The Influence of Terengganu Dialect on English Pronunciation among Low Proficient Undergraduates

The variation of English pronunciations as a result of geographic proximity, or commonly known as regional dialects is a literary phenomenon that occurs worldwide. Due to the first language being Malay, most native Terengganu Malay (TrgM) speakers experience difficulties in employing Standard English (SE) in a conversation. These dialectal features in English which are caused by mother tongue interference become more apparent when the speakers utilise their first language, influenced by the Terengganu dialect in most parts of their lifestyles, limiting the significance of English usage. Therefore, this study investigates the influence of the Terengganu dialect on English pronunciation among low-proficient native Terengganu Malay (TrgM) undergraduates. This study adopts a qualitative method as the research design while the research instruments employed are task-oriented interviews, using a diagnostic passage for oral reading tests. The findings of the research have shown the TrgM characteristics on English pronunciation, such as shortening of a pure long vowel, monophthongization of diphthongs, replacement of fricatives with plosives, and devoicing of suffixes after voiced consonants. The outcome of this study contributes additional data to the language and dialect study field while acknowledging the identity of Terengganu heritage from the English language point of view.


Introduction
English is no longer spoken exclusively by the natives of the language, due to Great Britain's colonialism and other major historical and social factors, the language is shared with every continent around the globe. As cited by Spichtinger (2000); Follick (1914) foreseen the global spread of English as a more simplified form. In Great Britain, the English language varies in several dialects, e.g., Yorkshire, Cockney, Manchester, and Scottish. The exact literary phenomenon also takes place in most countries that have established English as their second language. According to Wardaugh (1972), dialect is a language variety that is spoken by a particular social group that is still comprehensible by others. He also states that the phonological system is one of the elements that describe a dialect. Additionally, it is also factored by the regional origins and socio-economic background and is distinguished by grammar and vocabulary (Simpson, 2004). Therefore, it can be concluded that language variation, or dialect, consists of phonology, grammar and vocabulary features.
In the Malaysian context, most of the population speaks the Malay language as their mother tongue and just as in Great Britain, the first language carries a variety of dialects which are regional and separated through states. As examples, Terengganu Malay (TrgM) dialect in Terengganu and Kelantan Malay (KelM) in Kelantan. However, unlike Great Britain, Malaysian English is influenced by these variations of their first language, making most of their English pronunciation oddly familiar to their Malay dialects. Although the Ministry of Education Malaysia emphasises the mastery of Standard English (SE) at every level of educational institution, Malaysians have subconsciously 'processed' their English through simplification, acculturation and generalisation in order to suit their needs and convenience (Giles & Coupland, 1991), whether in formal or informal settings. The usage of the L1 variety among Malaysians is not uncommon. Sulong (2016) adds that exposure to Standard English (SE) since kindergarten enables the speakers to utilise the standardised version of a language if they prefer or are required to do so. Platt & Webber (1980) depict Malaysian English ranges in subvarieties, which are acrolect, mesolect and basilect. In definition by Nordquist (2019), acrolect is classified as the higher variety because of the minimum deviation from the standard version of the language (Nordquist, 2019). In contrast, basilect is considered the lower variation as it is significantly different while mesolect falls in between (Platt & Webber, 1980). These levels contribute to the complexity of Malaysian English, demonstrating the many existing spectrums of the language variation. Therefore, this study is interested to explore one of many dialects in Malaysian Englishes, which is Terengganu Malay (TrgM) in English pronunciation.
English pronunciation is not always simple for non-native speakers. Phoon (2010) and Kho (2011) conclude that bilingual speakers may experience linguistic interference due to their native languages when it comes to English pronunciation. The non-native speakers may transfer some phonological aspects that originated from their mother tongue while conversing in English and this linguistic phenomenon is neither coincidental nor randomly made. Subsequently, the phonological acquisition among Malaysian English (MalE) speakers differs from the native ones, such as British English (BrE) speakers, and is factored by the speaker's first language, education, socio-economic, geographical backgrounds, English proficiency and the variation of colloquial features (Pillai, 2017). With multiple determinants that affect one's pronunciation, MalE pronunciation is particularly known for its own distinctive phonological aspects which include the vowels, consonants, and suprasegmental features.
