AN ANALYSIS OF VOWEL PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION BASED ON INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET (IPA) FOUND IN SELECTED ENGLISH BOOKS FOR CHILDREN

AN ANALYSIS OF VOWEL PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION

BASED ON INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET (IPA)

FOUND IN SELECTED ENGLISH BOOKS FOR CHILDREN

THESIS

By:

RAFIKA RABBA FARAH

NIM: 08360002

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG

AN ANALYSIS OF VOWEL PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION

BASED ON INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET (IPA)

FOUND IN SELECTED ENGLISH BOOKS FOR CHILDREN

THESIS

By:

RAFIKA RABBA FARAH

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG

AN ANALYSIS OF VOWEL PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION

BASED ON INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET (IPA)

FOUND IN SELECTED ENGLISH BOOKS FOR CHILDREN

THESIS

This thesis is submitted to fulfill one of the requirements to achieve Sarjana Degree in English Education

By:

RAFIKA RABBA FARAH

NIM: 08360002

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG

This thesis was defended in front of the examiners of the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education of University of Muhammadiyah Malang

and accepted as one of the requirements to achieve Sarjana Degree in English Education

on October 30, 2012

Approved by:

Faculty of Teacher Training and Education University of Muhammadiyah Malang

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Alhamdulillahirobbi-l ‘alamin, until this achievement point, the writer will soon graduate. Writing a thesis is not merely finishing the academic duty but it is more than a record of four-year studying in University of Muhammadiyah Malang. Therefore, the writer would like to say her gratitude only to Allah SWT. For His majesty, the writer can finish her study in undergraduate program well. Second, the writer will say enormous love to her parents (Mr.Sukarma Fahmy Abdoeh and Mrs. Siti Rochmah), young brother (Eki Syauqi Muhammad) and sister (Raysa Khwarena Farah) for their support, pray, and love. Without them, the writer has nothing to do in this life. Indeed, the happiest moment is always being with them. Third, definitely, this thesis cannot be completed without any guidance, help, and support from my two honor advisors: Mrs. Rina Wahyu Setyaningrum, M.Ed, the one who is always patient making correction and giving some inputs. The writer feels comfortable to discuss and share anything related to her thesis composition; Mrs. Riza Elfana, MA, the one who kindly gives the writer fresh new viewpoint regarding to her research. The writer feels has a nice discussion with her. For this, the writer would like to say thousand thanks to both advisors for their time, energy, and of course love.

Furthermore, during her study in this university, the writer’s academic intellectual will

never been developed without friends’ support in several organizations. Bestari, HMI-KIP, Infokom are the second campus to get more knowledge and to have a nice sharing. The writer would like to say thanks to Mr. Nurudin, M.Si and Bestari crew. Even though during the writer busy activity in composing this thesis, they still believe in the writer to be the Managing Editor of Bestari. Then, the writer would like to say her honor to Mr. Muhammad Nasar, ST who always permits and gives the writer a chance to have thesis guidance in the midst of her work in translating the website. Next, the writer’s love is also dedicated to her seniors and juniors in HMI-KIP. Last but not least, the writer addresses her longing for her dorm’s mates since their accompanying for four years staying in the green dorm; thank you Santi, Nova, Sabrina, Dian, Kiki, Zeze, and Rani. Thanks to Mbak Nur Alifah who kindly gives some inputs for this thesis and thanks for the friendship. Finally, thanks a lot for all kindness also handed to all friends who always stay hand in hand along four-year lecture that the writer cannot tell them one by one especially for the whole friends in English Department 2008.

Malang, October 23, 2012

MOTTO AND DEDICATION

Alhaqqu min rabbika fala takunanna min al-mumtariina (Al-Baqoroh:147)

“The truth is from the God; so be not all in doubt” (Al-Baqoroh: 147)

Attoriqoh ahammu min al-maaddah (Mahfudzat)

Proses lebih baik daripada hasil. Walau manusia mencapai hasil yang sama, proses yang dilalui tentunya berbeda. Bahwasannya Allah melihat proses dan usaha yang dilalui oleh hamba -Nya

ketimbang sekadar melihat pada hasil yang dicapai.

