CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTORY BACKGROUND

1.1. Introduction

English is taught as a second language in Nigeria. Thus, students only encounter English

mostly at school. It makes them have difficulties when learning this language. So, students

do make mistakes and errors in learning this language in the aspects of skills and

components. Language has four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. And its

components includes; Syntax, Morphology, Phonology, Grammar, Semantics, Pragmatics

and Discourse.

Pronunciation is one of the main aspects of language that help learners to communicate in

English (Kurniawan 2016, p. 157). The pronunciation system of English words is unique.

That is the reason many people say pronunciation in English is often very difficult for non-

native speakers of English. The way people pronounce English words depends on how the

words are perceived. Therefore, it is important to listen to the correct pronunciation of

English words.

This work shows that students’ encounter difficulties when pronouncing English words.

Most of them find it difficult to pronounce English fricatives /f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ӡ, h/, and

differentiate among consonants. Based on the result of observation, the work tries to analyze

students` errors in pronouncing English fricatives.

The English phonological components are divided into segmental phonemes and supra-

segmental phonemes. Segmental phonemes consist of vowel and consonant. And supra-

1
segmental phonemes, consists of stress and intonation (Hadi 2015, p. 48). Errors in

pronunciation of sounds in one word can eventually lead to misconceptions. The different

pronunciation or different sounds will cause different meanings. Analysis of students errors

are very important, students will know their difficulty to pronounce words correctly, they

also will earlier realize their lack which will further prevent them from making the same

mistake in pronouncing English words.

The English consonants are classified into three categories, they are: voiced and voiceless

sounds, place of articulation and manners of articulation (Ampa 2014:13). Fricatives are

consonants that are formed by impeding the flow of air somewhere in the vocal tract, so that

a friction sound is produced. In other words, the approximation of the two articulators is

closed so that the air stream is partially obstructed and turbulent.

In English, there are five fricatives namely: labiodental fricatives, dental fricatives, alveolar

fricatives, palato-alveolar fricatives and glottal fricatives. And in this work, we would be

observing an error analysis of the pronunciation of English fricatives by selected

undergraduates of Ekiti State University.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Based on the background above, the problem formulated are as follow:

i. What kinds of errors are made by students of Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti in

pronouncing English fricatives sounds?

ii. What are the sources of errors are made by students of Ekiti State University, Ado-

Ekiti in pronouncing English fricatives sounds?

2
1.3. Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of this study is to carry out an error analysis of problem of pronunciation of English

fricatives among selected undergraduates of Ekiti State University, Ado- Ekiti. However, it

objectives include:

i. to give clear information to English teachers who want to know about Students’

ability in pronouncing English fricatives.

ii. to give information, consideration and input for the students especially for improving

the pronunciation of English fricatives and prevent them from making mispronunciation.

iii. enrich the writer’s knowledge and experience in the specific study especially about

pronouncing English fricatives.

1.4. Scope of the Study

This research will be a total of four chapters. Chapter One will cover the introductory

background which will explain the basis of the study. Chapter Two will talk about the

literature review, the nature of pronunciation, pronunciation features, segmental features of

phonemes, supra-segmental features of phonemes, error analysis, the concept of error, kinds

of error, roles of error and conceptual framework. In Chapter Three, the research

methodology which is the method used in carrying out this research would be examined.

Chapter Four is the general conclusion where observations and recommendations would be

made.

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1.5 Conclusion

This chapter has introduced this research by giving us information about the problems of

research, the aim and objectives and the scope of the study. This has established our research

and paved way for smooth progression and we hope to arrive at concrete findings at the end

of this research.

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. Introduction

This chapter will review existing works that are relevant to this project. The study will be

built upon this, and some of the factors we will talk about here will be used to examine our

data in chapter three.

2.2. The Nature of Pronunciation

According to Allen (as cited in Hakim, 2012), pronunciation is one of element of the

language that has big contribution for better English speaking. According to AMEP Research

Centre (2002), pronunciation is the production of speech sounds that we use to convey

meaning. It includes segmental and supra-segmental aspects of a language. Segmental

features are speech sounds of a given language and it is important for learners to know

accurately how those sounds are uttered. They also have to know the supra-segmental

features of the language, i.e., intonation, stress and voice quality. These features are

distinctive, i.e. they can change the meaning. When they are not well mastered, they lead to

mispronunciation and subsequently misunderstanding. Rajadurai (2007:3) cited in (Shak,

Lee, and Stephen 2016, p. 26) stated that “pronunciation is often taught with a rigid

adherence to prescribed norms” due to the following reasons:

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i. Pronunciation is viewed as a most resilient to change component in the second

language (L2) due to the influences of age and the first language (L1), thus leaving teachers

to have very little control in teaching.

ii. As many ESL classrooms have embraced the communicative paradigm that

emphasizes fluency, meaning and authenticity, the teaching of discrete sound elements does

not seem to fit comfortably in those classrooms.

iii. Teachers do not find themselves well-equipped and comfortable to teach

pronunciation, and it is also hard for them to incorporate pronunciation with other language

skills.

iv. The oral proficiency of native speakers is used as the yardstick for many oral

proficiency assessments.

v. Pronunciation is directly linked to social, cultural and individual identity issues.

Due to the fact that it directly impacts students' communicative competence and

performance, pronunciation is an essential component of learning a foreign language.

Pronunciation is the choice of sounds used in forming words (Sembiring and Ginting 2016,

p. 40). The different pronunciation or different sounds will cause different meanings. Tiono

and Yostanto (2008, p. 79) explains that what language learners must understand about

pronunciation. is that essentially ‘any attention to pronunciation is phonetics’. In the area of

pronunciation, English language can be categorized as a difficult language to master.

(Kosasih 2017, p. 136) stated that Pronunciation is essential for speaking and understanding

spoken English well.