However, there are a lot of variations when it comes to MalE as regional dialects prevail in states that are distant from the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. Karim, Onn, Musa and Abdul Hamid (1986) affirm that there are more than ten regional dialects of Malay spoken in Malaysia, which are the Perak Malay, Perlis Malay, Kelantan Malay, Melaka Malay, Negeri Sembilan Malay, Johor Malay, Pahang Malay, and Terengganu Malay and Sabah Malay. Huisman, Majid & Hout (2019) state that linguistic diversity generally develops as geographic distance increases. Hence, the English pronunciation in Malaysia is diversified by the dialects, making MalE not just restricted to a single spectrum.Also, the research on the MalE is scarce, making it difficult to acknowledge the unique speech features of MalE speakers (Tan & Hashim, 2012). Hence, this causes other less known topics, such as the influence of the Terengganu dialect on English pronunciation, almost impossible to be academically acknowledged and appreciated. Furthermore, previous research that focuses on phonological aspects of regional Malay dialects in English only covers a number of speech features among the speakers, leaving out many others. As an example, Sulong (2016) conducted research on monophthongs by regional Malay dialect speakers that comprised two Malay dialects, which are Terengganu Malay (TrgM) and Kelantan Malay (KelM) dialects. However, finding a research paper that solely focuses on the Terengganu dialect is just inaccessible due to the lack of previous studies. The dialect's unique features such as the stress pattern, deletion of final, consonant devoicing, and fricatives are important to be studied by future researchers, also for the sustenance of Terengganu linguistics culture in an English language point of view. Since MalE possesses many varieties, differentiating each Malay dialect in English pronunciation is essential in order to preserve their identities and distinctiveness. This study is motivated by the lack of academic records of the native Terengganu Malay speakers in English pronunciation. Thus, this study aims to analyse the speech features of the Terengganu dialect in English pronunciation among native Terengganu Malay (TrgM) undergraduates.
Therefore, this study aims 1) To examine the influence of the Terengganu dialect on English speech features among lowproficient native TrgM undergraduates. 2) To identify the common phrases of the Terengganu dialect on English speech features among low-proficient native TrgM undergraduates. 3) To investigate the attitude towards the influence of the Terengganu dialect on English speech features among low-proficient native TrgM undergraduates.
The emphasis on regional dialect is important in order to recognize the distinctive speech features that it carries. The information accumulated from this research, such as the proven theories, past studies, and methodology will aid future researchers that are interested in studying dialectology, especially Malaysian dialects. Over time, dialects have tremendously exceeded the standard languages, making the study in this field more apparent with the interest of gaining newer and improved data. Essentially, Standard English (SE) is not the only variation that exists. The same goes with the Cockney dialect in Great Britain, Terengganu Malay dialect in English should be acknowledged as the identification of its culture. Since there are multiple dialects in Malaysia, ranging from the main ethnic groups, Malay, Chinese and Indian, to the smaller ones, such as Dusunic, Kadazan and Iban, it is compulsory to differentiate these regional dialects by their speech features in order to demonstrate the absolute diversity of Malaysian Englishes. Hence, the study will set the differences between the Terengganu Malay dialect and other Malaysian dialects in order to examine its exact influence on English pronunciation.
The study is significant for the purpose of recognizing the phonological effect of the Terengganu Malay dialect as a daily communication tool for English pronunciation. Most native speakers experience difficulty in practising Standard English due to the difference in the number of vowels and diphthongs, place and manner of articulation. As a result, the unfamiliarity will cause the speakers to alter the original pronunciation of an English word to a more familiarised version in order to accommodate the language. Hence, this study will aid in finding the apparent effects on English pronunciation. This study provides additional information on linguistic studies while reinforcing and validating the use of the Terengganu dialect in the English language. The implications of the study positively affect the regional dialect researchers and English educators. This case study will surely help future researchers by providing clear insight into a linguistic study from the perspectives of the Terengganu dialect. The TrgM characteristics listed in the findings will benefit the researchers on how and why certain words are pronounced the way that they are by the TrgM speakers. So, this will provide them with a slight boost of progress in their research regarding the available varieties in Malaysian English (ME). By providing insights into the TrgM characteristics of English pronunciation, English educators are able to improve their understanding of the unique linguistic phenomenon, instead of correlating the fusion of the dialect with the English language as low-level pronunciation competency. This is so that the educators can further appreciate their natural speech features while continuing to educate them about the pronunciation of SE.