DEDICATION:

I dedicated this thesis to: My beloved family and my lovely friends.

TABLE OF CONTENTS APPROVAL

LEGALIZATION

MOTTO AND DEDICATION ABSTRACT

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

1.1Background of the Study……….. 1

1.2Statement of the Problems………. 3

1.3Purposes of the Study………... 4

1.4Significance of the Study……….. 4

1.5Scope and Limitation……….... 4

1.6Definition of Key Terms……… 5

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 2.1 The Sound of Language………... 6

2.1.1 Pronunciation……… 7

2.1.1 Phonetics……….. 8

2.2 The Sound Pattern of Language……….. 9

2.2.1 Phonology………. 9

2.2.2 Phoneme……… 10

2.2.2.1 Phones and Allophones……….. 12

2.2.2.2 Minimal Pairs and Sets……….. 12

2.2.2.3 Phonotactics………... 13

2.2.2.4 Syllables and Clusters……… 13

2.2.2.5 Co-articulation……… 14

2.2.2.5.1 Assimilation………. 15

2.2.2.5.2 Elision……….. 15

2.3 Vowel and Consonant 16 2.3.1 The English Vowel System………... 16

2.3.2 Vowel Length……… 17

2.3.2.1 English Short Vowels………. 17

2.3.2.3 English Long Vowels………. 19

2.3.2 Diphthongs……… 19

2.3.2 Triphthongs……… 21

2.4 Phonology of Bahasa Indonesia………... 22

2.4.1 The Vowel Phonemes of Bahasa Indonesia……….. 23

2.4.1.1 Diphthongs………. 24

2.4.2 The Vowel Phoneme Realization of Bahasa Indonesia……… 24

2.5 The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)………. 28

2.5.1 Phonetic Transcription………... 29

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Design………... 32

3.2 Research Object……… 32

3.3 Data Collection……….. 34

3.3.1 Research Instrument………... 34

3.3.2 Procedure of Data Collection……….. 35

3.4 Data Analysis………. 35

CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Research Findings ………. 36

4.1.1 Vowel Phonemic Transcription Found in the Selected English Books for Children Compared to IPA………... 36

4.1.2 An Analysis of Sound Representation of Vowel Phonemic Transcription Found in Selected English Books for Children Based on IPA……….. 37

4.2 Discussion……….. 39

CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 5.1 Conclusions………. 42

5.2 Suggestions……….. 43

REFERENCES APPENDICES

REFERENCES

Setyaningrum, RW. 2007. English Language Opportunity for Pupils at Schools of Indonesia. Rangsit University Thailand: Unpublished Thesis

Marhum, Mochtar. 2009. English Language in Indonesian Schools in the Era of Globalization. Published in http://pskti.uksw.edu

Nurany, Shandy. 2005. Students Ability Faced by the Six Year Students of SDN Tanjungrejo Sukun VI-VII Malang in English Pronunciation. University of Muhammadiyah Malang: Unpublished Thesis

Susilawati, Fitri. 2005. An Error Analysis of Phoneme in Reading Aloud Activity Produced by the First Semester Students of English Department Muhammadiyah University of Malang.

University of Muhammadiyah Malang: Unpublished Thesis

Yule, George. 2006. The Study of Language Third Edition. Cambridge University Press

Gilakjani. 2011. Why is Pronunciation So Difficult to Learn? English Language Teaching Vol.4 No.3; September 2011

Odden, David. 2005. Introducing Phonology. Cambridge University Press Kelly, Gerald. 2000. How to Teach Pronunciation. Longman. England

McMahon, April. 2002. An Introduction to English Phonology. Edinburg University Press

Ladefoged, Peter & Johnson, Keith. 2011. A Course in Phonetics. Wadsworth Cengage Learning. USA

