ABSTRACT

The study investigates the pronouncing of English speech sounds exercised by Akoose learners of English (of Muabi Origin) in the decent and accurate pronunciation of English speech sounds and words. The ultimate aim is to prove that Akoose learners of English (of Muabi origin) tend to commit errors and use Akoose speech sounds during communication in English language. The study spots cases of interferences and errors in the words pronounced by learners. It moves further to proposing solutions by suggesting teaching methods and making recommendations that will help learners overcome areas of difficulties. Thus, the main research question is: what are the errors and cases of interferences in the English speech sounds of Akoose learners (of Muabi origin) that contribute to their pronunciation difficulties? On this regard, the study rests on the hypothesis that; there are cases of errors and interferences in the English speech sounds of Akoose learners. Errors made by Akoose learners of English of Muabi origin and the interference of their Mother tongue contribute to their pronunciation difficulties. Data collection included observation, the administration of students and teacher’s questionnaires and an oral performance test.It was conducted on fifty (50) students and 2 (02) teachers. Data were analyzed using Corders (1974) Error Analysis (EAD), Lado’s (1957) Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH). At the end of the investigation, it was discovered that the main causes of student’s difficulties in the pronunciation of English speech sounds was due to Mother Tongue (MT) or First Language (L1) interference and errors committed by learners. Moreover, students’ linguistic background (Akoose, Muabi variation), the students learning environment psychological barriers and pedagogic factors (teaching method) also contributed to students’ difficulties. Altogether the students think that if they are taught pronunciation with audio-visual means, they will improve on their skills.

Keywords: Akoose, Phonological Interference, Environment, English As Second Language, Second Language Accusation

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction                    

This work sets out to investigate and address phonological interference in the English pronunciation of Akoose language speakers; form one to form five students of GSS Muabi. The pronunciation aspect of English as an academic subject is not given the attention it deserves in the classroom. Pronunciation has become a great source of trouble to learners who study English as a second language especially Akoose learners of English (of Muabi origin). Thus, finding out the source of difficulties of these learners as far as pronunciation is concerned is of very great importance. This chapter constitutes the background of the study, the motivation of the study. The chapter also presents the research questions, the objectives of the study and also the hypothesis. It also highlights the significance of the study, the scope of the study and the structure of the work.

Phonological interference is a term which refers to a linguistic occurrence in which two different languages overlap and the linguistic system of one of the languages is transferred into the other in a process of producing the latter which is the second or target language. Phonological interference, according to Baldeh (1990) is the major obstacle in the teaching and acquisition of English Language and it constitutes a great problem to the learning of a second language for it can hinder mutual understanding intelligibility and consequently affects oral performance in the target language.

Phonological interference according to Akindele and Adegbite (1999) is that instance or deviation from the norm of either language which occurs in the speech of a bilingual as a result of his familiarity with more than one language. Phonological interference phenomenon are of two types, namely inter lingual interference and intra lingual interference.

 Phonological interference is the influence of the learner’s native language (L1) sound system on the production and perception of sounds in the target language (l2).

According to Derwing, and Munro, (1997), Phonological interference is the transfer of L1 phonological patterns to L2 production, resulting in the production of L2 sounds and sound sequence that deviate from the target language norms.

Flege, (1995) defines phonological interference as the result of the learners L1 phonological system interfering with the acquisition of the L2 phonological system.

English pronunciation refers to the way sounds of the English language are produced, perceived, and organized, it includes the articulation of vowels, consonants, stress patterns, intonation, rhythm, and connected speech features within the English language. Pronunciation plays a crucial role in communication, affecting clarity, comprehensibility, and naturalness of speech .it involve the mastery of segmental and suprasegmental aspect of speech, including individual sounds, word stress, sentence stress, and intonation patterns. Additionally, English pronunciation can vary regionally and culturally, reflecting diverse accents and dialects spoken around the word.

