NOTICE OF THESIS EXAM YANUAR YOHANA WIDARTI

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NOTICE OF THESIS EXAM

 

 YANUAR YOHANA WIDARTI

202400010010

 

 

JULY 20, 2026, 13:00 PM

Building C, 7th fl., Room: C706

 

Adviser           : Ferdinan Okki Kurniawan, Ph.D.

Examiners     : Dr. Anna Marietta da Silva & Ekarina, Ph.D.

 

Title

 PROSODIC LANGUAGE CHANGE ACROSS AN INDONESIAN ENGLISH SPEAKER’S LIFESPAN

ABSTRACT

This study examines long-term prosodic change in an adult bilingual speaker over a 17-year period, filling a gap in longitudinal research on second language acquisition (SLA) of suprasegmental features in language-contact settings. Using a longitudinal case-study approach, the researcher analyzed an open video corpus spanning three different life stages (2008, 2016, and 2025) of a well-known Indonesian artist who had relocated to Los Angeles. The total corpus examined was 4 hours and 44 minutes of Indonesian interviews and 3 hours and 20 minutes of English interviews. Pitch (fundamental frequency or F0) and duration were measured acoustically using the Praat computer program, and rhythm variations were calculated using the normalised Pairwise Variability Index (nPVI). Structural changes across timestamps and cross-linguistic variations were calculated using the R computer program with statistical analyses, such as One-Way Between-Subjects ANOVA and independent samples t-tests. The results suggest that adult prosodic change is dynamic, but very selective and limited by automaticity of phonetic categories. There was a high variability in word stress pitch and dynamic sentence intonation (maximum pitch, minimum pitch and pitch range) with significant differences across years (p < 0.05). A cross-linguistic analysis showed a dynamic pattern of 'gestural drift' and convergence in 2016, followed by a strong return of language-specific system differentiation in 2025. Physiological limitations, on the contrary, kept mean pitch constant at baseline. Furthermore, values of overall rhythm and duration of the syllable showed a high degree of stability over the 17-year period, indicating the persistence of strongly ingrained motor routines that resist modification in the L2. Persistent L1 influence was found in the syllable-timed rhythms (Low nPVI classification) and persistent penultimate syllable lengthening. However, a selective shift towards stress-timing (Mid classification) for rhythm structure was found only in complex closed three-syllable words (CV.CV.CVC). The results ultimately show that adult L2 prosody can be restructured over the long term, thereby challenging strict interpretations of the Critical Period Hypothesis. Moreover, the systematicity and persistence of the durational timing and syllable timed rhythms influenced by Indonesian provide strong empirical support for the emergence of Indonesian English as a distinct contact variety with its own endonormative prosodic norms. The findings imply pedagogically that the teaching of English pronunciation in Indonesia should be based on communicative intelligibility and comprehensibility rather than native-like native standards.