Meyer, Charles. F. 2009. Introducing English Linguistics. Cambridge University Press

Roach, Peter. 2000. English Phonetics and Phonology A Practical Course Third Edition. Cambridge University Press

Katalin, Balogne. B & Szilard, Szentgyorgyi. 2006. The Pronunciation of English. Bolcsesz Konsorcium. Budapest

Soenjono, Dardjowijojo. 2009. English Phonetics and Phonology for Indonesians. Yayasan Obor Indonesia. Jakarta

Chaer, Abdul. 2009. Fonologi Bahasa Indonesia. PT Rineka Cipta. Jakarta

Robson, Stuart. 2004. Welcome to Indonesian: A Beginner’s Survey of the Language. Tuttle Publishing. Singapore

Skandera, Paul & Burleigh, Peter. 2005. A Manual of English Phonetics and Phonology. Gunter Narr Verlag Tubingen. Germany

Ary, Donald., Jacob, C. Lucy., Sorensen, K. Christine. 2010. Introduction to Research in Education Eight Edition.Wadsworth Cengage Learning. USA

Cohen, Louis., Manion, Lawrence., Morrison, Keith. 2007. Research Methods in Education. Routledge. USA, Canada, New York

Creswell, W. John. 2007. Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design Choosing Among Five Approaches. SAGE Publication. USA

1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents background of the study, statement of the problems, purposes of the study, significance of the study, scope and limitation, and definition of key terms. Each section is presented as follows.

1.1 Background of the Study

People do not need to speak in order to use a language. Language can be in written form. Nevertheless, speech remains as an essential way for people to express anything through language. Thus, written and spoken forms are important to learn the language. If so, do all languages have consistency between written and spoken form?

Here is the consideration stated by Skandera and Burleigh (2005:7):

In most languages, however, the relationship between speech and writing is not very consistent. In English, one particular sound may be represented by different letters or combinations of letters. … Conversely, the same letter may indicate different sounds, such as the a in dad, father, many, call, village, and

dame.”

The statement above brings the researcher’s sense that because the same letter indicates different sound, learning English will be challenging for Indonesian students. It is because there are different sound systems exist between English and Bahasa Indonesia—the students’ lingua franca. In addition, English is a foreign language for them.

In Indonesia, English has been introduced in education field through teaching during the 1950s and the 1960s (Setyaningrum, 2007). Then, English curriculum in

2

secondary level was legally approved through Decree No. 096/1967 issued by the Minister of Culture and Education (Setyaningrum, 2007). In this step, English began to be recognized by students at schools. Today, even though English is foreign language in Indonesia, it has become the most popular foreign language used and taught at schools (Marhum, 2009).

In fact, dealing with the extensive English teaching in Indonesia, different sound system exist between English and Bahasa Indonesia is not widely recognized by the students. Nurany (2005) found the students of six grade of SDN Tanjungrejo VI-VII Sukun Malang faced pronunciation problems in term of discriminating sounds. Particularly, the students were still confused when Bahasa Indonesia phoneme had different sound in English phoneme, such as the sound of /i:/ for (sheep) and /I/ for (ship).

Furthermore, Susilawati (2005) found the most error in pronouncing the phoneme happened in vowel. Then, she summed up, some errors in English phoneme which was miss pronounced by the first semester students of English Department of University of Muhammadiyah Malang was also due to different vowel phoneme system between the two languages. In addition, according to her, in learning English, the students got difficulties due to the variant of Indonesian student’s mother tongue.

Regarding to those phenomena, actually English sound should be learnt and taught in a proper way. To learn English, there are several possible sources found, for example, teachers, books, and internet. In addition, for self-learning, books are the easiest sources found beside the internet.

3

There are a lot of English books published in Indonesia today and those are easily found in book stores or even sold by itinerant traders. Since learning English is the matter of playing sounds, using book as the source of learning has some advantages and disadvantages. Written English has no sound, it is only captured by the eyes while sound is something that should be heard by the ear. Thus, to learn English sound in the proper way, sound symbol in the English books are supposed to be recognized in international standard. One of the standards is International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Otherwise, English will be disseminated inappropriately then become difficult to be learnt.