Research Methodology
The study employs a qualitative design as the research design is in line with the position that this study is taking, as set out in the previous chapter. According to Cresswell (2014), qualitative research is a type of research design that uses non-numerical data gathered from observations and descriptions in order to find a solution to the stated problem of the research, while Denzin and Lincoln (1994) state that qualitative data researchers study things in their natural settings in order to attempt to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings. In conducting a qualitative research study, it is important to execute purposeful sampling, open-ended data collection, images and text analysis, representation of data in tables and figures, and personal interpretation of the findings (Cresswell, 2014). The rationale for adopting this research design for the present study is due to the main purpose, which is to investigate the influence of the Terengganu dialect on English speech features among low-proficient native TrgM undergraduates. Hence, it is appropriate to conduct a qualitative study to collect data on the speakers' speech features.
The qualitative research design involves purposive sampling which includes the participation of members of the population that is entirely based on the researcher's selectivity. This is also a form of non-probability sampling in which researchers rely on their own judgement. According to Bordens & Abbott (2018), it is reasonable to choose a representative or a small group instead of studying the whole target population. In sampling, the respondents must meet the requirement in order to be recruited as the research samples which correlate with their English proficiency level and origin. For the research, a group of undergraduates from various university courses are selected. On top of that, all of the samples are already acquainted with the researcher prior to the study and this lessens the nervousness among the samples during the data collection procedure. Furthermore, the research setting involves a one-to-one physical interview with each of the respondents in Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu. For convenience, the researcher has travelled to the promised venues in order to conduct the interviews. During the process, the entire interview sessions are recorded using a mobile phone in order for the data to be analysed once completed.
As a result, the study has sampled a total of 20 low-proficient native TrgM undergraduates in Terengganu. The number of samples is based on the previous dialectal case study, which is by Ati (2019), who selected a number of 18 students from eleventh-grade students of SMA Negeri 3 Atambua as his sample for the research on the influence of the Kemak Sanirin dialect. Hence, the researcher's decision to include 20 respondents will provide sufficient data for the study. Then, the level of English proficiency among the respondents is based on the Malaysian University English Test (MUET) which is administered and supervised by the Malaysian Examination Council (MEC). This test assesses the English language proficiency among preuniversity students in Malaysia which is useful to determine the English language skills that the sample possesses. MUET consists of Band 1 (lowest) to Band 6 (highest) as the results, therefore, the samples consist of Band 2 and below for MUET as the benchmark for low proficiency for the respondents.
To examine the influence of the Terengganu dialect on English speech features on a spontaneous level, the interviewees start with two simple questions that require them to introduce themselves and explain their English usage experience from the perspective of the Terengganu dialect. Then, to enable a deeper analysis of the interviewees' pronunciation, a well-constructed diagnostic passage has been selected to study their overall pronunciation competence. With this, the unique speech features of the native TrgM speakers will be exposed to simplify the data collection of the study. The passage is an intermediate B1 level of English reading text, taken from LearnEnglish, which is an English learning website that is managed by the British Council. The chosen passage must suit the respondents' low level of proficiency, as the main goal of the research is to analyse the speech features, not test their overall reading skills.

Results and Discussion
This study presents analysis of interviews with all 20 low-proficient native TrgM undergraduates in Terengganu. The findings for the first research question include the influence of the Terengganu dialect on English speech features of vowels, consonants, and intonation for the enlightenment of the first question. The second component of the findings explores the common phrases of the Terengganu Dialect that are used by the research samples throughout the interviews to answer the second question. Lastly, the third findings deliberate the attitude toward the influence of the Terengganu dialect on English speech features to solve the third research question.

