TITLE PAGE

A STUDY OF THE PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN THE USE OF ENGLISH

PROSODIC FEATURES BY IGBO NATIVE SPEAKERS IN ORLU EDUCATION

ZONE

BY

NWAENYI, CHINYELU FLORENCE

PG/MA/06/41366

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES,

UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA.

JANUARY, 2010

ii

APPROVAL PAGE

This project has been approved by the Department of English and Literary Studies,

University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

By

------------------------- -------------------------

Dr.P.A. Ezema Prof. Sam Onuigbo

Supervisor Head of Department

iii

CERTIFICATION

Nwaenyi, Chinyelu Florence, a postgraduate student in the Department of English and

Literary Studies with the registration number PG/MA/06/41366 has satisfactorily completed

the requirements for course and research work for the degree of Master of Arts in English.

The work embodied in this thesis has not been submitted in part or in full for any

other diploma or degree of this or any other university.

--------------------------- --------------------------

Prof. Sam Onuigbo Dr. P.A. Ezema

Head of Department Supervisor

------------------------------------

External Examiner

DEDICATION

This work is dedicated to the one I most admire, a friend whose touch warms me, a

mentor whose wisdom guides me, an encourager whose world lifts me, a leader I love to

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follow…my brother, Nwaenyi, Chinedu Sampson.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

For the successful production of this work, I drew invaluable assistance from people

too numerous to list here.

I am inexpressibly indebted to my supervisor, Dr. P.A. Ezema whose intellectual

brilliance, constructive criticisms, constant support and encouragement have always spurred

me on in making the production of this work a reality.

My sincere gratitude goes to the Head of Department, Prof Sam Onuigbo and all the

lecturers in the Department of English for their immense contribution towards my intellectual

development in this University.

I am also grateful to Prof & Mrs U.C. Anyanwu for their inspiration, invaluable

advice, assistance and encouragement throughout my stay in Nsukka. God bless you.

My dynamic parents, Sir & Lady C.U. Nwaenyi have always been my pillar

financially, morally and otherwise. My siblings, Chinedu, Chika, Chiedozie, Chike, Chioma,

Chibueze, Chinaemelum and Chukwudalu have made me see the bright side of life with their

mischief, fun and laughter. God bless you all.

I appreciate the efforts of my friends, Ugomma, Ogugua, Uzor, Ngozi, Pauline,

Amaka, Chidozie, Chebe and Chinedu (Don Zino) for being close when I needed them most.

Above all, my supreme thanks go to the Almighty God for his abundant grace,

encompassing love and guidance throughout my stay in school.

Finally, I thank those who have in one way or the other contributed to the success of

this work, but whose names are not mentioned here.

vi

ABSTRACT

The English language studies have posed serious problems to Nigerian students.

Consequently, this study was constructed to

i. Examine and highlight the problems encountered by Igbo native speakers in Orlu

Education zone in the production of English prosodic features.

ii. Find out why students find it difficult to make good use of English prosodic

features.

iii. Find out the extent of the teacher‟s competence in the prosodic features.

iv. Find out the role the immediate environment plays in learning these prosodic

features.

v. Find out the adequacy of the learning resources like text books, language

laboratories, library, etc.

vi. Find out the students‟ attitudes, teachers‟ attitudes and parents‟ attitudes towards

learning.

Chapter one is a survey of the emergence and importance of the English language in Nigeria

and the attitude of Nigerians to the English language. This chapter also considers certain

theoretical linguistic issues that might be of help in our analysis. Such issues include;

a. the concept of language contact and interference

b. bilingualism

c. the teaching and learning of English prosodic features in Nigerian schools.

Chapter two deals with the challenges facing Igbo native speakers in the area of spoken

English; the different variations in language. It also considers the environmental factors

affecting Igbo native speakers of English as a second language. Chapter three discusses the

population of the study and the instruments used for data collection. Chapter four examines

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the analysis of English prosodic features as rendered in the speech of Igbo native speakers of

Orlu Education zone. The final chapter (chapter five) is the summary, conclusion and

recommendations.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- i

Approval Page----------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- ii

Certification------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- iii

Dedication -------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------ iv

Acknowledgement ---------------------------------------------------------------------- v

Abstract ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- vi

Table of Contents ----------------------------------------------------------------------- viii