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The English Consonant Chart

Bilabial Labio Dental Alveolar Palato Palatal Velar Glottal

dental Aveolar
Plosive p b t d k g
Fricative f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ h
Affricative tʃ dʒ
Nasal m n ŋ
Lateral l

Approximant w r J

The Phonetic representation of English Consonants: Yule (1996:45)

In describing the English consonants Ampa, 2014:13 says, there are three important

categories that should be considered, those are: voiced and voiceless sounds, place of

articulation and manner of articulation.

2.3. English Fricatives

A fricative is a consonant sound that is created by constricting the vocal tract, causing

friction as the air passes through it. Roach (1997:47). There are three major points that a

7
beginner of ESL should understand about fricative sounds; to produce fricatives, air travels

smoothly through a small, constricted opening in the vocal tract.

Fricatives are capable of being formed continuously, with no complete blockage of the vocal

tract except for the /h/ sound, fricatives occur in voiced/unvoiced pairs.

There is one subtle additional aspect of fricative sounds: The duration of a vowel sound

before a voiced fricative is greater than the duration of a vowel sound before an unvoiced

fricative.

There are nine (9) fricative sounds in English; /f/ /v/ /d/ /s/ /z/ /∫/ /ʒ/, /h/.

Roach (1997:47) describes the fricative of English as sounds which are produced when air

escapes through a small passage and makes a hissing sound. He further says that Fricatives

are continuants. The fricative sounds in English include:

Labiodental Fricatives: These fricative sounds are produced when the upper set of the teeth

makes contact with the lower lip during articulation. These sounds includes the voiceless

labiodental fricative /f/ and the voiced labiodental fricative /v/. For example

/f/ as in fly /flaɪ/, fish /fɪʃ, phantom/fæntəm/

/v/ as in Victory /vikt(ə)ri/, vote /vəʊt/, vain /veɪn/

The Dental Fricatives: These involve the tip of the tongue making contact with the two sets

of the teeth during articulation. These sounds includes the voiceless dental fricative /θ/ and

the voiced dental fricative /ð/.

/θ/ as in thank /θæŋk/, through /θruː/, throw/θrəʊ/

8
/ð/ as in that /ðæt/, those /ðəʊz/, mother /mʌðə/

The Alveolar Fricatives: These involve the tip of the tongue making contact with the tooth

ridge during articulation. These sounds include voiceless alveolar Fricative /s/ and the voiced

alveolar Fricative /z/.

/s/ as in sat /sæt/, sip/sip/,salt /sɔːlt/

/z/ as in Zone /zəʊn/, bags /bæɡz/ zebra /ziːbrə/

The Palato Alveolar Fricatives: During articulation of these sounds, the centre of these

sounds, the centre of the active articulator (the tongue) makes contact with the hard palate.

This sounds include the voiceless palate-alveolar Fricative /ʃ/ and the voiced palate-alveolar

fricative

/ʃ/as in shit /ʃɪt/, shoe /ʃu:/, shame /ʃeim/

/Ʒ/ as in pleasure /pleʒə/, treasure /treʒə/, measure /meʒə/

The Glottal Fricative: The articulation of this sound is directly from the glottis and its state of

glottis is usually determined by the sound that succeeds it. Most scholars categorize it as a

voiced glottal fricative, since it is only a vowel sound that can succeed it during articulation

and all vowel sounds are voiced therefore glottal fricative is a voiced fricative /h/ sound.

/h/ as in house /haʊs/, horse / hɔː(r)s/, high /haɪ/

Voiced and voiceless sounds

All consonant sounds are either voiced or voiceless sounds. If the vocal cords are apart, the

airstream is not obstructed at the glottis and it passes freely into the parts of the vocal tract

9
above the glottis. The sounds produce in this way are called voiceless sounds. For example,

in producing the /s/ sound, the glottis is open and causes the air stream passes freely and does

not vibrate. In the case of /z/ sound, the vocal cords are brought together, so that the

airstream forces it away through them and cause the vibration. The sound is categorized as a

voiced sound. For examples, the words ‘sink’ /sik/ and ‘zinc’ /zik/ have different

meanings because of the difference from initial sounds of the words. In the first word, it is a

voiceless sound and in the second one is a voiced sound.

2.4. Error Analysis

Pit Corder, a British applied linguist, is credited with laying the groundwork for Error

Analysis (EA henceforth). Unlike CA, which aimed to predict errors that will be produced by

second or foreign language learners, EA is focused with analyzing already made errors and

determining their sources. It entails collecting samples of the learner language, identifying

errors in the sample, describing errors, and categorizing them based on their nature and

causes. According to Corder (1974:170), the purpose of EA is to find “what the learner

knows and does not know….enable the teacher to supply him not just with the information

that his hypothesis is wrong, but also, importantly, with the right sort of information or data

for him to form a more adequate concept of a rule in the target language”.

Error analysis is especially helpful for those who have difficulties seeing their errors, such as

those with visual processing difficulties. Besides, Corder (in Croft 2008: 105) describes that

mistake are deviations due to performance factors, such as memory limitation, spelling,

pronunciation, fatigue emotional strains, physical stresses, such as tiredness, physiological

condition, such as strong emotion, while error are deviations of some system of language that

10
the learner make. Furthermore according to Ellis (2011: 17) error reflects gaps in a learners’

knowledge they occur because the learner does not know what is correct. Mistakes reflect

occasional lapses in performance; they occur, because in particular instance, the learner is

unable to perform what he or she knows. Error analysis is a type of linguistic analysis that

focuses on the errors learners commits (Chukwuma and tochukwu 2014 p. 98). Based on the

statement above the way to distinguish error and mistakes is checking the consistency of

learner performance. If they say a word twice or more which totally with different

pronunciation in one occasion, this would suggest that they possess knowledge in correct

form and are just slipping up a mistake, but if the speakers change their pronunciation of a

word and consistently use it this would indicate the lack of knowledge or called an error.