The Influence of The Terengganu Dialect on English Speech Features among Low-Proficient Native Trgm Undergraduates
The influence of the Terengganu dialect on English speech features appears to be more apparent when analysed among low-proficient TrgM students. This is due to the lack of need for English for their daily verbal use, even for academic functions. The normalisation has helped the respondents to advance through their university years with minimal English mastery. The inadequacy of Standard English (SE) use in the respondents' both formal and informal daily verbal interactions has made their Terengganu dialect sound more profound when infused with the English language. Therefore, the findings below showcase the TrgMinfluenced vowels, consonants, and suprasegmental features.

Vowels
There are 12 vowels in English (ʌ, ɑ:, ae, e, ə, ɜ:, , i:, ɒ, ɔ:, ʊ, u:) that have been classified by tongue height, tongue position and lip rounding, as well as the eight diphthongs (aɪ, aʊ, əʊ, eɪ, ɔɪ, eə, ɪə, ʊə), which are sequences of two vowel sounds together in the same syllable (Kho, 2011). For the reading test, the most frequent pronunciation errors made by research samples for vowels are the pure long vowels, diphthongs, and pure mispronunciation. For vowels, the influence of the Terengganu Malay dialect on English pronunciation is found in all three categories of vowels, which are pure long vowels, diphthongs and pure mispronunciation. For pure long vowels, the analysed words are more, be, meaning, UK, increasing, doing, sleep, group, alarm, even, user, forty, use, world, and daughter. Most respondents lack lengthening distinction in properly pronouncing and stressing the syllable. The affected sounds are /ɔː/, /iː/, /uː/, /ɑː/, /ɔː/, and /ɜː/. Then, the findings have shown that diphthongs are also affected, involving the process of monophthongization, which is a sound change by which a diphthong becomes a monophthong, a type of vowel shift to accommodate the overall pronunciation of the word. The affected words are habit, posts, they, waiting, photos, so, phone, so, phone, says, and, home, over, social, laptop, smartphones, and lastly, old. For diphthong, the respondents failed to produce distinguishable diphthong sounds which resulted in the use of monophthong vowels. The affected diphthongs sounds are /ae/, /əʊ/, and /eɪ/. Subsequently, the Terengganu dialect also has its influence on some words, which resulted in pure mispronunciation. The phenomenon is motivated by the linguistic urge to pronounce the syllables based on the original Terengganu Malay (TrgM) vowel sounds. The analysed words for the subcategory are online, lives, ironically, not, from, alarm, clock, on, country, quality, was, connected, messages, completely and emergencies. Overall, it is found that respondents tend to produce full vowels replacing the reduced vowel sounds.

Consonants
According to Kho (2011), there are a total of 24 consonants (b, p, d, t, g, k, v, f, θ, ð, z, s, ʒ, ʃ, m, n, ŋ, l, r, dʒ, tʃ, h, j, w) in the English language. The literacy of the consonants in pronunciation has made it relatively permissive for non-native English tongues to accommodate the placement of each sound. However, due to a lack of visibility of the SE, the influence of the TrgM dialect in English speech features is still present in most of the research samples. Hence, the following table shows the analysis of consonant sounds, which are fricative, plosive and pure mispronunciation which is heavily affiliated with the TrgM dialect. For consonants, the influence of the Terengganu Malay dialect on English pronunciation is found in all three subcategories, including fricative, plosive and pure mispronunciation. For fricative, the analysed words are the, they, over, that, them, their, themselves, think, they're, grandmothers, with, other, father, thing, and thank. Mostly, the respondents have problems producing the /ð/ sound and completely replacing the fricative with a plosive /d/ sound instead. The difference between the two sounds is apparent based on the airflow of each pronunciation. They also faced problems in pronouncing the /t/ sound and /v/ sound. Furthermore, the plosive is also affected by the TrgM dialect. The analysed words for the category are second, different, biggest, aged, group, joined, what, did, child, contact, old, but, smartphones, at, and out. Based on the findings, it is clear that all the respondents tend to not pronounce the last suffix, which are /d/, /t/ and /p/sounds. For pure mispronunciation, the words are