S

Xavier University

Xavier University- Ateneo de Cagayan

Cagayan de Oro City
A.Y.2018-2019

Mother Tongue Interference in

Acquiring Standard English Language
Pronunciation for a Japanese Exchange
Student: A Case Study

Kleone S. Butaslac

English 12 Instructor

March 2019
Lodicabyl
Introduction

Amajor) indicator of mastery of a second language is proper, and accurate

pronunciation. Yates, L. (2002) defined pronunciation as the production of sounds that we
use to make meaning. Otentimes, pronunciation includes features of speech past the domain
of individual sounds, on to intonation, stress, rhythm, voice quality etc. However, this case
study will not tackle the complexities of English language intonation and speaker voice
quality. Instead, it will proceed with its aim of detecting specific sounds/phonemes in LIthat

may account for negative interference in acquiring L2 pronunciation.

This case study focuses on the English Language as the L2, and Japanese as the
native tongue. Both languages share a greater number of differences than similarities. To

illustrate, English is a West Germanic Language while Japanese (A *# or "Nihon

go") belongs to the Japonic (or Japanese-Ryukyuan) language familywhich is almost its
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entirely own family. In addition, English conforms to the SVO word order, while Nihongo
conforms to the rule of SOV. Both language's writing and alphabet are vastly unalike and
their sound patterns, tones, and pronunciation are uniquely their own.

This study will delve into the problem surrounding L1 interference with acquiring
standard English language pronunciation far a ner-native English Japanese speaker. It will
endeavor to identify the specific points of speech and pronunciation errors and the causes
behind said interferences. Through this case study, further understanding may be gathered as
tohow Ll negatively affects the acquisition of L2 pronunciation.
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Theoretical Background and Statement of Hypothesis

Age and Acquisition: Interference in Adults

Withamore developed cognitív¢, adults learning a second language manifest similar

errorslike that of children learning their first. They systematically utilize any available
information there is in order to establish ground rules for them to base their process of
linguistic training. Adults use their native language to facilitate them in learning their second

language due to its)vulnerability to the first. This kind of assistance fills in the interfering
gaps as they participate in the process of learning a second language, serving itself to be a
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bridge that resolves any form of generalization. Therefore, their first language does not
necessarily serve as an intervention but rather, them to acquisite the second

language through the familiarity of linguistic structure that their native language can provide.
Human Learning: Transfer, Interference, Overgeneralization

Humans acquire knowledge through associating past knowledge with thepresent. It is

wich
through existing systems and structures that humans are wired to learn, such that in the

process of language acquisition. These terms are associated torepresent the aforementioned
concept of learning:

Transfer is the term that refers to the application of accumulated experience to the
present. It is through positive transfer that the learner gathers beneficial outcomes in their
learning task, whereas negative transfer refers to the disruption of performing the
second
task. nterference is a term synonymous to that of negative transfer. It is
through this process
where the learned item is incorrectly associated to the material to be
learned. In the process
of learning a second language, interference has been
stressed out due to the learners' reliance
M

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on their native language and also, it includes a set of experiences necessary for the learning
process of second language learners.

These concepts allcorrelate to the central theme of first language interference and its role in
second language acquisition.

Hypothesis

The hypothesis posed on Mother Tongue Interference is the following:

1. The native tongue interferes with acquiring standard English language pronunciation.
DataGathering Procedure

In order to satisfy the objectives set by this study, a qualitative research was
performed. To determine the extent of the respondent's LI interference in learning standard
English pronunciation and to be able to identify the key phonological features that contrast in
"rad?
both Nihongo and English, the study made use of a Read Aloud PBonunciatíon Test which
wassubsequently followed by asupplementary interview.

The Read Aloud Pronunciation test was divided intotwo sections:the first part of the
btenel fron?
test involved an English Language Pronunciation Sample Paragraph which contains nearly
every sound in the English language. The respondent was tasked to read the sample

paragraph as naturally and honestly as possible. The sample paragraph read:

"Please callStella. Ask her to bring these thingswith her from the store: six spoons of -oig
fresh snow peas, five thick slabs of blue cheese, and maybe a snack for her brother Bob. We

also need a smallplastic snake and abig toy frog for the kids. She can scoop these things into
three red bags, and we will go meet her Wednesday at the train station,"

The second part of the test involved a series of commonly used English words which
the respondent had to say aloud in succession. With the respondent's consent, both portions

of the test were recorded for the researcher to later peruse and analyze.

