English Segmental Sounds Convergence by Indonesians in Womantalk Podcast

Annisa Nurhijatul Kania, Dr. Ni Gusti Ayu Roselani, M.A.

2025 | Tesis | S2 Linguistik

Fenomena konvergensi bunyi dalam interaksi berbahasa Inggris di kalangan orang Indonesia menjadi motivasi utama dalam penelitian ini. Konvergensi bunyi merujuk pada perilaku komunikatif di mana pembicara menyesuaikan pengucapan mereka agar lebih mirip dengan lawan bicaranya. Penelitian ini mengeksplorasi kebutuhan sosial yang mendasari terjadinya konvergensi tersebut. Podcast Womantalk dipilih sebagai sumber data karena menyediakan banyak contoh relevan dari fenomena bahasa ini. Penelitian ini mengkaji bunyi bahasa Inggris yang mengalami konvergensi oleh orang Indonesia selama interaksi bilingual Inggris-Indonesia, dengan fokus khusus pada faktor sosial yang memengaruhi proses tersebut. Metode yang digunakan meliputi analisis fonetik dan fonologis, serta teori Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) dari Giles (2016) untuk menganalisis data. Penelitian ini memiliki tiga tujuan utama: (1) mengidentifikasi bunyi bahasa Inggris yang mengalami konvergensi oleh orang Indonesia sebagaimana tercermin dalam percakapan di Podcast Womantalk; (2) menentukan pengaruh resiprositas terhadap munculnya konvergensi bunyi; dan (3) mengkaji peran faktor sosial dalam memotivasi konvergensi bunyi. Data terdiri dari 20 episode dari seri Podcast Womantalk berjudul “Life as Modern Woman,” dengan durasi 30 hingga 50 menit per episode. Data yang dianalisis meliputi contoh bunyi bahasa Inggris yang mengalami konvergensi menuju pengucapan bahasa Indonesia, yang telah divalidasi oleh penutur asli bahasa Inggris. Data dikumpulkan menggunakan teknik simak-catat (note-taking). Untuk analisis, data pertama-tama diklasifikasikan berdasarkan jenis bunyi yang mengalami konvergensi dan kemudian dianalisis menggunakan sifat fonetik. Selain itu, data juga diklasifikasikan berdasarkan episode untuk menilai resiprositas, dan analisis lebih lanjut mengenai resiprositas serta faktor sosial terkait dilakukan menggunakan Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) sebagaimana dijelaskan oleh Giles (2016). Hasil penelitian mengungkapkan 20 contoh konvergensi bunyi yang memengaruhi baik konsonan maupun vokal. Pengaruh ortografis diidentifikasi sebagai faktor signifikan, di mana orang Indonesia cenderung mengucapkan kata-kata bahasa Inggris berdasarkan bentuk tertulisnya. Resiprositas ditemukan secara substansial meningkatkan baik cakupan maupun frekuensi konvergensi bunyi, menyoroti pentingnya sebagai pendorong penyesuaian fonetik dalam wicara bilingual. Selain itu, identitas bersama, bahasa pertama, keanggotaan kelompok, kemahiran bahasa, dan aksen terbukti memainkan peran penting dalam memotivasi munculnya konvergensi bunyi.

The phenomenon of sound convergence in English-language interactions among Indonesians served as the primary motivation for this study. Sound convergence refers to a communicative behavior in which speakers adjust their pronunciation to become more similar to that of their interlocutors. This research explored the underlying social needs that drive such convergence. The Womantalk Podcast was selected as the source of data, as it provided ample and relevant instances of this language phenomenon. This study investigated converged English sounds produced by Indonesians during bilingual English-Indonesian interactions, with a particular focus on the social factors influencing this process. The research employed both Phonetic and Phonological analyses, as well as Giles’ Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT), to analyze the data. The study addressed three main objectives: (1) identifying the converged English sounds produced by Indonesians as reflected in conversations on the Womantalk Podcast; (2) determining the influence of reciprocity on the emergence of sound convergence; and (3) examining the role of social factors in motivating sound convergence. The data comprised 20 episodes from the Womantalk Podcast series titled “Life as Modern Woman” which the duration was 30 to 50 minutes per episode. The analyzed data included instances of English sounds that were converged toward Indonesian pronunciations, as validated by native English speakers. The data were collected using a note-taking technique. For analysis, the data were first classified by types of converged sounds and then analyzed using phonetic properties. Additionally, the data were classified by episode to assess reciprocity, and further analysis of reciprocity and the associated social factors was conducted using Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) as outlined by Giles (2016). The findings revealed 20 instances of sound convergence, affecting both consonants and vowels. Orthographic influence was identified as a significant factor, as Indonesians tended to pronounce English words based on their written form. Reciprocity was found to substantially increase both the extent and frequency of sound convergence, highlighting its importance as a driver of phonetic alignment in bilingual speech. Additionally, shared identity, first language, in-group membership, language proficiency, and accent were all shown to play crucial roles in motivating the emergence of sound convergence.

Kata Kunci : sound convergence, accommodation, Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT), sociolinguistics, Indonesians