2.4.1. Kinds of Errors

Dulay, Burt, Karshen (1982: 146) cited in (Nezami and Najafi 2012:16) emphasise some

error classifications they are: Linguistic category, surface strategy, comparative analysis, and

communicative effect.

a. Linguistic Category

Linguistic Category

Linguistic category in here, classify errors according to either or both the language

component and the particular linguistic constituent the error affect. Language components

include phonology (pronunciation), syntax and morphology (grammar), semantic and lexicon

(meaning and vocabulary), and discourse (style).

b. Surface Strategy

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Surface strategy taxonomy highlights the ways surface structures are altered. This taxonomy

classified into four types: omission, addition, misformation, and misordering.

i. Omissions are identified by the absence of an item that must appear in well-formed

utterance it includes the omission of:

a. Voiced

b. Unvoiced

c. Single vowels

d. Diphthongs

ii. Additions are identified by any unnecessary presence an item or morphemes which

appear in an utterance. They are three types of addition errors:

a. Double marking

b. Regularization

c. Simple addition

iii. Misformation are identified by the use of the wrong from of the morpheme or

structure.

iv. Misorderings are identified by the incorrect placement of a morpheme or group of

morphemes in an utterance.

c. Comparative Analysis

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The classification of error in comparative taxonomy is based on comparisons between the

structures of second language errors and certain other types of construction. This taxonomy

proposes four errors:

i. Development errors

Development errors are errors similar those made by children learning the target language as

their first language.

ii. Interlingual errors

Interlingual errors are similar in structure to a semantically equivalent phrase or sentence in

the learner native language.

iii. Ambiguous errors

Ambiguous errors are those that reflect the learner’s native language structure, and at the

same time they are of the type found in speech of the children acquiring a first language.

iv. Other errors

This taxonomy proposes the grab bag errors that don’t fit into those few taxonomies. In this

particular type taxonomy, the grab bag errors should be of more than passing interest. Since

they are not similar to those children make during first language development, they must be

unique to second language learners.

d. Communicative effect.

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The communicative effect classification deals with errors from the perspective of their effect

on the listener or reader. It focuses on distinguishing between errors that seem to cause

miscommunication. Types of errors classified into two:

1. Global Errors

The effects that affect overall sentences organization significantly hinder communication.

Labeled the most systematic global errors include:

a) Wrong order of constituent. For example: English language use many people

b) Missing, wrong or misplace sentence connectors for example: (if) not take this bus, we

late for school.

c) Missing cues to signal obligatory exceptions to pervasive syntactic rules. For example: the

students’ proposal (was) looked into (by) principal.

d) Regularization of pervasive syntactic rules to exception. For example: we amused that the

movie very much (that the movie amused us very much).

2. Local Errors

Errors that effect single elements (constituents) in a sentence do not usually hinder

communication significantly. These include errors in noun and verb infection, articles,

auxiliaries, and the formation of quantifiers. (Ellis, 2011:56) distinguishes three types of

errors based on systematically:

a) Pre-systematic errors occur when learner is unaware of existence of a particular rule in the

target language.

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b) Systematic errors occur when the learner has discovered a rule but it is the wrong one.

c) Post-systematic errors occur when the learner knows the correct target language rules but

uses it in constantly (makes a mistake.

2.5. Source of Errors

A source of errors is a limitation of a procedure or an instrument that causes an inaccuracy in

the quantitative result of an experiment. A human error is not considered a source of error

under this definition. Source of errors is the final step in the analysis of the learner speech.

By trying to identify source of error students` can begin at an understanding on how the

learners’ cognitive and affective self relates to the linguistic system and to formulate and

integrated understanding of the process. Communication strategies were seen as belonging to

the planning phase; their use became necessary if the learner’s experienced a problem with

the initial plan that they made.

McKeating, (2000: 174) considered the learners’ errors come from the faulty generalization

of target language rules. Linguistics classified the possible causes of intra-lingual errors into

four. They are: over-generalization, ignorance of rule restriction, incomplete application of

rules and false concept hypothesized.

1) Over-generalization.

Over-generalization deals with the deviant structures produced by the learners using their

previously acquired rules when they construct a new form of utterance.

2) Ignorance of Rule Restrictions

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Ignorance of rule restrictions shows the learners failure to observe the restriction of the

existing structure.

3) Incomplete Application of Rules

Incomplete application of rules deals with how the learners develop the rules in producing

other acceptable utterances. They usually cannot develop the rules they have been acquired

to produce other utterances.

4) False Concept Hypothesized

False concept hypothesized deals with the errors that derive from faulty comprehension of

the rule distinction in the target language. Learners usually misinterpret the use of certain

structures of target language.

2.6. Roles of Error

The main purpose of this discussion is to explain how the errors can be useful in language

teaching. Basically, errors put the same important contribution, although the points viewed

are various. The mistake is the evidence of learning. Learning is progressive stage and

learners do lot of things including making mistakes. In those stages, learners tend to make

generalization by the correction toward mistakes.

Learners make progress, for instance by being able pronounce they have made.

1) Circumstance /'sirː.kum.ten/ (students make an error)

2) Circumstance /'sɝː.kəm.stænts/ (students revise)

3) Death /det/ (students make others error)

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4) Death /deθ/ (students revise)

The progress made by the learners can, then, be seen by looking by language constructions

pronunciation they have made, specifically at the errors. If, then the fact is connected to the

role of English transcription, it comes to conclusion that any errors in pronunciation are very

significant for the need of student’s pronunciation progress.