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The test was supplemented by an interview designed to provide a brief overview of
the respondent's educational and linguistic background and current status. In relation to the

established hypothesis, the following questions were posed:

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1. Can you tell us about yourself? (Family, education, exchange year...)

2. How many languages do you speak? What are those Languages?

3. Have you ever had English classes before coming to the Philippines?

4. When did you start receiving formal instruction on English?

5. How difficult do you find the English language?

6. Do you think that your native language (Japanese) affects your English? Why so?

7. Do you think your English has improved since coming to the Philippines?

8. Which words/sounds did you find hardest to pronounce in English?

9. Which are the easiest?

The answers to the aforementioned questions willbe addressed in thefollowing

sections.
Profile of the Respondent

Name: Takeru Tsumuraya

Age: 17 Date of birth: January 23, 2002

Sex: Male

Nationality: Japanese

Affiliation: AFS Exchange Student to the Philippines, Grade 12 Senior High School student
at Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan (XU-ADC)

Current Address: Morning Mist Village, Uptown, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines

Home Country Address: Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Background

Japan-born AFS Exchange Student to the Philippines Takeru Tsumuraya, is the eldest
son of a family of four. He is a native Japanese speaker currently learning standard American
English as the medium of communication during his one-year stay in the Philippines.
Although he had started his education in the English language in his early elementary days, it
was not until high school that he received formal education for about two years. Takeru has
visited countries such as Indonesia and the United States of America, but had no particular
reason to master the English language. Now fully immersed in a country that has English as
an official second language, he is slowly but securely acquiring the language and all its
fundamentals both socially, through his peers. and academically, as a Senior Hign Senoo
student.
Presentation, Analysis, and Interpretation of Findings
Takeru arrived in the Philippines in July of 2018, and has been
immersed in the
community for eight months as of the time of writing. He predominantly communicates and
interacts with his host family and his peers at school, and has somewhat grown
accustomed to
conversing in English in casual settings. Yet, Takeru still exhibited inaccuracies and slip-ups
while utilizing the language.

Seeing that English and Japanese are two drastically dissimilar languages belonging
todifferent language families and having distinct word orders, there is no denying that a non
native English speaker would find trouble grasping the fundamentals of the English language
(although this study's focal point is mainly on pronunciation and the influence Japanese has
on Takeru's current ways of uttering English words and individual sounds). As previously
mentioned, a Read Aloud test was initially conducted with the use of an English Language
Pronunciation Sample Paragraph. The test results were thoroughly examined and evaluated in
terms of pronunciation errors.

Takeru, who did not have any prior knowledge of the test's content, read the sample
text and a handful of pronunciation errors were identified:

The voiced alveolar // sound in the words please, Stella, and blue was replaced with a
voiced alveolar /r/ sound(prease, Sterra, and bru).

2. The tense high back rounded vowel lu/ sound in the words spoons, and scoop was
replaced with a tense mid back rounded vowel /ol sound (spons, scop).

3. The /r/ sound in the words fresh. and train was replaced with a voiced labial-velar
glide /w/ sound (twain).
 4. The voiceless postalveolar fricative /f/ sound was
omitted in the words fresh, and she
(fves).

5. The I/ sound in the word she was replaced with a voiced alveolar fricative /z/ sound

(zee).

Furthermore, in the second portion of the test (which included a series of commonly
used English words), Takeru exhibited similar errors in pronunciation with the addition of the
following words:

1 The /t/ sound in the word agree, administration and alreacy was replaced with a /w/
sound (agwee, awleady).

2. The voiceless dental fricative /9/ sound in father was replaced by a voiceless alveolar
fricative /s/ sound (faser).

3. The voiced palatoalveolar fricative I3/ sound in the word pleasure was replaced with
the voiced fricative /dz/ sound and the r sound in the end was omitted (pleju).

The aforementioned words had the most prominent pronunciation mistakes within the

entire test. Among the results, the most frequent mistake was that of the substitution of the /rl
sOund with alw/ sound,as in the words fresh, train, agree,already, and administration. This
phenomenon can easily be attested to the very fact that an exact equivalent to the énglish /r/
Sound does not exist in Japaneseonly a liguid consonant that is considered to be an in

between sound of English /r/ and // (Ohata, 2004). In the case of the word pleasure, the Ir
Sound was omitted entirely in Takeru's case. The substitution of the // sound for the /r/ sound
in words such as please, Stella, blue and gdministration can also be explaned by tm

ConusiOn in consonants between languages since Jananese also has no // consSOnant.