Akoose is a Bantu language spoken by over 100.000 people in the Kupe-Muanenguba Division, South West Region, and in the adjacent Mungo Division, Littoral Region; Republic of Cameroon. Akoose has several dialects displaying considerable difference (Hedinger 2011: p. 4)

1.1. Linguistic Background of Cameroon

According to Wolf 2001 cited in Echu 2005, Cameroon is a bilingual country with almost 247 indigenous languages and two official languages: English and French which are colonial legacies of the Franco- British rule owing to the defeat of German forces  in the country during the first world war in  1916 (Wolf 2001 cited in Echu 2005).but the origin of English language in Cameroon can be traced as far back as the 15th to the 18th centuries when the British slave lords arrived Cameroon and needed a language to use for commercial purposes. However, effective teaching and learning of the subject in Cameroon began in 1916 after the introduction of formal education when part of the territory had been handed over to Britain after defeat of the Germans who had initially occupied the territory as mentioned earlier. From this period, English eased from being just a commercial language in Cameroon as it became a very important language learnt in schools, used in churches in the administration and used nationally and internationally, most importantly, it was a language of instruction used by teachers and learners of Anglophone sub-system of education. The importance of Learning English language and knowing how to use it well is a means to learn and master every aspect or form of it, especially its spoken form which is problematic in language contact situations. This is because no two languages have the same phonological systems. The phonological system of each language defines the manner in which words are decently pronounced in order to communicate in that language.

To communicate, we make use of speech.  Speech thus, occupies a major position in most discussions of language as a communicative medium. Proficient speech is essential for any language, and a comprehensive understanding of English cannot be fully achieved without the ability to effectively produce its speech sounds. For linguistic competence, which according to Chukwuma and Otagburuagu, (1997), is based mainly on oracy.so the mastery of English is highly connected to the mastery of the spoken form of it.

From the early age, a normal child responds to the sounds which his elders use to communicate with her. In her bid to communicate and get her needs identified and satisfied the child begins to imitate the sounds which she has heard from her elders. she then need to communicate with the adult community and her constant hearing and imitation of the language makes it possible for her to acquire her mother tongue or her first language; Ogbuechi (2003) asserts that every normal child acquires the sound system and the speech patterns of his mother tongue in a normal way through imitation of sounds from adult group.

On the other hand, learning to speak a second language usually involves some challenges because the learner has to learn the sound systems and the prosodic features of the second language against the already firmly consolidated first language in the mind of the leaner. The problem is partly that some languages are tonal and syllable timed and others are stress-timed one various speech sounds have distinctive acoustic properties. The adjustment to these differences may lead to a miss-match and therefore the learner may produce sounds that cannot be understood by other users of the same language Onulgbo (1990) asserts that learning to speak a second language is psychologically demanding because the learner already feels comfortable towards the phonological systems of his/her native language.  Mackey (1965) agrees that a person who has been using only the language since early childhood has habits and thoughts which are closely tied to his/her habits of language, and that language is a part of his experience. He concludes that in learning a second language, the learner has to adjust his speech habits to accommodate those of the target language. This according to Otaburuagu and Ukorji (2002) is because languages have their individual peculiar phonological and phonemic features which must be mastered and used by the learner for mutual intelligibility with the native speakers and other users of the language.  Many learners of a second language cannot make this adjustment successfully. They allow the speech habits of their mother tongue or their first language to interfere with the speech habits of the target language.  This phenomenon, according to Adegbite (1999), is known in the language register as phonological interference. In Cameroon, this is the case in Akoose learners of English (of Muabi origin) in the South West Region of the country, where English Language is taught from elementary through tertiary levels of the educational system in Cameroon. Official evaluation of its proficiency is in class of the primary level through Common Entrance Examination where class six pupils who have learned the language for many years are tested and evaluated officially at the end of each school year. Equally, form five and upper sixth students are tested through the Ordinary and Advanced Level Examinations respectively, It is therefore due to the Importance of English Language in Cameroon, the declining Standards in its usage by students that many researchers in Cameroon have constantly sought to address the problems hindering the teaching learning and the perfect and proficient use of the Language, Mbufong (2001 as cited in Anchimbe 2013) suggests in the following words that: “The level of English in present day Cameroon has come under severe  criticism. Parents, chant it, employers are alarmed, English teachers most of whom are barely competent concede it”. To him, the situation has sometimes been blamed on the theories of language learning which do not stress on the knowledge of grammar and especially on the pronunciation aspect of it and at times, on the devastating aftermaths of Pidgin English.

Generally, students especially those in remote areas face problems in accurately producing the speech sounds of English since it is not their mother tongue. To improve on the poor performance of students in pronunciation and boost effective use of the language, it is necessary to identify and solve the problems that students encounter during the articulation of the speech sounds of English. If these pains are examined and the problems identified and solutions provided, the result will be that teachers should select good instructional strategies that will focus on solving the problems identified and as a result, students will understand more and communicate well.

Chart 1.1 English Consonant Chart

Chart 1 English consonant source (Roach 2009, page 30).