2.7. Conclusion

In this chapter, some relevant literature have been considered and reviewed to give an in-

depth analysis of the terms and terminologies needed in the full understanding of the study.

Kinds of errors and sources of errors have also been discussed which will aid in the analysis

of data in the next chapter. The next chapter will review the research methodology of this

work.

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 CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1. Introduction

This chapter describes the method adopted to carry out this work. These include the research

design, population, research instrument and data analysis.

3.2. Research Design

The type of method applied in this research is qualitative method. Qualitative method is

expressed by describing sentences. In qualitative methods researchers can also describe a

data supported by many theories and knowledge from various sources of theory.

3.3. Population

The population of the study is composed of 10 voices of different undergraduate students

from Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti. The work made use of direct voice recorder in

18
different locations of the university premises, noting the errors committed in the

pronunciation of the English fricative sounds while some sentences containing the English

fricative sounds are presented as passage.

3.4. Research Instrument

This research used a voice recorder as instrument. The instrument consisted of 26 words. The

researcher conducted some recording sessions in order to determine the extent to which

Undergraduates make errors in pronouncing English fricatives. The 26 words comes from

each consonant of English fricatives sounds /f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, ӡ, h/. Every consonant consisted

of three positions of sounds, namely initial, medial and final position.

3.5. Administration of Instrument

Before analyzing the data, the researcher uses Oxford Learner’s Dictionary as instrument to

help find accuracy of students’ pronunciation. Researcher uses this dictionary, not only by

looking at the transcription, but also the researcher uses its audio to find accuracy in the

pronunciation.

The researcher uses the following steps to analyze the data:

a. Finding how many correct and incorrect fricative consonant sounds were pronounced.

b. Listening repeatedly and understand the results of participants’ pronunciation

recording conducted by researchers.

c. Comparing the students’ pronunciation with standard phonetic transcriptions.

d. Describing why the fricative consonant sounds is correct and incorrect.

e. Drawing the conclusion

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3.6. Data Presentation

The researcher uses qualitative data’s collection which is audiovisual. Audiovisual materials

consist of image or sound to help the researcher to find the central phenomenon under the

study. Audiovisual materials in this work have purpose to show student’s pronunciation. To

get audiovisual materials, the researcher uses recording device, and the pronunciation is done

by reading words dictionary which the researcher has selected. The word is chosen because

there are variation fricative consonants sounds which the students may rarely recognize.

There are many words which present 9 categories of consonant fricative sounds, but 26

certain words are chosen. And below are the English words that will be tested to the

participants.

Table 3.1 Words to be pronounced by Participants

Sounds Positions
Initial Medial Final
/f/ fabulous Buffer Qualify

/v/ Various Overactive Supportive

/ð/ Though Although Soothe

/θ/ Thieves Either Booth

/ʒ/ Genre Measure Prestige

/∫/ Ship Station Garnish

/z/ Zoom Brazen Bags

/s/ Seal August Famous
/h/ Hello Perhaps

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3.7. Data Analysis

The research is done through reading aloud and slow. Eighteen students were provided with

26 vocabularies be investigated. Then one of them read aloud at once, and the researchers

recorded their pronunciation. For additional description, each of those sounds was then

classified into three categories in relation to the positions of their occurrences: they are

initial, medial and final positions. The classification of positions aims to fix participants'

mistakes in pronouncing English words when pronouncing the same English fricative sounds

in a different position.

A. The pronunciation of /f/

The English sound /f/ is described as a voiceless labiodental fricative, which means that a

speaker produces this kind of sound only if he or she fulfils main features of /f/ sound. In

producing this sound, the lower lip comes very close to the upper teeth and creates a narrow

gap. The air escapes through the narrow gap with audible friction.

Table 3.2 the Deviation of /f/

Positions Words Standard phonetic Participants Deviations

transcriptions actual
pronunciation

Initial Fabulous /fæbjələs/ /fʌbəloʊs/

Medial buffer /bʌfər/ /bʌvər/ /f/ → /v/

Final qualify / /kwɑːlɪvaɪ/ /f/ → /v/

kwɑːlɪfaɪ/

21
As in the table above, the researcher has seen above the deviation done by the participants in

pronouncing fricative consonant sound /f/ was replaced with sound /v/ in pronouncing word

‚buffer‛ which transcribed as /bʌfər/ but the participants pronounced that word with

transcribed as /bʌvər/. The participant replaced the fricative consonant sound with the

sound /v/ but it should be /f/ as classified in voiceless dental fricative. There is not too much

mistake in this kind of sound. This dental fricative consonant is a kind of sound that does not

appear in the phonetic language of English. But almost of the researcher’s participants do the

right pronunciation in pronouncing this word because the participants has passed the various

learning stage relation with pronunciation subject.

B. The pronunciation of /v/

The English sound /v/ is described as a voiced dental fricative, which means that a speaker

produces this kind of sound only if he or she fulfils every main features of /v/ sound. When

the researcher had given a vocabulary test that had been tested to the 10 participants, the

researchers found a lot of mistakes made by the 10 participants. And the mistakes made are

very diverse, one of them has changed the sound /v/ to sound /p/ and almost all of the 10

participants have changed the sound /v/ which must be read voiced consonant fricatives but

all of the participants have replaced it to /f/ which classified into voiceless consonant

fricative sound. The table below would show the deviation of /v/ sound:

Table 3.3. The Deviation of /v/

Positions Words Standard Participants Deviations

phonetic actual
transcriptions pronunciation

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 Initial Various /væriəs/ /færioʊs/ v→f
/perioʊs/ v→p
Medial Overaction /oʊvərˈæk∫n/ /ofərek∫n/ v→f

Final Supportive /səˈpɔːrtɪv/ /suˈfɔːrtɪp/ v→p

/suˈpɔːrtɪf/ v→f

As the seen from the table above, the participants has pronounced word “various” which

should be pronounced as /væriəs/ but actual pronunciation performed by participants was

