An acoustic study of Jonglish Communiy: Javanese-accented speech

Abstract

People who speak English with a Javanese accent are referred to as Jonglish (Jowo-English) speakers. They end their sentences in a high tone, therefore, the aims of this study were to compare the intensity and pitch of Javanese accent speakers (specifically from Pekalongan, Semarang, and Pati) with native speakers. The focus was on investigating whether the high tone at the end of sentences affects the engaging nature of the conversation. It employed descriptive qualitative design and included data collection, acoustic analysis, perception analysis, linguistic analysis, and interpretation. The data were collected by audio recording in the form of sentences. Praat, a voice analysis, was utilized to analyze the data. The findings demonstrated that Pekalongan and Semarang speakers had higher pitch than native speaker (232.25 Hz and 206.27 Hz). Meanwhile, the pitch score for Pati was lower than native; 192.04 Hz. On the other hand, the intensity from those regions were lower than native speaker; 69.58 dB, 61.51 dB, and 68.203 dB, while the of native speaker was 71.306 dB. The fact that the Jonglish includes a tendency to end sentences with a high tone suggests a particular intonation pattern. Despite these variations, effective communication often relies on contextual cues and the listeners ability to adapt to different speech patterns. The study has the potential to make meaningful contributions to English pronunciation instruction, cultural awareness, and effective cross-cultural communication. The outcomes of the research can inform pedagogical practices and support the broader goal of promoting linguistic diversity in English language education.