Chart 1.2 Akoose Consonants

Aͻͻse consonant chart, we should note here that /f/ and /v/, /p/ and /b/, /f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, and/ʧ/ /ʤ/ and /ʒ/ are complementary in some variations of Aͻͻse source (Hedinger:1977p.44)

 Looking at the two consonant charts above we realize that /k/ and /g/are found in both but due to the variation of these sounds in Akoose, We notice that /g/ is used by Muabi learners of English in place of /k/.

Chat 1.3 Short Vowels and Long Vowels

Short vowels                                                     long vowels

Chart 3: English short and long vowels. Source: (Roach: 2009, P.13-16).

Chat 1.4 Chart of Akoose Vowels

Chart of Akoose vowels source: (Hedinger: 1987, p.14)

English and Akoose share some vowels in common/a/, /ͻ/, / u/, /i/and /e/. Akoose lacks diphthongs and triphthongs that English language has. We also note that the vowels: /ǝ/ /ӕ/, /Ʌ), /3:/, /ͻ:/, /a: /, /u: / are also absent in the Akoose sound system. Consequently, /ǝ/, /a: /and /ӕ/ are replaced with /a/, /Ʌ/, /u: / and /з: / are replaced by /u/, due to, the interference of mother tongue. With EA, interferences are considered as part of errors. Thus, the differences between these as they appear in students’ pronunciation as errors.

Differences between Akoose and English

As far as divergence differences are concerned, English Language has additional consonants which are absent in Akoose, they are the dentals: /θ/and /ᶞ/ and post alveolar /ʃ/.

Language and Akoose, it is but normal that cases of interference exist between them. If some sounds are complementary in one language and some present in one and absent in the other, they (of Muabi origin) to replace them with /t/, /d/ and /ʤ/ respectively, thereby causing interference of L1 to L2. This is exemplified in the pronunciation of the following sounds.

1.2 Research Motivation

Languages differ and the rules of a particular language should not be applied in place of those of another language. This may bridge comprehension and effective communication. All words or sounds whether from mother tongue or second language are meant to be articulated properly. The urge to undertake on this study stems from a personal observation that the Akoose learners of English use Akoose accent or speech sounds in place of those of English. So, the researcher is curious in finding out what accounts for this. The researcher is also motivated to produce a piece of work to show how her Bakossi sisters/brothers of another village use English Language.

1.3 Statement of the Problem

Comprehensible communication in a given language requires proficiency in the articulation of its  speech sounds Levis and Shannon (2013)in a conference: pronunciation in second language learning and teaching held at the Iowa State university recognizes that leaners who want to develop good speaking skills in a language  also need to develop good pronunciation, But it has been keenly observed that a good number of Akoose learners of English (of Muabi origin) despite their long years of studying English language still encounter enormous setbacks in pronouncing some English speech sounds and words with accuracy. This increases our curiosity in finding out from where the problem can possibly come from. This can be achieved through Interaction with native speakers of the language, constantly speaking in the language, receiving lessons from specially trained teachers. Pertaining to this, the government of Cameroon trains qualified man-power to teach English language (pronunciation) to Cameroonians pursuing the English sub-system of education.

1.4 Objective of the Study.

1) This study aims at investigating why Akoose learners of English (or Muabi origin) tend to    commit errors and use Akoose speech sounds during communication in English language.    

2) The study compares Akoose and English phonology to spot cases of interferences and errors in the words pronounced by learners.

3) It moves forward by proposing solutions and suggesting methods that can help learners overcome areas of difficulties.

1.5 Research Questions.

1) What are the cases of interferences and errors in the English speech sounds of Akoose learners (of Muabi origin) that contribute to their pronunciation difficulties?

2) To what extent is the phonological interference in the English speech sounds of Akoose leaners (of Muabi, origin) due to the fact that they lack interest in the domain (pronunciation) and English as a school subject?

3) What is the effect of the linguistic environment in which these learners find themselves the cause of the phonological interference?

 1.6 Hypotheses

1.6.1 Main Hypothesis

Errors made by Akoose learners of English and the interference of their mother tongue into the English language contributes to pronunciation difficulties.

1.6.2 Specific Hypotheses

 The acquisition of competence in a particular language skill entails the adoption of the culture of the people who speak it; one cannot succeed in speaking in a certain language if one lacks interest in learning a particular language domain.

In language learning especially in the domain of speaking or pronunciation, the linguistic environment in which the leaners find themselves plays a determinant role in the domain of pronunciation teaching, taking into account the context of students, using adequate teaching method and strategies that fit the needs of students is of great significance.