/fʌrioʊs/ and the participant also replaced the sound /v/ in word ‚various‛ in initial position

with the sound /p/. Also word ‚overaction‛ should be pronounced as /oʊvərˈæk∫n/ but the

participant pronounced as /ofərˈæk∫n/ and for the word ‚supportive‛ which should be

pronounced as /səˈpɔːrtɪv/ but the participants has pronounced as /səˈfɔːrtɪp/, the participant

replaced the sound /v/ in final position with sound /p/. Another deviation is the participant

replaced the sound /v/ with /f/ and the transcription of pronunciation is /səˈfɔːrtɪf/. The reason

behind this substitution of the sound /v/ for /f/ might occur mainly due to mother tongue

interference. Hence, most of them replaced /v/ with /f/ and made it to be the only pattern of

error.

C. The pronunciation of /ð/

/ð/ is another sound in English that is recognized as voiced dental fricative. Despite its clear-

cut definition of how this sound should be produced, many English learners as the subjects of

this research still produced errors when they had to articulate /ð/ correctly as seen in Table 3.

Table 3.4 the deviation of /ð/

Positions Words Standard Participants Deviations

phonetic actual
23
 transcriptions pronunciation

Positions though /ðoʊ/ /togh/ ð→t

/doʊg/ ð→d
/θoʊ/ ð→θ
/thog/ ð → th
Medial Although /ɔːlðoʊ/ /aːltog/ ð→t
/əldog/ ð→d
/əlthog/ ð → th
Final Soothe /suːð/ /suːt/ ð→t
/suth/ ð → th
/suθ/ ð→θ
/suːd/ ð→d

Notably, there were four deviations made by the students in articulating [ð]. They were the

replacement of [ð] with [t], the substitution of [ð] with [d], the switching of [ð] to [θ], and the

changing of [ð] with [th]. Some of these deviations could be found in all of the three

positions and some could only be noticed in either one or two positions

i. /ð/ pronounced as /t/

The replacement found in the pronunciation of /ð/ was the substitution of /ð/ with /t/, as in

‚though‛ /togh/, ‚although‛ /aːltog/, ‚Soothe‛ /suːt/. In this deviation, the participant

completely altered all of the elements of [ð]. Firstly, in terms of state of the vocal cords, they

did not vibrate their vocal cords as they should. Secondly, they constructed alveolar sound in

place of dental. Finally, for the manner of articulation, they were more likely to produce a

stop sound rather than a fricative sound. As a result, they produced a very distinct sound

from /ð/, that is,/t/.

ii. /ð/ pronounced as /d/

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The second deviation of /ð/ with /d/, in articulating /ð/signified that /ð/ as a voiced dental

fricative was being replaced with /d/ which is a voiced alveolar stop. In this deviation, the

students fulfilled one feature of the /ð/ sound since /ð/ and /d/ share the one identical

characteristic, that is, voiced.

However, when they articulated /d/, the two other important elements of /ð/ sound were

deviated. The divergence could be observed because of the different place and manner of

articulation of the two sounds. Normally, to make the sound /ð/, the tip of the tongue is put

behind the upper front teeth. However, in this case, the participants put the front part of their

tongue on their alveolar ridge, causing the alveolar sound to be produced rather than dental

sound. In terms of manner of articulation, /ð/ should be produced with the almost blocked air

stream being pushed through the narrow opening and as a result creating “hissing noise”.

Yet, the participants completely stopped the air stream and then released it abruptly resulting

on a very different manner of articulation, that is, stop. Consequently, the students made

deviation by replacing /ð/ with /d/.

iii. /ð/ pronounced as /θ/

Another deviation of /ð/ happened when the students articulated /θ/ for the sound /ð/ such as

in the pronunciation of ‚though‛ /θoʊ/, ‚Soothe‛ /suθ/. Essentially, when producing this

deviation, the students made the least alteration of all four deviations of /ð/ since they still

managed to produce the sound properly in the area of place and manner of articulation – they

were able to produce dental fricative sound. In this identifiable deviation, they only deviated

the state of the vocal cords since they did not vibrate their vocal cords in producing the /ð/

25
sound, resulting on the occurrence of the nearest sound that had the equivalent result, that

is, /θ/.

iv. /ð/ pronounced as /th/

The last deviation of the /ð/ sound was the substitution of /ð/ with /th/, still as in word

“though” /thog/. Similar to the first deviation, in the substitution of /ð/ with /th/, voiced

dental fricative was being replaced with voiceless alveolar stop. The difference of the second

and this deviation was that /th/ is the allophone of /t/. Allophone is a variant of a phoneme.

Since allophone is a phonemes variation, it shares the same elements of sound production as

the phoneme. It usually occurs only in certain positions within a word.

The voiceless stop, /t/, for example, aspirated when it occurs at the beginning of a stressed

syllable, as in „talk‟, and unaspirated when it occurs after a syllable-initial /s/, as in „stalk‟

(Deterding & Poedjosoedarmo, 1998, p. 78). In the deviation the participants made, they

aspirated the /t/ sound as a replacement of the letters „th‟ that should be articulated as /ð/.

For that reason, it is clear that they are very different from one another. Thus, when the

participants replaced /ð/ with /th/, they created a deviation.

D. The Pronunciation of /θ/

In general, /θ/ is classified as a voiceless dental fricative. /θ/ is another consonantal sound

that is typically English sound; therefore, other languages, may not have this exact sound in

their phonetic systems. Hence, the English department students as the subjects of this

research deviated the sound to several possibilities in their attempts of articulating /θ/ as seen

in Table 4 below. In this kind of sound different from /v/ and /ð/, which have various

26
possibilities in the deviations, /θ/ was deviated into three possible errors, from the

replacement of /θ/ with /t/, /ð/, /th/.