and, could, in, million, when, posts, much, than, use, users, sleeps, soon, generation, life, and teenagers. In this subcategory, most of the pronunciation errors are because of the tendency to follow the exact TrgM pronunciation in English words. Also, the respondents seem to completely ignore the plural forms of most words, devoicing the last /s/ and /z/sounds. Additionally, the most influential characteristic of the TrgM English pronunciations is the replacement of some /n/ sound with compelling /ŋ/ sound. For instance, /weŋ/ instead of /wen/, /əŋ/ instead of /ən/, and /mɪljəŋ/ instead of /mɪljən/ Suprasegmental features Suprasegmentals commonly serve as the musical features of speech, which are the phonological property of more than one sound such as intonation, duration, pitch and loudness (Nordquist, 2017). These are the findings of some of the TrgM undergraduates' intonation in English in which the phonetic transcriptions are based on their pronunciation. The table below displays their pronunciations, tones and stress patterns.  , different, numbers, grandchildren, smartphone, likely, Facebook, leaving, spending, group, missing, forty, UK, constantly and weekends. During the Spontaneous Speech Assessment, most respondents tend to have a natural tone and stress, considering that the utterance made is organic and non-scripted. This resulted in proper stress distribution across most syllables. However, the findings of the suprasegmental features change during Reading Test. During this procedure, the respondents are more monotonous compared to the first assessment. Based on the findings, most words have a falling-rising tone with incorrect stress patterns for the unfamiliar ones, such as constantly.
Subsequently, there are also some words that have rising-falling tones, such as UK and Facebook.

The Common Phrases of The Terengganu Dialect on English Speech Features Among Low-Proficient Native Trgm Undergraduates
During the interview, a few open-ended questions to execute the Spontaneous Speech Assessment were projected, which is also the first part of the interview. This initiative allows the researcher to record and observe the natural articulation among the respondents in a 'free zone', which will help them to have more flexible choices of words as the answer provided by the research samples will not be as strategically structured as the reading test.
Other than the produced phonemes, other articulation styles or errors that the researcher hopes to examine are the common phrases of the Terengganu dialect used in a casual English conversation. The findings below display the TrgM phrases, phonemes, percentage, and frequency. The findings show the common phrases that are used during the Spontaneous Speech Assessment as forms of expression, and also the result of low vocabulary skills. The common phrases of the Terengganu dialect on English speech features are you know, I think, yes, no, and and. These common phrases are the result of direct translation of the original TrgM common phrases. When conversing in English, the respondents are fixated to use the common TrgM phrases. Although these phrases are unnecessary in the perspective of Standard English (SE), these minor alterations made the TrgM influence more apparent among these respondents.

Attitude towards The Influence of The Terengganu Dialect on English Speech Features Among Low-Proficient Native Trgm Undergraduates
All the interviewees were asked about their experience of using the Terengganu dialect in English pronunciation throughout their university years. The collected data is then separated and analysed according to two criteria, which are the received attitude in a casual setting, and a formal setting. The result below is measured by the percentage of respondents that have received either positive or negative attitudes given the fixed situations.

Casual Setting
For the casual setting, which mostly involves informal English interactions between the TrgM respondents, the result has shown that a total of 19 respondents, which consists of 95% of the samples have never faced any sort of discrimination, intolerance or favouritism when using the Terengganu dialect in casual verbal interactions. Only 1 respondent, which is 5% of the research samples, happened to experience a negative attitude towards her Terengganu dialect on English pronunciation online. The negative experience involves a stranger, presumably a non-TrgM speaker. The chart below summarises the findings for the attitude towards the influence of the Terengganu dialect on English speech features among lowproficient native TrgM undergraduates in a casual setting.

