An Investigation of Intelligibility and Lingua Franca Core Features in Indonesian Accented English

Abstract

Recent approaches to teaching pronunciation of English in second or foreign language contexts have favoured the role of students’ L1 accents in the teaching and learning process with the emphasis on intelligibility and the use of English as a Lingua Franca rather than on achieving native like pronunciation. As far as English teaching in Indonesia is concerned, there is limited information on the intelligibility of Indonesian Accented English, as well as insufficient guidance on key pronunciation features for effective teaching. This research investigates features of Indonesian Accented English and critically assesses the intelligibility of different levels of Indonesian Accented English.

English Speech data were elicited from 50 Indonesian speakers using reading texts. Key phonological features of Indonesian Accented English were investigated through acoustic analysis involving spectrographic observation using Praat Speech Analysis software. The intelligibility of different levels of Indonesian Accented English was measured using a transcription task performed by 24 native and non-native English listeners. The overall intelligibility of each accent was measured by examining the correctness of the transcriptions.
The key pronunciation features which caused intelligibility failure were identified by analysing the incorrect transcriptions.

The analysis of the key phonological features of Indonesian Accented English showed that while there was some degree of regularity in the production of vowel duration and consonant clusters, more individual variations were observed in segmental features particularly in the production of consonants /v, z, ʃ/ which are absent in the Indonesian phonemic inventory. The results of the intelligibility analysis revealed that although light and moderate accented speech data were
significantly more intelligible than the heavier accented speech data, the native and non-native listeners did not have major problems with the intelligibility of Indonesian Accented English across the different accent levels. The analysis of incorrect transcriptions suggested that intelligibility failures were associated more with combined phonological miscues rather than a single factor. These results indicate that while Indonesian Accented English can be used effectively in international communication, it can also inform English language teaching in
Indonesia.

Date of Award	2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Coventry University
Supervisor	Sheena Gardner (Supervisor) & Michael Cribb (Supervisor)