Table 3.5 the deviation of /θ/

Position Words Standard participant’s Deviations

phonetic actual
transcriptions pronunciation

Initial Thieves /θiːvz/ /tæfs/ θ→t

Medial Either /ˈiːθər/ /eːðər/ θ→ð

Final Booth /buːθ/ /both/ θ → th

/buːt/ θ→t

i. /θ/ pronounced as /t/

In this deviation almost of the participants replaced sound /θ/ into the /t/. Table 4 shows

clearly that /θ/was often deviated to /t/ in the initial, medial and final positions. It can happen

since both /θ/ and /t/ share one thing in common, that is, both of them are voiceless sounds.

Nonetheless, when the participants replaced /θ/ with /t/, they diverged two important features

of /θ/ they changed the place of articulation of /θ/ from dental to alveolar and in terms of the

manner of articulation, they stopped the air stream for a brief of time and then released it

abruptly, creating stop instead of fricative. Thus, by replacing /θ/ with /t/, the participants

made their first deviation.

ii. /θ/ pronounced as /ð/

The second deviation happened when the students replaced /θ/ with /ð/. In mispronouncing

/θ/ as /ð/, the students altered one important feature of the sound /θ/, that is, the state of the

27
vocal cords. Generally, the sound of /θ/ is produced in the situation where the vocal cords are

put at a distance when the air goes by in order to make sure that the vocal cords do not make

vibration. Yet, as they attempted to articulate /θ/, they closed their vocal cords when the air

passed and created vibration. As a result, the sound produced by the students was more likely

to be heard as /ð/ than as /θ/.

iii. /θ/ pronounced as /th/

The last deviation occurred due to the fact that the participants changed the sound of

/θ/with /th/. This deviation was basically the same as the one of the deviations of /ð/, i.e. the

substitution of /ð/ with /th/. Both of the deviations were similar since the students replaced

the required sound, that is, /θ/ and /ð/ , with the allophone of /t/ . On both cases, the

participants aspirated the /t/ sound that they made. Still, on this particular deviation, the

Participants did not alter all the features of /θ/. They still produced the right state of the vocal

cords for the sound required, that is, voiceless. On the other hand, they also still deviated the

place and manner of articulation, from dental to alveolar and from fricative to stop. Thus, by

producing /th/, they deviated /θ/.

E. The pronunciation of /ʒ/

The next English consonantal sound that was problematic for the subjects as English

department students was /ʒ/. In general, English phonetic system illustrates /ʒ/ as a voiced

palatal fricative. Regardless of the conventional description of /ʒ/, this particular sound

becomes a problem for the learners since it does not exist in Sundanese phonetic system. In

table 5 below, it can be seen that in articulating this distinct English sound, the participants

28
tended to deviate it. If compared to other sounds observed in this paper, the kinds of

deviations made by the students in the pronunciation of /ʒ/ were the most varied of all. On

the whole, there were seven deviations made by the students in articulating /ʒ/: the

replacement of /ʒ/ with /z/, /s/, /j/, /∫/, /g/, /t∫/, /s/.

Table 3.6 the deviation of [ʒ]

Position Words Standard participant’s Deviations

phonetic actual
transcriptions pronunciation

Initial Genre /ʒɑːnrə/ /jenre/ ʒ→j

/zenre/ ʒ→z
/genre/ ʒ→g
Medial Measure /meʒər/ /me∫ər/ ʒ→∫
/miːzər/ ʒ→z
/miːjər/ ʒ→j
/miːsər/
Final Prestige /preˈstiːʒ/ /preˈstiːj/ ʒ→j
/preˈstiːt∫/ ʒ → t∫
/preːstig/ ʒ→g

i. /ʒ/ pronounced as /j/

The first deviation was the substitution of /ʒ/ with /j/ which that the sound of voiced palatal

fricative was being replaced with the sound of voiced palatal stop. Considering the number

of errors in the elements of the sound production, this deviation can be stated to have the

least error in it is sound production. It is because in this deviation, the participants altered

solely one feature of /ʒ/, that is, the manner of articulation. On the subject of the manner of

articulation, they replaced the fricative sound with the stop sound, which means that they

theoretically should produce a „hissing noise‟. Then, when dealing with the movement of the

29
air, they made a sudden release of the blocked air stream instead of released the articulators

slightly to produce friction. Therefore, by producing a voiced palatal stop /j/ instead of

voiceless palatal affricate /ʒ/, the participants made another deviation of /ʒ/.

ii. /ʒ/ pronounced as /z/

The second deviation was the replacement of /ʒ/ with /z/. In this replacement of voiced

palatal fricative with voiced alveolar fricative, the participants altered only one feature of /ʒ/.

Similar to the previous deviation, the Participant in making this deviation also replaced the

place of articulation from palatal to alveolar. It means that they placed the front part of their

tongue on the alveolar ridge rather than raised it to the hard palate. Hence, it is clear that by

producing /z/ instead of /ʒ/, they deviated the sound /ʒ/.

iii. /ʒ/ pronounced as /g/

The third deviation was the replacement of /ʒ/ with /g/: /ʒ/ is generally voiced palatal

fricative, whereas /g/ is essentially voiced velar stop. Initially the participants managed to

produce the sound in the correct state of articulation in which they vibrated their vocal cords.

