Importance of English consonants classification for EFL learners

The practical formula of this paper helps the readers (EFL learners) how can they work by themselves to explain and realize the articulation of the English consonant sounds. However, the theoretical material is necessary for anyone who needs to understand the principles of regulating these sounds in spoken English. Most of the readers (EFL students) are aware of the importance of linguistics topics, but they do not have sufficient basic knowledge to understand these topics, especially Phonetics and Phonology. It is an endeavour to show the general categorization existing in consonants on the phonological aspects. Most of the time, there are three labels that are given a little awareness in instructors’ lectures to EFL students as if they existed worthless. Thus, while explaining the English consonant sounds, it is recommended that the EFL instructors should pay equal awareness to these labels with different class activities. The quantity of data displayed in some figures with (151) examples as part of direct education. These data were procured from Google Scholars, Google Books and other websites.

A Comparative Study of Dari Persian and English Language Consonant Sounds

This research article compares the consonant sounds of English and Dari Persian language in terms of state of larynx, place and manner of articulation. This research article aims to determine similarities and differences between the consonant systems of English and Dari Persian language which can be useful for teachers and learners of both languages, especially in listening and speaking skills. In this research article, the qualitative method has been used to find similar and different consonant sounds. In this research article, it was found out that eighteen consonants are similar in between, two consonant sounds are slightly similar, 4 English consonants are not present in Dari Persian, and 3 Dari Persian consonants are not present in English language. It is believed that one’s mother tongue obviously has influence on second or foreign language. That is, one’s own language pronunciation habits are so strong that they are extremely difficult to break. On the other hand, mispronouncing the sounds in spoken language can cause miscommunication or misunderstanding. Therefore, this research article can help teachers and learners of English with Dari Persian as the first language and vice versa to maintain effective and meaningful communication while listening and speaking with more focus on the sounds which are different between the first and the second or foreign language.

Arabic Language Phoneme Pronunciation Difficulties Among Upper Basic Hausa-Speaking Students in Kano State, Nigeria

In the process of learning a foreign language, there are some indispensable learning problems, especially in the pronunciation aspect. Therefore, this study investigated Arabic Language phoneme pronunciation difficulties among Upper Basic Hausa-speaking Arabic Language students in Kano State, Nigeria. The total population for the study was all Upper Basic Hausa-speaking students of Arabic in Kano State, Nigeria. Two hundred (200) Hausa-speaking Arabic students were sampled from the 3 senatorial districts in the state involving 9 Local Government Areas using multistage sampling procedure. A Pronunciation Test adapted from Adebayo (2010) with a reliability coefficient of 0.75 was used for data collection. Only 180 Pronunciation test that were properly filled and returned were subjected to both descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. The percentage was used to answer the research questions while Chi-square was employed to test the hypotheses postulated at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings of this study revealed that a number of Arabic consonants constitute pronunciation difficulty for the students due to the presence of their corresponding consonant sounds in Hausa language, while all Arabic vowels did not constitute much pronunciation difficulty for students. The findings also revealed that there was no significant difference in the Arabic consonant and vowel sounds that constitute pronunciation difficulties for male and female Upper Basic Hausa-speaking students of Arabic from both public and private schools in Kano State. In the light of these findings, it was recommended among others that, teachers of Arabic language should pay more attention to the various Arabic consonant and vowel phonemes as well as the Arabic syllable patterns that constitute pronunciation difficulties for the Hausa-speaking students of Arabic. The attention of Hausa-speaking students of Arabic should also be drawn to the semantic implications of phonemic replacement, reduction or prolongation.

