Phonological Interference of Mother Tongue on English Sound Production: A Contrastive Study Based on A Literature Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37630/jpb.v16i2.4478Keywords:
Phonological Interference, Contrastive Analysis, Sound Production, English, Second Language AcquisitionAbstract
Mastery of English as an international language requires proper sound production skills, but speakers from a variety of linguistic backgrounds often face systematic obstacles due to the influence of their first language sound system. This study aims to map the English sounds that are most susceptible to distortion by first language (L1), analyze these patterns of interference in a contrastive manner, and identify linguistic factors that determine their severity. The method used is library research with a qualitative approach, sourced from journal articles, books, and proceedings published in 2021–2025 which are searched through Google Scholar, ERIC, and DOAJ. Data analysis follows the stages of reduction, display, and verification. The results of the study showed that the dental fricative sounds /θ/ and /ð/, monophthongic vowel pairs, and complex consonant groups were the most susceptible segments to interference. The pattern of sound substitution is systematic and can be predicted through the framework of contrastive analysis. The severity of interference is determined by the typological distance between languages, the level of proficiency of the speaker, nonverbal intelligence, and the complexity of cross-lexical similarities. These findings are expected to be a foundation for teachers in designing more contextual and effective phonetic learning.
References
Al-khresheh, M. H. (2024). Phonetic challenges in English: the impact of mispronunciation of the bilabial plosive/p/on communication among Saudi EFL learners. Cogent Arts and Humanities, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2024.2390777
Al-Rickaby, A. (2023). The survival of contrastive analysis hypothesis: A look under the hood. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 13(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1301.01
Astuty, A. D. (2022). Phonological Interferences in the English of Buginese Students. International Journal of Research on English Teaching and Applied Linguistics, 3(1), 53–61. https://doi.org/10.30863/ijretal.v3i1.3152
Chau, T., Huensch, A., Hoang, Y. K., & Chau, H. T. (2022). The Effects of L2 Pronunciation Instruction on EFL Learners’ Intelligibility and Fluency in Spontaneous Speech. Tesl-Ej, 25(4), n4. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1334064
Chidi-Onwuta, G., & Maqbool, T. (2022). Analysis of the Interlanguage of Second Language Learners: Implications for the classroom. Second Language Acquisition–Learning Theories and Recent Approaches, 1(2), 44. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107039
Chiluisa, C. M., González, O. O. L., & Beltran, S. M. P. (2024). L1 Interference In English Major Students’pronunciation At Technical University Of Cotopaxi. Data & Metadata: Salud, Ciencia Y Tecnologia, 3. https://doi.org/10.56294/dm2024.217
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2023). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (6th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Garrido-Pozú, J. J. (2024). The Interplay of Syllable Structure and Consonant Sonority in L2 Speech Segmentation. Languages, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9030103
Georgiou, G. P., & Giannakou, A. (2024). Discrimination of Second Language Vowel Contrasts and the Role of Phonological Short-Term Memory and Nonverbal Intelligence. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 53(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-024-10038-z
Gu, L., & Zhang, W. (2025). The role of phonology in processing English suffixed words by Chinese–English bilinguals. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04398-7
Hevia-Tuero, C., Incera, S., & Suárez-Coalla, P. (2022). Influences of First and Second Language Phonology on Spanish Children Learning to Read in English. Frontiers in Psychology, 13(March). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.803518
Kafryawan, W., & Zulihi. (2023). Sound Production of English Dental Fricatives by Papuan EFL Students. Tell : Teaching of English Language and Literature Journal, 11(2), 92–102. https://doi.org/10.30651/tell.v11i2.19007
Lee, Y. Y. (2022). A conceptual analysis of typological distance and its potential consequences on the bilingual brain. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 25(9), 3333–3346. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2022.2052790
Liu, S., Zhang, Y., Zhou, S., Shen, X., & Sun, J. (2026). Mitigating orthographic interference: Exploring the combined effects of L2 interlexical similarities on vocabulary memory with big data. Journal of Memory and Language, 146, 104707. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2025.104707
Macías, M., Castro, M., Toala, M. del C., Loor, M., & Ampuero, M. E. (2025). Linguistic interference in the writing production of learners of English as Foreign Language. Maestro y Sociedad, 22(1), 320–331. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5958-3541
Miles, M. (2023). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook (4th ed.). In SAGE Publications.
Moleong, L. J. (2021). Qualitative research methodology. Bandung, PT Remaja Rosdakarya, Year. https://books.google.co.id/books?id=YXsknQEACAAJ
Norrman, G. (2024). First-language interference without bilingualism? Evidence from second language vowel production in international adoptees. Applied Psycholinguistics, 767–785. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716424000237
Perkins, K., & Zhang, L. J. (2024). The effect of first language transfer on second language acquisition and learning: From contrastive analysis to contemporary neuroimaging. RELC Journal, 55(1), 162–178. https://doi.org/10.1177/00336882221081894
Prystauka, Y., Hao, J., Cabrera Perez, R., & Rothman, J. (2024). Lexical interference and prediction in sentence processing among Russian heritage speakers: an individual differences approach. Journal of Cultural Cognitive Science, 8(3), 223–245. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41809-024-00148-4
Wayland, R. (2024). Second Language Speech Learning: Theoretical and Empirical Progress. In Cambridge University Press (p. 536). https://books.google.co.id/books?id=_aJGzgEACAAJ
Zaidi, B. (2024). The Substitutions Of Voiced And Voiceless Dental Fricative Sounds: The Perspectives Of Esl Malaysian Secondary Students. Malaysian Journal of Applied Linguistics (MJoAL), 2, 22–41. https://doi.org/10.32890/mjoal2024.2.2
Zed, M. (2022). Literature research methods. Jakarta: Indonesia Obor Foundation. https://books.google.co.id/books?id=zG9sDAAAQBAJ
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Zulfitri Zulfitri, Deslinawati Panjaitan, Nilna Muhlihah Iqbal, Nuraisyah Nuraisyah, Abdul Manan Pane
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- Seluruh materi yang terdapat dalam situs ini dilindungi oleh undang-undang. Dilarang mengutip sebagian atau seluruh isi situs web ini untuk keperluan komersil tanpa persetujuan dewan penyunting jurnal ini.
- Apabila anda menemukan satu atau beberapa artikel yang terdapat dalam Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa yang melanggar atau berpotensi melanggar hak cipta yang anda miliki, silahkan laporkan kepada kami, melalui email pada Principle Contact.
- Aspek legal formal terhadap akses setiap informasi dan artikel yang tercantum dalam situs jurnal ini mengacu pada ketentuan lisensi Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
- Semua Informasi yang terdapat di Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa bersifat akademik. Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa tidak bertanggung jawab terhadap kerugian yang terjadi karana penyalah gunaan informasi dari situs ini.