However, in terms of place and manner of articulation, they produced deviation since they

raised the front part of their tongue to the hard palate instead of raising the front part of the

tongue to the hard palate, and also for the reason that they stopped the air stream completely

before releasing it abruptly when they actually should create ‘hissing noise’. Accordingly, it

is apparent that the students generated deviation when replacing /ʒ/ with /g/. This deviation

did not happen in the medial position of a word.

iv. /ʒ/ pronounced as /∫/

30
The fourth deviation done by the participants was the substitution of /ʒ/ with /∫/. If it is seen

from the general characteristics of the two sounds, /ʒ/ and /∫/ can almost be categorized as

similar sounds for the reason that they were two distinct sounds if being observed from the

state produce the sound in the correct state of articulation in which they vibrated their vocal

cords. However, in terms of place and manner of articulation, they produced deviation since

they raised the front part of their tongue to the hard palate instead of raising the front part of

the tongue to the hard palate, and also for the reason that they stopped the air stream

completely before releasing it abruptly when they actually should create ‘hissing noise’.

Accordingly, it is apparent that the students generated deviation when replacing /ʒ/ with /g/.

This deviation did not happen in the medial position of a word.

v. /ʒ/pronounced as /t∫/

The fifth deviation, the replacement of /ʒ/ with /t∫/ was the other deviation made by the

participants in the pronunciation of /ʒ/. This deviation can be seen from the example of

‚prestige‛ /preˈstiːt∫/. In this case, the participants partially messed up the features of /ʒ/ since

/ʒ/ is a voiced palatal fricative while /t∫/ is a voiceless palatal affricate. It means that in

producing this deviation, the students did not vibrate their vocal cords even when they were

required to vibrate them, and they made a friction when they should produce ‘hissing noise’.

For those reasons above, when theof the vocal cords. Whereas /ʒ/ is a voiced sound, /∫/ is a

voiceless sound. Consequently, when the students changed /ʒ/ to /∫/, they in fact had

generated a deviation in their pronunciation. This deviation only occurred in the initial and

medial positions of a word.

vi. /ʒ/ pronounced as /s/

31
The last one another deviation was the replacement of voiced palatal fricative /ʒ/ with

voiceless alveolar fricative /s/. In this deviation, the participants once again altered two

features of the sound /ʒ/, that is, the state of the vocal cords and the place of articulations. For

one thing, in producing this deviation they did not vibrate their vocal cords as what is

required in the sound production of /ʒ/. Then, in terms of place of articulation, they yet again

replaced palatal sound with alveolar sound. Thus, by replacing /ʒ/ with /s/, the participants

made completely different sounds and as a result, they created another deviation. Students

articulated /t∫/ instead of /ʒ/, they produced a deviation. This case the researchers just find in

word with final position on her research.

F. The pronunciation of /∫/

The English sound /∫/ is described as a voiceless postalveolar fricative, which means that a

speaker produces this kind of sound only if you move your tongue tip back behind the

alveolar ridge, you will feel the hard palate, which then moving further back again, becomes

the soft palate, or velum. This particular sound also cannot be found in Sundanese phonetic

system even though 4 of the 15 participants the researchers has observed, there was no make

a mistake in pronouncing /∫/ sound, they did not change the sound /f/ to /v/ or /p/. However,

two participants among the other 15 made deviation in pronouncing ./∫/ to be /s/ in the word

“ship”, “station”, “garnish” it should be pronounced using /∫/ sound but 11 participants more

was pronounced with /s/ sounds. this is a simple case, but if left unchecked it will be a

nuisance in pronunciation. Table 3.7 below show how the deviation occur

Table 3.7 the deviation of /∫/

32
 Position Words Standard participant’s Deviations
phonetic actual
transcriptions pronunciation

Initial ship /ʃɪp/ /sɪp/ ʃ→s

Medial station /steɪʃn/ /steɪʃn/

Final Garnish /ɡɑːrnɪʃ/ /ɡɑːrnɪs/ ʃ→s

As in the table above, the researcher has seen above the deviation have did by the

participants in pronouncing fricative consonant sound /ʃ/ was replaced with sound /s/ in

pronouncing word ‚ship‛ and ‚garnish‛ which transcribed as /ʃɪp/ but the participants

pronounced that word with transcribed as /sɪp/. The participants replaced the voiceless

fricative consonant sound with the voiceless alveolar fricative /s/. There is not too much

mistake in this kind of sound. And almost of the researcher’s participants still do the wrong

pronunciation in pronouncing this word because the participants has may have less

understand about comparing sound /ʃ/ between /s/.

G. The Pronunciation of /z/

The English sound /z/ is described as voiced alveolar fricative which means that a speaker

produce with blade of the tongue stuck to the alveolar region living a partial space for the air-

stream to force out.

Table 3.7 the deviation of /z/

Position Words Standard participant’s Deviations

phonetic actual
transcriptions pronunciation

33
 Initial zoom /zu:m/ /zu:m/

Medial Brazen /bɹeɪzən/ /bɹeɪsən/ z→s

Final Bags /bɹeɪzən/ /bæɡs/ z→s

As seen in the table above, the participants pronounced the words “brazen” and “bags” as

/bɹeɪsən/ and /bæɡs/ instead of the actual standard pronunciation as /bɹeɪzən/ and /bɹeɪzən/.

The Participants replaced the voiced fricative sound with the voiceless fricative sound. And

almost participants still do the wrong pronunciation in pronouncing this word because the

participants have less understanding about comparing sound /z/ between /s/.

H. The Pronunciation of /s/

The English sound /s/ is described as voiceless alveolar fricative which means that a speaker

produce with blade of the tongue stuck to the alveolar region living a partial space for the air-

stream to force out.

The tip and the blade of the tongue come very close to the alveolar ridge and create a narrow

gap. The air passes through the narrow gap with audible friction.

Table 3.8. The deviation of /s/

Position Words Standard participant’s Deviations

phonetic actual
transcriptions pronunciation

Initial seal /si:l/ /si:l/

Medial August /ɔːˈɡʌst/ /ɔːˈɡʌst/

34
 Final Famous /ˈfeɪməs/ /ˈfeɪməs/

From the table above, it can be deduced that participants pronounced the words as it should

be. There was no error in the pronunciation of the words. The fricative /s/ was articulated

correctly.