Formal Setting
In this context, formal setting refers to a type of expected behaviour which involves seriousness rather than friendliness. Examples of formal settings that the respondents have been involved in are during academic presentations, idea proposals, meetings and tournaments. Based on the findings, only a total of 3 respondents, which is 15% of the accumulated samples have never experienced a negative attitude towards the use of their regional dialect in the English language. However, the remaining 17 respondents, which consists of 85% have had the negative experience of being discriminated against, dismissed, and bullied for their TrgM influence on English pronunciations. The chart below outlines the findings for the attitude toward the influence of the Terengganu dialect on English speech features among low-proficient native TrgM respondents in a formal setting.

Conclusion
The varieties of existing regional dialects that are uniquely acquired in their own respective states in Malaysia have created a linguistic phenomenon that further complicates the Malaysian English (ME) characteristics due to slight yet intricate differences in the native tongues of Malaysians. This has prompted the researcher to further contribute to the understanding of Malay dialects and their inevitable influence on the perspective of the dialectal study. By adopting a qualitative study as the research design, it aids the researcher to have a hands-on experience with the Terengganu Malay (TrgM) speakers and observe the unique quality of their English speech features and the strong affiliation with their regional dialect. Furthermore, low proficient respondents are chosen as they are theoretically incapable of switching between the sub-varieties of acrolect, mesolect, and basilect, allowing the researcher to examine the TrgM English in its most natural form. Overall, the research on the Terengganu dialect aims to explore and achieve a complete understanding of the influence of the Terengganu dialect on English speech features, the common phrases of the Terengganu dialect, and the attitude towards the influence of the Terengganu dialect on English speech features among low proficient native TrgM undergraduates.
The findings have shown that the TrgM undergraduates experience difficulty in adherence to long vowels, as they are perhaps more focused on pronouncing the individual syllable. This is due to the natural response to being tested or examined for their English level. For the first subcategory which is a pure long vowel, almost all of the respondents lack vowel lengthening distinction. The shortening of pure long vowels that the researcher has recorded and analysed are /ɔː/, /iː/, /uː/, /ɑː/, /ɔː/, and /ɜː/. Instead, they are most frequently replaced with the short vowel, such as /ɔ/, /i/, /u/, /ɑ/, /ɔ/, and /ɜ/. The response to ignore the lengthening of the vowels completely might be the result of the non-existent TrgM long vowels, except when it is infused with certain intonation due to the emotional expression when interacting. Subsequently, the respondents also have an unclear qualitative distinction between diphthongs and monophthongs, resulting in monophthongization of diphthongs in most of their English pronunciation. The affected diphthongs range from /ae/, /əʊ/, and /eɪ/. For the /əʊ/ sound, most respondents produce a clear /ɔ/ sound to replace the diphthong. This is one of the most explicit influences of the Terengganu dialect when it comes to English pronunciation. In Terengganu Malay (TrgM) dialect, the native tongues tend to pronounce several vowels, which are /a/ and /əʊ/ sounds with a strong /ɔ/ sound as a natural result of their native tongues. The TrgM is observed to carry many distinguishable phonetic and phonological features that are unique to their own (Sulong, 2016). Moreover, some of the respondents also happen to mispronounce words and produce phonemes that align with the spelling of the word. As an example, 'alarm' is pronounced as /əlɑːm/ in Standard English (SE), however, almost all the respondents produce the /ʌ/ sound, resulting in /ʌlɑːm/ that follows the literal spelling of the word. The mispronunciation also occurs with words that are irregular, compelling them to base the pronunciation on the literal spelling of the word. For instance, 'ironically' is pronounced as /ɪrɒnɪkəli/ instead of /aɪrɒnɪkli/ as they generalise the alphabet 'i' to produce the /ɪ/ and /i/ sounds.
