An Investigation on the Level of Phonological Interference in the Speech of Hausa-English Bilingual: A Case Study of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto
Chapter One
AIMS OF THE STUDY
The aim of this study is to find out the level of phonological interference on the phonology of standard British English (RP). That is, the changes that may likely occur as a result of the phonological interference in the speech of Hausa-English bilingual. In other words, this work is to search for the features that distinguish the phonology of Nigeria English variety from the Received Pronunciation. These features shall be identified from the recorded speech collected and analyzed. We hope to provide solution to bridge the gap in the differences.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter we shall begin with the different scholar views on the term phonetics and phonology. It will be followed by the theories of phonology. The phonemes and the status of English and Hausa language shall be explained.
Features of phonology of Nigerian English and various scholars’ works shall be reviewed. We shall explain the concept of interference and conclude by stating the elements to be used in analyzing our data.
PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY
Phonetics is the study of human sounds in general without reference to their systemic role in a specific language. Phonetics is divided into three types (Articulator), transmission (Acoustics), and perception of sound (Carr Philip, 1999). Phonetics is also defined as the study of production of sounds as produced by the organs of speech. It deals with the analysis of the sounds of languages in terms of articulation, transmission and perception. Phonetics seeks to identify sounds that constitute speech units which are distinct from all other possible human sounds (Adetugbo, 1993)
There are three major braches in the study of phonetics, namely acoustic Phonetics, articulatory Phonetics, and auditory Phonetics.
ARTICULATORY PHONETICS
Articulatory phonetics refers to the approach to the phonetic medium that seeks to explain and classify speech sounds in terms of the variations in the production of the speech sounds. It is about the most highly developed and longest established branch of phonetics. It sees speech as an activity of the speaker and concentrates attention on the human speech organs and how these organs function singly and in combination with each other to modify exhaled air from the lungs into speech sounds. In articulatory phonetics speech sounds are described in terms of the organs which produce them and how these organs behave during their production. For instance a description of the sound [p] will include the fact that the two lips come together and momentarily completely block the passage of air from the lungs and then a sudden release of the air or a sudden parting of the lips occurs resulting in some kind of explosion . It is for this reason that the phonetic description of [p] includes the terms “bilabial plosive”. In this course we are mainly concerned with this aspect of phonetics – Articulatory Phonetics. Unit 5 of this Module provides essential information on the organs of speech (Crystal, 1991).
AUDITORY PHONETICS
This branch of phonetics sees speech mainly as an activity of the hearer: how the hearer perceives and interprets speech sounds. This branch of phonetics is also sometime said to be perceptual. In addition to being concerned with the basic sounds of natural languages, it deals with such properties of sounds as pitch, accentuation and loudness – nonsegmental issues which affect sound perception.
Generally, the hearer does not listen to a sound for its own sake; he listens in order to get meaning. This means he listens for sounds in association with other sounds. As you become mature in your phonetic training, you will be able to listen to sounds analytically – listening in order to appreciate specific sound features. The person who has not received phonetic training should, other things beings equal, be different from you. He would be one capable of listening naturally – more concerned with meaning than with the sound features which produce the meanings (Adetugbo, 1993).
CHAPTER THREE
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANAYSIS
INTRODUCTION
This chapter will center on the phonological analysis of the ten selected undergraduate indigenous Hausa speakers. The transcribed version of the selected samples will be compared with the Received Pronunciation (RP). Any phoneme that is underlined depicts where the speakers deviate from the standard pronunciation of the words contain in the selected passage. The correct version of such sounds will be underlined under the RP Column.
We shall make use of the phonological elements identified in chapter two for the analysis and discussion shall be made on the data. This chapter shall be concluded with the summary of what has been done in this chapter and what has to be done in the next chapter.
METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS
This data is the recorded speech of the Hausa speakers. A passage was given to the ten selected students to read.
DISCUSSION
From the analysis above, the samples substitute sounds which are not present in their L1 such as dental fricative sounds /θ,∂/ with alveolar plosive sounds /t,d/ in the words /θIე / as /tin/ and / æt/ as /dat/. The voiced alveolar fricative /z/ also substituted with voiceless alveolar fricative /s/ in such word as /i:z/ and voiceless labio-dental fricative /b/ for the voiced labio-dental fricative /v/ in such words as /ЅЗ:v/. They also substitute diphthong vowels /ei/ and /au/ with monopthong vowel sounds /e/ and /o/ as they appeared in these words /aunli, gaul, steІdz eimd/. Again, the samples were unable to distinguish the vowel sound /a/ from the following English vowel sounds: /æ, з :, a:, ∂/ as they are in the following word [man, sab, aft∂, ∂frot∫] instead of / mæn, Sз:v,a:ft∂, ∂preut∫/. They cannot differentiate between letters and sounds. This makes them to pronounce according to the orthography of a word like problem in the selected passage as froblεm instead of /probl∂m/.
CHAPTER FOUR
SUMMARY
We started with the general introduction to the study in the first chapter. We stated the statements of the research problem, scope of the study, the purpose, justification of the study, methodology and data description. Chapter two contained the review of related literature. We discussed the term phonetics and phonology, phonological theories.
The concept of interference was discussed and the chapter was concluded with the stating of the elements to be used in the next chapter. In the third chapter, we analyzed the data and we gave a discussion on the data. The rest of this chapter four will be based on findings resulting from our studies and recommendation shall be made.
FINDINGS
It was discovered that our subjects have problems with most of the sounds which were not available in their first language and they replaced them with the ones that were found. They were also unable to differentiate a sound from other related and counterpart sounds. These sounds /p, v, θ, ∂ /. were more substituted for /f, t/.
More so, they pronounced sounds according to how the words were written down. This is because in the students L1, words are written as they were pronounced and vice versa. The sample find consonant clusters problematic and they removed certain e.g. consonants where there is a consonant cluster. In some situations, they inserted vowel specifically at the end of the words that end with consonant cluster.
Also, it was noticed that those students who have received some training on the English language were a bit better than other students. The level of exposure to English has a role to play in the perfection of the spoken English of L2 learners.
CONCLUSION
As a result of the differences between the English language sound system and the Hausa language sound system, the samples as second language learners of English language. This situation indicates that the spoken English of the subjects has been affected by the sound system of Hausa language.
RECOMMENDATION
Students should try to learn and master the area of differences between the sound system of their L1 and the sound system of English language. They should also be conversant with the proper usage of the English language sounds. They should try to apply the proper pronunciation on English words whenever they are speaking. They should be a companion of their Pronouncing Dictionary.
REFERENCES
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