Therefore, since the massive publication of English books in Indonesia today, the writer wants to analyze on the vowel phonemic transcription as English sound representation used in those books. For the need of this analysis, some English children books are selected. The selected books are in the typology of English children books since English is introduced widely begin in this age. Specifically, this research wants to analyze on the use of vowel phonemic transcription in the selected English books for children based on International Phonetic Alphabet.

1.2 Statement of the Problems

1. How are the vowel phonemic transcriptions used in the selected English books for children compared to the International Phonetic Alphabet?

2. How do the vowel phonemic transcriptions used in selected English books for children represent the English sound based on the International Phonetic Alphabet?

4 1.3 Purposes of the Study

1. To know the vowel phonemic transcriptions used in selected English books for children compared to the International Phonetic Alphabet.

2. To answer whether the sound of vowel phonemic transcriptions found in selected English books for children represent the English sound based on International Phonetic Alphabet.

1.4 Significance of the Study

1. Theoretically, the finding of this study is important to open broad idea of analysis on phonology and even on phoneme especially for students of English Department.

2. Practically, this study will bring English teachers’ or learners’ awareness to select appropriate book as a source to learn English. In addition, for parents, the finding is also intended as a guide to select proper English books for their children.

1.5 Scope and Limitation

The scope of this study is on analyzing vowel phonemic transcription based on International Phonetic Alphabet. Meanwhile, this study is limited on analyzing the vowel phonemic transcription found in four English books for children used by the researcher in this study. To do a lot more effective analysis, the four books selected are considered sufficient to meet the need of this analysis.

5 1.6 Definition of Key Terms

1. Vowel is sound in which there is no obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from the larynx to the lips (Roach, 2000:10).

2. Phonemic transcription is individual speech sound which is used in pedagogic course such as in learning and teaching pronunciation. It is a type of transcription that mostly used in British dictionaries (Skandera and Burleigh, 2005:50).

3. International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is the most widely used transcription system agreed internationally. This system is a tool to recognize different accents exist in English and to compare them. Then, with this symbol, everyone knows how the native pronounce the English sound (McMahon, 2002:11).

4. Selected English books for children are the books selected in purpose for the need of this research.

Skandera, Paul & Burleigh, Peter. 2005. A Manual of English Phonetics and Phonology. Gunter Narr Verlag Tubingen. Germany

Ary, Donald., Jacob, C. Lucy., Sorensen, K. Christine. 2010. Introduction to Research in Education Eight Edition.Wadsworth Cengage Learning. USA

Cohen, Louis., Manion, Lawrence., Morrison, Keith. 2007. Research Methods in Education. Routledge. USA, Canada, New York

Creswell, W. John. 2007. Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design Choosing Among Five Approaches. SAGE Publication. USA

1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents background of the study, statement of the problems, purposes of the study, significance of the study, scope and limitation, and definition of key terms. Each section is presented as follows.

1.1 Background of the Study

People do not need to speak in order to use a language. Language can be in written form. Nevertheless, speech remains as an essential way for people to express anything through language. Thus, written and spoken forms are important to learn the language. If so, do all languages have consistency between written and spoken form?

Here is the consideration stated by Skandera and Burleigh (2005:7):

In most languages, however, the relationship between speech and writing is not very consistent. In English, one particular sound may be represented by different letters or combinations of letters. … Conversely, the same letter may indicate different sounds, such as the a in dad, father, many, call, village, and dame.”

The statement above brings the researcher’s sense that because the same letter indicates different sound, learning English will be challenging for Indonesian students. It is because there are different sound systems exist between English and Bahasa Indonesia—the students’ lingua franca. In addition, English is a foreign language for them.