For consonants, the category is also separated into three subcategories, which are fricative, plosive, and pure mispronunciation. According to the findings on fricatives, it has been presented that a large percentage of respondents replace the fricative /ð/ sound with the plosive /d/ sound. This replacement can be observed on every /ð/ sound in both the Spontaneous Speech Assessment and the Reading Test. This proves that the respondents process a collective mindset of pronouncing the /ð/ sound as the /d/ sound. The affected words during the interview are 'the', 'they', 'that', 'them, 'their', 'themselves', 'they're', 'grandmothers', 'other', and 'father'. The respondents also generalise the fricative /θ/ sound with the plosive /t/ sound. The replacement of the phoneme is strong as no turbulent air flow is produced as the result of friction of breath in a narrow opening in producing a fricative sound. The affected words are 'think', 'thing', and 'thank'. Next, the pronunciation of plosives is also affected during the interview. The findings show that most respondents have the propensity to ignore the last sound when two consonants are placed consecutively. The tendency then ensues a verbal phenomenon that is recognised as the deletion of the final. The affected sounds include /d/ in 'second', /t/ sound in 'different', and /p/ sound in 'group'. Moreover, their English pronunciation also has the characteristic of devoicing suffixes /s/ and /z/ sounds after voiced consonants, which the respondents ignore most of the plural nouns in both Spontaneous Speech Assessment and Reading Test. The examples are the /s/ sound in 'grandmothers', and /z/ sound in 'themselves', and 'smartphones'. There are also pure mispronunciations that involve the usage of full vowels instead of reduced vowels, such as /ɪ/ replacing /i:/ sound in 'sleeps', and direct pronunciation of /ʊ/ replacing the /ʊ/ sound in could. However, the most influential characteristic of the TrgM English pronunciations is the replacement of some /n/ sound with compelling /ŋ/ sound. For instance, /weŋ/ instead of /wen/, /əŋ/ instead of /ən/, and /mɪljəŋ/ instead of /mɪljən/. This phenomenon usually occurs at the end of the phonemes, which correlates to the TrgM speakers pronouncing every word that ends with /n/ sound with /ŋ/ in their daily verbal interactions. According to Ati (2019) who studied the Kemak Sanirin dialect on English pronunciation among eleventh-grade students, these unique pronunciations are mostly due to the unavailability of some of the English sounds in the dialect which causes such convenient alterations to be made in order to deliver the sounds. Moreover, the findings also display the suprasegmental features of the respondents' English pronunciation. Suprasegmentals commonly serve as the musical features of speech, which are the phonological property of more than one sound such as intonation, duration, pitch and loudness (Nordquist, 2017). In the findings, the researcher divides the suprasegmental features of the respondents into three subtopics, which are the phonemes, tones, and stress of each syllable. During the Spontaneous Speech Assessment, all of the respondents are asked two fixed questions, the first one is an open-ended question that allows the respondents to readily provide answers to their personal information, and the second question is designed to acquire sufficient data to answer Research Question 3. These questions are aimed to analyse the English speech features in their most organic form as their answers are neither scripted nor planned. Based on the findings, almost all of the respondents possess natural tones and stress with their word choices. However, the suprasegmental features among the respondents dramatically change during the Reading Test. The researcher has found that all of the respondents tend to be monotone, and almost all of the words are translated into one unvaried intonation. This occurrence is perhaps caused by the respondents being cautious with their pronunciation, resulting in them pronouncing most words separately and carefully when being assessed. The findings also signify that the respondents tend to have falling tones when pronouncing familiar words, and rising tones for unfamiliar words which slightly resembles the tone of asking or confirming.