 As in the case of the substitution of the u/
sound in the words poon, and the
Japanese vowel system does, in fact, have the same higk back
rounded vowel sound. The
only contrast here is in terms of unfamiliarity ín spelling or word
structure. Essentially,
Japanese does not make use of dipthongs, therefore the incorporation of the double oin a
word might still be foreign to Takeru. Also, the tense/lax vowels pairs of English such as /i/
vs. //, le/ vs. /[/, /u/ vs. UI, do not exist in the five-vowel system of Japanese as there is no

tense/lax differentiation (Ohata, 2004).

The final observable errors were the omission of /// in fresh, and its substitution with
Iz in she; the replacement of // sound in father with /s/; and the replacement of /3/ in
pleasure with /dg/. These can all be explained with the fact that /0/, / f1, and /3/ do not exist
inthe Japanese consonantal system (0hata, 2004).

Takeru has spoken Japanese all his life, and had never neededto maximize the usage
of English within his everyday life until getting the chance to study in the Philippines. Before
that, his formal instruction was minimal. Takeru believes that English is a hard language to

learn, especially coming from his background. During the conversation with Takeru, he even
acknowledged the role of his native tongue with his current status in learning and using the

English language. In the interview, he admitted to having difficulty pronouncing the /Vand /r/
sound while reinforcing the fact that Japanese has no consonant for N.

Being the adventurous and enthusiastic young man Takeru is, his motivations are

unquestionable when it comes to attempting to learnowthn

aculture and its language. Seeing that he
voluntarily applied for a program which sends high school students to foreign nations tor
intercultural learning, his priorities are already in line with that of a willing, actively
engaging student. Given the number of yords in the tests. it must be acknowledged tnat

although he manifested some forms of mispronunciation. there were multiple scenarios where
he acknowledged his error but was just physically incapable of correcting it.
Interestingly
enough, he did not conmit the same mistake twice in some cases and did not demonstrate

common pronunciation errors that a native Japanese speaker with a lesser degree of second
ane
language exposure would.
Conclusion

As a linguistic
consideration for acquiring a second language, it cannot be denied that
L1 poses as a stubborn obstacle hindering a learner from
completely mastering a new
language. With Takeru, this obstacle takes shapc in his
native tongue's phonological
characteristics and symbols, or lack thereof. The English language contains a
plethora of
phonemes that is simply just missing in Japanese. This piece of evidence may prove to be a
sont of handicap for Takeru, especially because his tongue is somewhat unable to
correctly
position itself to produce the sounds only found in the English alphabet. Essentially, Takeru

never had the reason to do so until he started exercising his English speaking skills in the
Philippines.
Anative with a masterful grasp of his first language would have built a register filled
with allthe sounds and patterns he required to speak the language. If that speaker started to
learn a foreign language with an absolutely alien vowel and consonantal system, it would be
enough reason to interfere with acquiring standard English language pronunciation. Takenu
a few elish
did not have the ability to produce certain sounds and sometimes confused one for the other,
which all led to his mistakes in pronunciation.

As proven by the tests conducted and the evidences gleaned, Takeru's native tongue

of Japanese did in fact interfere with meeting the standards of English pronunciation. But
what is noteworthy here is that, at times, Takeru was fully aware of his mistakes as he was

performing them or even before doing so! He was merely incapacitated from fixing the

errors due to sound producing limitations. Meaning,language-specific biological

Considerations born of his first language mav also be at play in the interference of standard
English pronunciation.

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 Overall, there is a certainty that Ll influences the acquisition of a
second language,
especially pronunciation. Based from the study, LI interference in second language
acquisition should be provided more significance as the differences in the two languages may

answer to a learner's ability or disability to communicate, interact, and be understood in the

world.

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References:

Brown, H. D. (2000). Principles of Language Learning and

Teaching (Fourth ed.).
White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.

Ohata, K. (2004). Phonological Differences between Japanese and

English.: Several
Potentially Problematic Areas of Promnciation for Japanese ESL/EFL Learners. Indiana
University of Pennsylvania.
Yates, L. (2002). Fact sheet - What is promunciation? La Trobe University: Adult

Migrant English Program Research Centre.

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