I. The Pronunciation of /h/

The English sound /h/ is described as voiceless glottal fricative. This sound is produced

differently than the other fricatives since it does not involve the tongue or the teeth as

articulators. For /h/, the sole articulator is the glottis, which is the opening between the vocal

folds. The sound is produced when the air passes through the glottis as it is narrowed. The

said opening is narrow enough to create some audible friction in the airstream flowing past

the vocal folds.

Table 3.9. The deviation of /h/

Position Words Standard participant’s Deviations

phonetics actual
transcriptions pronunciation

Initial Hello /həˈləʊ/ /həˈləʊ/

Medial Perhaps /pəˈhæps/ /pəˈhæps/

Final

35
From the table above, it can be deduced that participants pronounced the words as it ought to

be pronounced. There was no error in the pronunciation of the words. /h/ was articulated

correctly. The fricative /h/ does not occur at the word final position.

CHAPTER FOUR

GENERAL CONCLUSION

4.1. Summary

This long essay is aimed at showing the phonological errors of pronunciation of English

fricatives among selected undergraduates in Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti. It consists of

the introductory background, literature review, data presentation and analysis. The first

chapter delved into what language is, description of phonetics and phonology and the

English fricative sounds.

The second chapter, the researcher went through nature of pronunciation, English fricatives

phonetics and phonology, error analysis, kinds of errors and sources of errors. The concept of

error analysis was discussed extensively.

The next chapter consist of the data presentation and data analysis. The researcher was able

to gathered the research work data and analysed it with the use of recorded speeches.

36
4.2. Observations

Based on the findings and discussions in the previous chapter, the researcher finds that the

frequent kind of errors made by the respondents was substitution. The cause of errors in

pronouncing fricative sounds by the respondents is the interlingual error or the error of

students‟ native language reference. Interlingual error happened because of the negative

transfer from the source language to the target language. The lack of knowledge and absence

of certain sounds in students‟ native language also found to be the cause of students‟ errors

in pronouncing fricatives sounds. Besides that, the fact about pronunciation which known as

one of the difficult aspect concluded to being one of the factors.

4.3. Recommendations

Students in senior secondary should be well equipped with electronics devices for speech

therapy. These electronics devices should be well taken care of in terms of services and

maintenance.

Pronouncing English dictionaries should be purchased while modern language laboratory

should be built and provided with sound devices. This is necessary as oral English (at the

higher level) cannot be taught with mere board and chalk in the classroom.

Children should be exposed to Oral English at a very tender age from kindergarten to tertiary

level of education. It should be made an integral part of English.

Private tertiary institutions and other educational agencies, through the auspices of the

government, can also make a more of compelling students at a certain level to travel abroad

37
in order to sharpen their spoken and pronunciation cues. Better still, an organization which is

concerned with only the RP English could be set up here in Nigeria as this will go a long.

Teachers of English Language can also go a step further by putting the application of their

knowledge of English phonology to daily use among their students. Government as well as

educational body can also endeavor to employ teachers who have the British accents (if not

British citizen) to teach and expose students to the pronunciation of the English words.

After knowing learners' errors in pronunciation, it is suggested that teachers or instructors

pay more attention to consonant sound, as the main problem, without taking aside other

sounds in teaching the language. Teachers play significant roles in helping learners with

errors that might be produced. It is also important for teachers to give a good example of

pronunciation since learners might get the most exposure to particular language from the

teachers' sample.

Students should learn and practice more about English sound to make their pronunciation

better and improve their ability in pronouncing English sound.

There should be intensive and extensive practical work in the classroom and even outside as

occasion provides so that the students can easily grasp the oral English.

4.4. Conclusion

From the findings and analysis, it was discovered that first, the students made phonological

errors in the pronunciation of the seven English fricative consonants sounds being analysed

in this work with the exception of two sounds which are /h/ and /s/. Then, it could also be

38
figured out that one particular English sound, namely the sound of voiced palate-alveolar

fricative /ʒ/, created many difficulties for the students if compared to the other eight English

fricative sounds observed.

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Bamisaye, T. O. and Ojo, G. A. (2008) A Practical Approach to Speech Production. Lagos:

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 Stkip Al-Hikmah Surabaya. Vol.1 no. 1.

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41
APPENDIX

The following words is to be pronounced by respondents across the schools selected for this

work.

Fabulous, Buffer, Qualify, Various, Overactive, Supportive, Though , Although, Soothe,

Thieves, Either, Booth, Genre, Measure, Prestige, Ship, Station, Garnish, Zoom, Brazen,

Bags, Seal, August, Famous, Hello, Perhaps

The Table below shows the correct pronunciation of the words to be pronounced by the

Students

42
WORD LIST

Words IPA

Fabulous /fæbjələs

Buffer /bʌfər/

Qualify /
kwɑːlɪfaɪ/

Various /væriəs/

Overactive /oʊvərˈæk∫n/

Supportive /səˈpɔːrtɪv/

Though /ðoʊ/

Although /ɔːlðoʊ/

Soothe /suːð/

Thieves /θiːvz/

Soothe /ˈiːθər/

Thieves /buːθ/

Either /ˈiːθər/

Booth /buːθ/

Genre /ʒɑːnrə/

Measure /meʒər/

Prestige /preˈstiːʒ/

zoom /zu:m/

brazen /bɹeɪzən/

43
bags /bɹeɪzən/

Seal /si:l/

august /ɔːˈɡʌst/

Famous /ˈfeɪməs/

Hello /həˈləʊ/

Perhaps /pəˈhæps/

Ship /ʃɪp/

Station /steɪʃn/

Garnish /ɡɑːrnɪʃ/

44