During the Spontaneous Speech Assessment, the researcher manages to record five common phrases of the Terengganu dialect on the English pronunciation. The analysed common phrases are 'you know', 'I think', 'yes', 'no', and 'and'. The first phrase which is 'I think' that is expressed by 15 out of 20 respondents when expressing an opinion and it is also used as a form of expression, This directly translates to 'aku rasa', which is pronounced as /ʌkʊ rasə/ in TrgM dialect. The second phrase 'you know', is used by 16 out of 20 respondents as an expression of appeal. The phrase is used as a way to ask or reinforce mutual agreement between the respondents and the researcher when establishing an opinion regarding a certain topic. This is used at the end of a sentence, and it is also equivalent to using 'right?' in a casual English conversation. 'You know' replaces the original Terengganu Malay (TrgM) phrase which is 'op', which is pronounced as /ɔ(p)/. The third phrase is 'yes'. When asked for an agreement, the respondents have the tendency to use 'yes' as a sign of affirmation, instead of other phrases that are able to signify the speaker's agreement to a certain opinion. This may be due to limitations in vocabulary among them which result in choosing the most emblematic affirmation in the English language. Next, the respondents also use 'no' as their common phrase. Each of the respondents seems to have favourited the word 'no' as their choice of word to reject or dismiss an opinion. Instead of uttering other words that also signify complete disagreement with an idea, such as 'I don't think that's accurate, or 'of course not', they repeatedly use the word 'no' in the interview. Lastly, all of the respondents seem to collectively use 'and' for every conjunction word in their answers. This can be the result of a lack of knowledge of the English language.
The research also aims to acquire the perception or attitude that is received by the respondents when infusing the Terengganu dialect into their English pronunciation. The researcher divides the outcomes into two different settings; casual and formal. For the first setting, which is casual, a total of 19 out of 20 TrgM undergraduates have a positive experience in using the dialect of English pronunciation. Due to the lack of need to use the English language in their daily lives, they had minimal experience in facing discrimination when articulating TrgM-influenced English words in casual or informal settings. Typically, they will not volunteer to speak English if they are not interested unless they are required to converse in the language, such as attending an English lesson at their universities. They also happen to have casual conversations in English when referring to other respondents from the English courses, as they feel obliged to do so. Even so, 19 of the respondents did not face any negative feedback from their peers or even strangers online. However, 1 out of 20 respondents has experienced a negative attitude when infusing TrgM on English pronunciation. When interviewed, the respondents stated that most of the negative feedback that she had faced was mostly online, since she uploads video blogs weekly on her YouTube account. According to the respondents, the commenters sometimes corrected her pronunciation in a condescending manner. For the formal settings, most of the respondents, which are 17 out of 20 have experienced negative attitudes when infusing TrgM dialect with their English pronunciation. They are usually 'corrected' or dismissed when failing to adhere to Standard English, especially during formal presentations, verbal proposals, and debate tournaments. Frequently, their pronunciation competency is affiliated with how close they can employ the native SE speakers and failing to do so indicates a low level of English speaking skill. One of the respondents even shared a story of his dismissal from an entry-level competition due to his strong Terengganu dialect which made the judges giggle. Only 3 of the respondents did not face any negative feedback in using TrgM English in a formal setting, though they have only used the regional dialect in small-scale academic settings, such as presentations during classes. As the respondents are not acrolectal, they are incapable of switching their English variations, resulting in them being basilectal despite the negative attitudes received.
These two different settings show the attitude toward the Terengganu dialect on English pronunciation is contrasting, depending on the settings and the circumstances of the language use. For situations where the articulation of SE is considered as a measurement for English competencies, such as formal events, meetings, and even competitions, the attitude towards the infusion of regional dialect seems to be mostly negative. The discrepancy is perhaps caused by unfamiliarity and deviancy of the non-standard forms, such as lexical patterns and ideology of the pronunciation (Hamp-Lyons & Xia, 2002). . In mastering English, it is often a requirement for the speakers to imitate the native English speakers' pronunciation competency. This includes the segmental features, e.g., vowel and consonant, and suprasegmental features, e.g., rhythm, tones and stress patterns. However, for situations where English fluency is least expected, using the Terengganu dialect on English pronunciation is observed to be academically decent and socially acceptable among fellow TrgM speakers. According to (Leech, 1974), languages are a social phenomenon which is supposed to be informational, which means the goal of languages is to transfer information and communicate. So, as long as parties are able to disclose information accurately without causing misunderstanding, it should be passable. Speakers unaccustomed to the Terengganu dialect may have difficulty comprehending the TrgM undergraduates. According to McCullough, Clopper & Wagner (2017), regional varieties may be imperfectly represented due to limited familiarity with one or more relevant varieties. However, this should not be a discriminating factor against the TrgM undergraduates in expressing their own unique accents.