Problems of Spanish [z], [s], [c] Sounds Pronunciation in Teaching Standards of the Spanish Language as a Foreign

The present article considers linguistic norms and pronunciation standard of the Spanish language. It is shown that from the theoretical point of view the normative standards of dialectic variation of the Spanish language are considered. The problem of geographically diversified pronunciation standard of the Spanish consonant sounds is established. It is being noted that the unified standard language norm for all Spanish- speaking countries to be used in terms of teaching standards of the Spanish language as a foreign. The conclusion is made that knowledge of functioning particularities of the language system at cultural and social level is highly needed. In addition to that dialectic and accent variations of the Spanish language are to be taken into consideration

DERET VOKAL DAN DERET KONSONAN DALAM BAHASA TUNJUNG (TONYOOI)

AbstrakPenelitian ini menelaah struktur fonotaktik fonem di dalam deret vokal dan deret konsonan bahasa Tunjung (Tonyooi). Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode deskriptif kualitatif. Berdasarkan data yang diperoleh pada struktur fonotaktik fonem di dalam deret vokal bahasa Tunjung (Tonyooi) ditemukan 20 jenis deret vokal, yaitu /a.u/, /a.o/, /a.e/, /a.i/, /i.a/, /i.u/, /i.i/, /i.e/, /i.o/, /u.o/, /u.e/, /u.a/, /u.i/, /e.o/, /e.a/, /e.u/, /o,u/, /o.i/, /o.a/, dan /o.e/. Deret vokal dalam bahasa Tunjung (Tonyooi) dapat ditemukan pada posisi awal, tengah, dan akhir sebuah kata. Adapun deret konsonan dalam bahasa Tunjung (Tonyooi) ditemukan pada posisi awal, tengah, dan akhir. Bunyi-bunyi konsonan yang berderet, yaitu /h.t/, /k.b/, /k.k/, /kng.g/, /l.d/, /l.g/, /m.b/, /m.k/, /m.p/, /n.c/, /n.d/, /n.j/, /n.s/, /n.t/, /ng.k/, /r.b/, /r.c/, /r.d/, /r.j/, /r.k/, /r.m/, /r.ng/, /r.p/, /r.s/, /r.t/, /r.w/, /s.b/, /s.k/, /s.l/, /s.p/, /t.r/. Kata kunci: deret vokal, deret konsonan, dan bahasa Tunjung (Tonyooi) AbstractThis study examines the phonotactic structure of phonemes in the vowel and consonant series of Tunjung (Tonyooi) language. The method used in this study is a qualitative descriptive method. Based on the data obtained on the phonotactic structure of the phonemes in the Tunjung (Tonyooi) language vowel series, 20 types of vowel series were found, namely/au/, /ao/, /ae/, /ai/, /ia/, /iu/, /ii/, /ie/, /io/, /uo/, /ue/, /ua/, /ui /, /eo/, /ea/, /eu/, /o,u/, /oi/, /oa/, and /oe/. Vowel series in Tunjung language (Tonyooi) can be found at the beginning, middle, and end of a word. The consonant series in the Tunjung language (Tonyooi) are found in the initial, middle, and final positions. Consonant sounds that line up, namely /ht/, /kb/, /kk/, /kng.g/, /ld/, /lg/, /mb/, /mk/, /mp/, /nc/, /nd/, /nj/, /ns/, /nt/, /ng.k/, /rb/, /rc/, /rd/, /rj/, /rk/, /rm/, /r.ng /, /rp/, /rs/, /rt/, /rw/, /sb/, /sk/, /sl/, /sp/, /tr/. Keywords: vowel series, consonant series, and Tunjung language (Tonyooi)

