Romanization-induced phonetic deviation in Mandarin affricates of Indonesian migrant workers’ interlanguage in Taiwan
Abstract
This study investigates how a non‑standard romanization system used in a private Indonesian training institution shapes the production of Mandarin affricates by Indonesian Migrant Workers (IMW) in Taiwan. It asks how L1‑based spellings interact with Indonesian phonology to produce systematic deviations in Mandarin affricate interlanguage. A descriptive case study was conducted with five female workers, a purposively bounded sample reflecting the female-dominated composition of the caregiving sector in which they are employed, combining acoustic analysis of /z/, /c/, /j/, /q/, /zh/, /ch/ measuring Voice Onset Time (VOT), Frication Duration (FD), and Center of Gravity (CoG) with semi‑structured interviews and analysis of the training module. The results show pervasive over‑aspiration of non‑aspirated affricates, variable aspiration of aspirated segments, and consistent dentalization of retroflex affricates, indicating a collapse of aspiration contrasts and a shift toward alveolar/dental articulations. Module inspection reveals that modified romanization visually maps Mandarin affricates onto Indonesian graphemes for /tʃ/ and /dʒ/, while interviews indicate a strong reliance on these spellings and hyper articulation strategies. The study concludes that local romanization, L1 phonology, and communicative pressures jointly foster a fossilized interlanguage affricate system, and argues for revising romanization practices and integrating explicit articulatory instruction and feedback in migrant worker Mandarin training.
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References
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Alwi, H., Moeliono, A. M., Dardjowidjojo, S., & Lapoliwa, H. (2000). Tata bahasa baku bahasa Indonesia (3rd ed.). Balai Pustaka.
Bagaskara, A. S. D. (2026). Produksi fonetik konsonan afrikat bahasa Mandarin pekerja migran Indonesia di Taiwan: Studi kasus LPKS Eka Management Cipta Sejahtera [Undergraduate thesis, Universitas Brawijaya]. https://repository.ub.ac.id/id/eprint/260010
Bassetti, B. (2007). Effects of Hanyu Pinyin on pronunciation in learners of Chinese as a foreign language. In A. Guder, X. Jiang, & Y. Wan. (Eds.), The Cognition, Learning and Teaching of Chinese Characters. Beijing Language and Culture University Press. https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/528
Bassetti, B. (2008). Orthographic input and second language phonology. In T. Piske & M. Young-Scholten (Eds.), Input matters in SLA (pp. 191–206). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847691118-013
Bassetti, B. (2024). Orthographic effects in the phonetics and phonology of second language learners and users. In The Cambridge handbook of bilingual phonetics and phonology (pp. 699–720). Cambridge University Press.
Boersma, P., & Weenink, D. (2024). Praat: Doing phonetics by computer (6.4.07).
BP2MI. (2025). Laporan tahunan publikasi data pekerja migran Indonesia tahun 2024. https://kp2mi.go.id/uploads/statistik/images/data_06-02-2025_Laporan_Tahunan__Publikasi_Data_PMI_2024.pdf
Campbell, L., & Grondona, V. (2008). Ethnologue: Languages of the world. In G. Raymond (Ed.), Language, 84(3), 636-641. SIL International. https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.0.0054
Chang, Y.-H. (2012). Variability in cross-dialectal production and perception of contrasting phonemes: The case of the alveolar-retroflex contrastin Beijing and Taiwan Mandarin [Dissertation]. University of Illinois.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design (4th ed.). SAGE.
Escudero, P., Hayes-Harb, R., & Mitterer, H. (2008). Novel second-language words and asymmetric lexical access. Journal of Phonetics, 36(2), 345–360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2007.11.002
Etikan, I., Musa, S. A., & Alkassim, R. S. (2016). Comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 5(1), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20160501.11
Farizi, F., & Herwiana, S. (2022). A study of teaching speaking techniques used at Peace English Course Pare, Kediri. Pioneer: Journal of Language and Literature, 14(1), 43-57. https://doi.org/10.36841/pioneer.v14i1.1382
Fitriyah, Z., & Subandi, S. (2020). Analisis kesalahan pelafalan huruf konsonan (声母 shēngmǔ) oleh para tokoh dalam drama Thailand yang berjudul Love Beyond Frontier. Jurnal Bahasa Mandarin, 5(2), 99. https://ejournal.unesa.ac.id/index.php/manadarin/article/view/45181
Flege, J. E. (1995). Second language speech learning theory, findings, and problems. In W. Strange (Ed.), Speech perception and linguistic experience: Issues in cross-language research (pp. 233–277). York Press.
