattori, 2009, p. 39. Therefore, because of the problems of
identifications, the l sound is pronounced as alveolar flaptap ɾ.
b. The English r Sound
The result in Table 2.12 shows that the English r sounds produced by Japanese female singers are pronounced correctly in the initial and middle positions.
It is because the Japanese sound system has an alveolar which is called Japanese alveolar flap
ɾ to substitute the English r sound. Suski 1931 states that Japanese produce a single liquid voiced consonant that combines the two sounds of l and r
as i t is produced by a very quick tap also called a “flap” of the tongue tip on the
alveolar ridge” as cited in Smith, 2012, p. 202. Therefore, the English r sound in the initial and the middle of the words are able to be pronounced by Japanese female
singers. Besides, as shown in Table 2.12, the pronunciation of the r sound in the
final position is sometimes omitted by Japanese female singers.
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31
Table 2.12 The r Pronunciation Errors in the Middle and Final Position of English Words
Word Word
Production Standard
Sound Change
Singer
Word w
ɑ:d w
ɜːd
The r sound is
omitted Singer 6
More m
ɔːɑ
m
ɔːr
Singer 6 m
ɔːɑ
Singer 7 Refrigerator r
ˈfr dʒere tɑː „r ˈfr dʒəre tər Singer 7
After ˈaftɑː
ˈæftər Singer 4
Power ˈpaʊa
ˈpaʊər Singer 5
Firstly, the writer will discuss the result of the r sound pronunciation in the final position of the words. The r sound in the word word is located before a
consonant „d‟, then it is pronounced as wɑ:d by Singer 6. In the English language system itself, a
ccording to Trudgill 1999, “however, r came to be dropped where it occurred before a consonant as in arm” as cited in Akihiko, 2014, p. 63. From Table
2.12, the r sound in the word word is dropped. Therefore, it sounds like it is omitted. However, in the word more, the r sound is omitted too. Table 2.12 shows
that the r sound in the word more is omitted when it is pronounced by Singer 6 and Singer 7. They pronounce it as m
ɔːɑ, whereas based on Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary
standard, the word more should be pronounced m ɔːr. Here, the r sound
is located after a long vowel „ɔː‟. According to Carruthers 2006, “those ending in or or ir
—the r is replaced by a” p. 20. Because the ending of the word more is ɔːr, then the r sound is replaced by a by Singer 6 and Singer 7.
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32 The same thing also happens in the r sound in the word refrigerator, after, and
power . The r sound is also replaced by long vowels a. According to Carruthers
2006 , “the combination of a vowel plus r is generally pronounced a” p. 20.
Because the English r sound in the final position is vocalized, Japanese female singers are able to pronounce the English words which are ended by
consonant „r‟. Since Japanese language syllable system is an open syllable, it means that
there should be a vowel following the consonant „r‟. Ohata 1996 states that a
vowel should be inserted between consonants, so that the word can conform to the Japanese open syllable pattern CV-CV p. 14. In the English language, when the
English r is vocalized in the final position of the words, it means that the r sound coalesces with the vowels before it. It shows that there is a relation between Japanese
and English language systems, so Japanese female singers are able to pronounce the English word with r sound in the final position.
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CHAPTER III CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter presents the conclusions and recommendations. There are some findings that can be concluded in this study. Then, the researcher presents
the recommendations related to this study.
A.
Conclusions
This section is aimed to summarize the major findings of this study. This study focused on analyzing the English liquids l and r sounds produced by
Japanese female singers. Besides, the causes of English l and r pronunciation errors are identified.
From the results of the research, some important points can be concluded. First thing to be concluded is that the difficulty in distinguishing the English l
and r sound is found among Japanese female singers. The result shows that most of Japanese female singers pronounce the English liquids l sound more
inconsistently than pronouncing English liquids r sound. Japanese female singers are able to pronounce the l sound in initial position as in Oxford Advanced
Learners’ Dictionary standard. The problem appears when Japanese female singers pronounced the l sound in the middle and final of the words. In this case,
the sound l is pronounced as Japanese alveolar-flap ɾ sound and with extra
vowel ʊ if the l sound is in the final position. Besides, the English in the final
34 position was also pronounced like a vowel
‘u’ as in the word people. It is because the English l sound in the word people is dark
ɫ and located in syllable rhyme.
On the other hand, there is no significant problem in the pronunciation of r sound among Japanese female singers. Although the r sound sounds more as
Japanese alveolar-flap ɾ in the initial and the medial positions of the words, the
audience still understands the words which are uttered by Japanese female singers. Moreover, the r sounds in the final of the words were not pronounced by
Japanese female singers, but the listeners are still able to perceive the words. It is because in the English language system, the r sound is commonly vocalized in
the final position of the words. It means that the r sound is coalesced with a vowel before it. Therefore, the r sounds in the final position of the words were
pronounced as a vowel. Here, the r sound is corresponded with Japanese language syllable system which is open syllable.
B.
Recommendations
Based on the results of the study, the writer gives some recommendations to the Japanese Engli sh learners in all levels and for future researchers. Firstly,
the writer suggests Japanese English learners in all levels to pay more attention on their English pronunciation. Hopefully, Japanese English learners can be aware
that the l sound is unavailable in Japanese language sound. Japanese language has only one alveolar flap
ɾ to pronounce both English l and r sound. This situation may lead to a miscommunication to the listeners. Since the two sounds