In Indonesia, English has been introduced in education field through teaching during the 1950s and the 1960s (Setyaningrum, 2007). Then, English curriculum in

2

secondary level was legally approved through Decree No. 096/1967 issued by the Minister of Culture and Education (Setyaningrum, 2007). In this step, English began to be recognized by students at schools. Today, even though English is foreign language in Indonesia, it has become the most popular foreign language used and taught at schools (Marhum, 2009).

In fact, dealing with the extensive English teaching in Indonesia, different sound system exist between English and Bahasa Indonesia is not widely recognized by the students. Nurany (2005) found the students of six grade of SDN Tanjungrejo VI-VII Sukun Malang faced pronunciation problems in term of discriminating sounds. Particularly, the students were still confused when Bahasa Indonesia phoneme had different sound in English phoneme, such as the sound of /i:/ for (sheep) and /I/ for (ship).

Furthermore, Susilawati (2005) found the most error in pronouncing the phoneme happened in vowel. Then, she summed up, some errors in English phoneme which was miss pronounced by the first semester students of English Department of University of Muhammadiyah Malang was also due to different vowel phoneme system between the two languages. In addition, according to her, in learning English, the students got difficulties due to the variant of Indonesian student’s mother tongue.

Regarding to those phenomena, actually English sound should be learnt and taught in a proper way. To learn English, there are several possible sources found, for example, teachers, books, and internet. In addition, for self-learning, books are the easiest sources found beside the internet.

3

There are a lot of English books published in Indonesia today and those are easily found in book stores or even sold by itinerant traders. Since learning English is the matter of playing sounds, using book as the source of learning has some advantages and disadvantages. Written English has no sound, it is only captured by the eyes while sound is something that should be heard by the ear. Thus, to learn English sound in the proper way, sound symbol in the English books are supposed to be recognized in international standard. One of the standards is International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Otherwise, English will be disseminated inappropriately then become difficult to be learnt.

Therefore, since the massive publication of English books in Indonesia today, the writer wants to analyze on the vowel phonemic transcription as English sound representation used in those books. For the need of this analysis, some English children books are selected. The selected books are in the typology of English children books since English is introduced widely begin in this age. Specifically, this research wants to analyze on the use of vowel phonemic transcription in the selected English books for children based on International Phonetic Alphabet.

1.2 Statement of the Problems

1. How are the vowel phonemic transcriptions used in the selected English books for children compared to the International Phonetic Alphabet?

2. How do the vowel phonemic transcriptions used in selected English books for children represent the English sound based on the International Phonetic Alphabet?

4

1.3 Purposes of the Study

1. To know the vowel phonemic transcriptions used in selected English books for children compared to the International Phonetic Alphabet.

2. To answer whether the sound of vowel phonemic transcriptions found in selected English books for children represent the English sound based on International Phonetic Alphabet.

1.4 Significance of the Study

1. Theoretically, the finding of this study is important to open broad idea of analysis on phonology and even on phoneme especially for students of English Department.

2. Practically, this study will bring English teachers’ or learners’ awareness to select appropriate book as a source to learn English. In addition, for parents, the finding is also intended as a guide to select proper English books for their children.

1.5 Scope and Limitation

The scope of this study is on analyzing vowel phonemic transcription based on International Phonetic Alphabet. Meanwhile, this study is limited on analyzing the vowel phonemic transcription found in four English books for children used by the researcher in this study. To do a lot more effective analysis, the four books selected are considered sufficient to meet the need of this analysis.

5

1.6 Definition of Key Terms

1. Vowel is sound in which there is no obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from the larynx to the lips (Roach, 2000:10).

2. Phonemic transcription is individual speech sound which is used in pedagogic course such as in learning and teaching pronunciation. It is a type of transcription that mostly used in British dictionaries (Skandera and Burleigh, 2005:50).

3. International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is the most widely used transcription system agreed internationally. This system is a tool to recognize different accents exist in English and to compare them. Then, with this symbol, everyone knows how the native pronounce the English sound (McMahon, 2002:11).

4. Selected English books for children are the books selected in purpose for the need of this research.