Flege, J. E., & Bohn, O.-S. (2021). The revised speech learning model (SLM-r). In R. Wayland (Ed.), Second language speech learning (pp. 3–83). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108886901
Goh, H. L., Woon, F. T., Moisik, S. R., & Styles, S. J. (2024). Contrastive alveolar/retroflex phonemes in Singapore Mandarin bilinguals: Comprehension rates for articulations in different accents, and acoustic analysis of productions. Language and Speech, 67(4), 924–944. https://doi.org/10.1177/00238309231205012
Han, Zhaohong. (2004). Fossilization in adult second language acquisition (D. Singleton, Ed.; 1st ed.). Multilingual Matters.
Irawan, Y. (2017). Fonetik akustik: Sebuah pengantar telaah wujud akustik bahasa (Vol. 1). Angkasa.
Lee-Kim, S.-I. (2014). Revisiting Mandarin ‘apical vowels’: An articulatory and acoustic study. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 44(3), 261–282. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025100314000267
Li, H., Baryadi, I. P., & Wijana, I. D. P. (2019). Sound pattern of Indonesian plosives. Linguistik Indonesia, 37(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.26499/li.v37i1.84
Li, J., Xu, R. B., & Mok, P. P. K. (2014). Effect of orthography on L2 production of Mandarin tones. Proc. 4th International Symposium on Tonal Aspects of Languages (TAL 2014), 147–151. https://www.isca-archive.org/tal_2014/li14_tal.html#
Li, S., & Gu, W. (2015). Acoustic analysis of Mandarin affricates. Proc. Interspeech, 1680–1684. https://doi.org/10.21437/Interspeech.2015-387
Liu, D. D., Artawa, K., Budiarsa, M., Suastra, I. M., & Septevany, E. (2021). Pronunciation errors of Indonesian Mandarin learners. TIJOLAC: The International Journal of Language and Cultural, 3(1), 66–82. https://www.growingscholar.org/journal/index.php/TIJOLAC/article/view/111
LPKS. (n.d.). Modul Bahasa Mandarin. LPKS Eka Management Cipta Sejahtera.
Narhan, R., Sholihatun, P., & Syarfina, T. (2023). Analisis frekuensi, intensitas, dan durasi pada bahasa Turki oleh native speaker dan non-native speaker menggunakan Praat. LINGUA: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Dan Pengajarannya, 20(2), 351–372. https://doi.org/10.30957/lingua.v20i2.840
Purba, Y. A., Aini, Y. N., Asiati, D., & Ngadi, N. (2020). Kesenjangan kepesertaan jaminan sosial tenaga kerja di Indonesia: Analisis data Sakernas 2018. Jurnal Ketenagakerjaan, 15(2). https://doi.org/10.47198/naker.v15i2.72
Reetz, H., & Jongman, A. (2020). Phonetics: transcription, production, acoustics, and perception (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Reranta, R. C., & Huntley, M. L. (2022). Acoustic parameters giving the angry impression in Lampungnese neutral speech. Linguistik Indonesia, 40(1), 49–61. https://doi.org/10.26499/li.v40i1.272
RTI. (2024, January 26). Taiwan’s Labor Ministry to launch digital learning program for migrant workers. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan). https://roc-taiwan.org/th_en/post/6482.html
Saville-Troike, M., & Barto, K. (2016). Introducing second language acquisition (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Sinurat, B. and Herman. (2019). The typology of the first year students’ pronunciations at FKIP-Universitas HKBP Nommensen Pematangsiantar on English voiceless plosive consonants. Journal of English Language and Culture, 10(1), 1-9. http://dx.doi.org/10.30813/jelc.v10i1.1903
Wang, M., Lin, C. Y., & Yang, C. (2013). Contributions of phonology, orthography, and morphology in Chinese-English biliteracy acquisition: A one-year longitudinal study. In X. Chen, Q. Wang, & Y. C. Luo (Eds.), Reading development and difficulties in monolingual and bilingual Chinese children (pp. 191–211). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7380-6_10
Widodo, H., & Belgradoputra, R. J. (2019). Perlindungan pekerja migran Indonesia. Binamulia Hukum, 8(1), 107–116. https://ejournal.hukumunkris.id/index.php/binamulia/article/view/343
Wu, S., & Sang, Y. (2026). Production of Mandarin affricates by Thai learners: An acoustic study. Acoustical Science and Technology, 47(3), 221–231. https://doi.org/10.1250/ast.e25.72
Zhou, M. (2019). Language ideology and order in rising China (1st ed.). Palgrave Macmillan Singapore.
Published
2026-09-23
How to Cite
BAGASKARA, Arjuna Satria Dewa; DELIJAR, Ressi Maulidina.
Romanization-induced phonetic deviation in Mandarin affricates of Indonesian migrant workers’ interlanguage in Taiwan.
Pioneer: Journal of Language and Literature, [S.l.], v. 18, n. 1, p. 182-201, sep. 2026.
ISSN 2655-8718.
Available at: <https://unars.ac.id/ojs/index.php/pioneer/article/view/8140>. Date accessed: 28 sep. 2026.
doi: https://doi.org/10.36841/pioneer.v18i1.8140.
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