Telephone-Based Word List Recall and Hearing Ability

Certain consonant sounds called fricatives (e.g, “s” and “f”) are difficult to hear over the telephone; phones exclude high-frequency sounds that affect their intelligibility. This may be problematic for older adults responding to phone-based memory tests. Many older adults have some degree of hearing loss, and older men have it more in the high-frequency range. Hearing loss, in combination with phone bandwidth restrictions, may reduce older adults’ recall of fricative words. Participants (n=3,612, mean age=64.2, 60% women) in the 1998 wave of the Health and Retirement study (HRS) completed a word list immediate recall task over the phone. List 4 recall was examined because it was evenly split (5 each) between words with and without fricative consonant sounds. Subjective ratings of hearing and health, age, depression, and education were also measured. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed participants recalled fewer fricative (M=2.8) than nonfricative (M=3.0) words, Z=-8.47, p<.001. An ordinal regression for fricative word recall indicated a sex by hearing interaction; males with worse hearing were less likely to recall more fricative words, OR=.94, 95% CI [.88, 1.01], p=.076, after controlling for age, education, health, and depression. An ordinal regression for nonfricative word recall did not show a main effect for hearing or a hearing by sex interaction. For both models, age, education, and health were related to recall. Consonant sounds may influence phone-based word recall, particularly for older men. Attention should be paid to word selection when designing phone-based cognitive tests in order to avoid memory impairment overestimation.

USING POP SONGS IN TEACHING ENGLISH LANGUAGE TO STUDENTS MAJORING IN MUSIC ARTS. PHONOLOGICAL ASPECT

In the process of foreign language acquisition, students can face various obstacles, which can prevent them from achieving the desired goal. English pronunciation is traditionally considered one of the most challenging issues, which require special approach and teaching techniques to tackle. Teaching English language using popular songs appears to be a very effective method as songs provide students with plethora of pronunciation patterns they can master in an effective and at the same time enjoyable way. Moreover, music influences students' feelings thus developing their emotional intelligence, ensure relaxed atmosphere in the classroom, thus motivating them to learn various aspects of English language. Another indisputable argument for using songs and music in the process of EFL/ESL teaching is that these two notions have a lot in common. Both language and music have acoustic parameters like pitch, duration, stress and intonation. Having analyzed the research works of domestic and foreign scholars and practitioners, it was concluded that popular songs can be used to practice all language skills – grammar, vocabulary, reading, listening, writing and most importantly, pronunciation skills. It is clear that inadequate phonetic interpretation of the vocal text can cause deviation from the original (authentic) content and result in total misunderstanding or spoilt aesthetic perception of a song. In the process of mastering pronunciation with vocalists, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of vocal speech too. The article focuses on the methodological value of popular songs in the development of phonetic abilities in students majoring in music arts. The article also outlines the difficulties students face in the process of honing phonological skills such as certain consonant sounds and diphthongs as well as connected speech and provides the methodological approach to using songs in the classroom. It is strongly advised that language instructors carefully select the songs, taking into account many factors such as the students' level of English, age, and interests, as well as the complexity of the songs and their rhythm. It is recommended to follow a certain sequence of activities when working on the song material in order to facilitate the process of improving pronunciation of English sounds

Arriving at pronunciation accuracy in singing English songs: Hijaiyah consonants as the mediation

Bahasa di dunia sangat beragam, tetapi dimungkinkan adanya persamaan. Sebagai pelajar, sangat penting untuk mempelajari fonologi dan fonetik dari berbagai bahasa untuk membandingkan dan menyamakan satu dengan yang lainnya. Bahasa Inggris dan Arab sama-sama memiliki struktur linguistik terbesar dari semua bahasa di dunia. Kedua bahasa tersebut memiliki kesamaan ciri, seperti konsonannya. Dari persamaan tersebut, Lestiono dan Gusdian (2017) melakukan penelitian terhadap konsonan bahasa Arab dalam membantu pengucapan bahasa Inggris, yang dikenal sebagai tabel kosonan bahasa Inggris-Hijaiyah. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengucapan dari delapan anggota paduan suara universitas dalam menyanyikan lagu-lagu bahasa Inggris sebelum dan sesudah pengenalan konsonan Hijaiyah sebagai mediasi. Dalam penelitian ini digunakan studi kasus, yang termasuk dalam desain kualitatif yang digunakan dalam mencapai pengucapan yang dibangun oleh subjek penelitian melalui observasi, analisis, dan deskripsi. Objek penelitian ini adalah bunyi konsonan yang dihasilkan oleh peserta penelitian saat menyanyikan lagu “When I Sing” oleh Russel Robinson dan Charolette Lee dan “The Seal Lullaby” oleh Eric Whitacre dan Rudyard Kipling. Instrumen yang digunakan adalah dokumen analisis. Dalam analisis ditemukan adanya partisipan yang salah dalam mengucapkan kosa kata yang ditargetkan sebelum diperkenalkan dengan konsonan Hijaiyah. Setelah pengenalan konsonan Hijaiyah sebagian besar peserta terdengar akurat. Hal ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa konsonan Hijaiyah dapat memfasilitasi anggota paduan suara mahasiswa untuk belajar dan menghasilkan kata-kata bahasa Inggris yang akurat saat bernyanyi. Language in the universe is various; however, it does not close the possibility that each languages have an equation. As a learner, it is crucial to learn the phonology and phonetics of some languages to compare and equalize one another. English and Arabic both have the biggest linguistic construction. Both languages have the sameness of characteristics such as some of their consonants. From those similarities, Lestiono and Gusdian (2017) conducted a study on Arabic Consonant sounds to arrive at English Pronunciation, known as English-Hijaiyah consonant corresponding chart. The objective of the current research is to discover the pronunciation of eight university choir members in singing English songs before and after the introduction of Hijaiyah consonants as the mediation. In this present study acquire a case study, which is included to qualitative design that was used in arriving at the pronunciation constructed by the research subjects through observation, analyzation, and description.. The research objects were the consonant sounds produced by research participants while singing “When I sing” by Russel Robinson and Charolette Lee and 'The Seal Lullaby” by Eric Whitacre and Rudyard Kipling. The instrument was document analysis. In the findings, participants mispronounced many of the targetted words before they were introduced to Hijaiyah consonants as the mediation . Whereas, the pronunciation after the introduction showed that most of the participants sounded correct. This can be concluded that Hijaiyah consonants can facilitate the university student choir members to learn and produce accurate English words while singing.

THE PRODUCTION OF ENGLISH CONSONANTS /θ/ AND /ð/ BY ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS

Indonesians have been taking much concern in English since it has been applied in formal education curricula. Also, not all Indonesians are familiar with English pronunciation, especially its characteristics in phonemes. Some English consonants even do not exist in Indonesian consonants such as the sounds /θ/ and /ð/ categorized as voiceless and voiced interdental fricatives. Due to this concern, this study investigates the production of English voiced and voiceless interdental consonants uttered by English Department students as non-native speakers of English using the Praat application. There were eight undergraduate first-year English major students as the respondents. The researcher gave them eighteen words consisting of /θ/ and /ð/ sounds in initial, medial, and final word-position. The data are in audio recordings. The result revealed that most students changed the voiced interdental fricative into consonants such as /d/ and /t/. This inappropriate way also happened when they produced voiceless interdental fricatives. They changed /θ/ sound into consonant sounds such as /d/ and /t/.

Struktur dan Fungsi Pantun Tradisi “Palang Pintu” Sanggar Bang Bens di Rawa Belong Jakarta Barat

This article is about Sturucture and Function of Pantun at Betawi tribe in Rawa Belong West Jakarta. The choice of this topic departs from the author's interest in the form and structure of Betawi rhymes. The formulation of the problem is focused on two things. First, the structure of the Betawi rhyme and the social functions of the rhyme for the Betawi people. The theory used is the theory of structural strata norm of Roman Ingarden and the theory of function of Alan Dundes and William R. Bascom. The method used is to listen and record with the technique of Listening Free Libat Cakap. Analysis of Betawi rhymes shows variations in structure that are different from conventional rhymes and rhymes from other regions. Layers of sound Assonance or repetition of vowels dominated by vowel e {?}, Alliteration or repetition of consonant sounds dominated by ng {?}, rhyme dominated by {er-er} continuous rhyme and cross rhyme {an-i-an}. Euphemism, sarcasm and hyperbole in rhymes are found and dominate. The function as a means of coercion and supervisor of norms in society is very thick in Betawi rhymes. The discovery of the intensity of the entertainment function in words that form distinctive stanzas and rhymes