CHAPTER ONE:INTRODUCTION

1.1 The English language and Nigeria ------------------------------------------- 1

1.2 Contact and Interference ------------------------------------------------------ 3

1.3 Bilingualism --------------------------------------------------------------------- 4

1.4 The Teaching and Learning of English Prosodic Features in Nigerian

Schools --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Challenges Facing Igbo Native Speakers in the Area of Spoken English 12

2.2 Variation in Language --------------------------------------------------------- 17

2.3 Environmental Factors Affecting Igbo Native Speakers of English as a

Second Language --------------------------------------------------------------- 20

2.4 English and Igbo Languages Broadly Compared and Contrasted ------- 22

2.5 Summary of Literature Review ------------------------------------------------- 30

2

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Population of the Study -------------------------------------------------------- 32

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3.2 Instruments for Data Collection ---------------------------------------------- 32

3.3 Procedure for Carrying out the Study --------------------------------------- 33

3.4 Method of Data Analysis ------------------------------------------------------ 33

CHAPTER FOUR: ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF ENGLISH PROSODIC FEATURES

BY IGBO SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH IN ORLU EDUCATION

ZONE

4.1 Analysis of Data Collected from Students ---------------------------------- 34

4.2 Analysis of Data Collected from Teachers --------------------------------- 38

4.3 Discussion of Findings -------------------------------------------------------- 43

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Summary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 47

5.2 Conclusion -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 48

5.3 Recommendations ------------------------------------------------------------------ 49

Works Cited ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 51

Appendix------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 54

1

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 The English Language and Nigeria

The importance of the English Language in Nigeria cannot be over emphasized. It is

one language spoken more than every other language all over the world either as a native,

second or foreign language. The native speakers unconsciously acquire the language by virtue

of the fact that it is their mother tongue and those who speak English as a second language

learn it formally, thereby using it as an official language for international communication.

English, as the official language of Nigeria, was chosen to facilitate the cultural and linguistic

unity of the country. As succinctly put by Adekunle (1978),

The English Language, apart from being Nigeria‟s language of science and

technology, is both in theory and practice the language which those who have

the basic educational background use in discussing official matters and in

exchanging views on strictly formal private or public occasions in situations

where there is no common local language among the interlocutors (7).

To give strength to the above view, a careful survey of certain trends in Nigerian

history would show that the English language has acquired a status that makes it almost

indispensable. The choice of English as the official language was partially related to the fact

that a part of Nigerian population spoke English as a result of the British colonization that

ended in 1960. The history of the English language in Nigeria could be traced to the early

British colonizers. Observing this, Spencer (1971) says, “English is the language of

institution implanted by colonialism” (4).Bamgbose(1971)goes further to say that

Of the entire heritage left behind in Nigeria by the British at the end of the

colonial administration, probably none is more important than the English

Language (35).

Although most ethnic groups prefer to communicate in their own languages, English, being

the official language, is widely used for education, business transactions and for official

2

purposes. With the majority of Nigeria‟s populace in the rural areas, the major languages of

communication in the country remain the indigenous languages.

Essentially, the domains of usage of English in an ESL context like Nigeria tend to be

formal. It serves as the language of government, education, commerce, and to a limited extent,

social interaction, especially among the educated elite. Within Nigeria alone, it is estimated

that nearly four hundred languages are spoken. In the context of such complex

multilingualism, it is expedient for governments to stick to a neutral language, such as

English, as the official language. English has the additional advantage of long association,

being the language of the colonial rulers. It is also a world language with all the advantages

accruing to an individual who speaks such a language both nationally and internationally. To

quote Kachru (1986),

Competence in English and the use of this language signify a transmutation: an

added potential for material and social gain and advantages. One sees this

attitude in what the symbol stands for: English is considered a symbol of

modernization and an extra arm for success and mobility in culturally and

linguistically complex and pluralistic societies(1).

It therefore enjoys a higher prestige than any of the local languages spoken around because it

is a kind of common language for the diverse groups of people in the country. Moreover, the

ability to use the language places the user on a higher rung of the social ladder as well as

ensures his economic mobility. In other words, English performs the very crucial function of

serving as the most effective and widely accepted means of interaction among the speakers of

the numerous languages in Nigeria. It is not uncommon to hear Nigerians speak English with

a syllable-timed rhythm or certain phonological, semantic and lexical nuances peculiar to

Nigeria alone.

The English language enjoys a wider geographical spread than any of the indigenous

languages within Nigeria. Whatever the language of discussion, a serious business transaction

is sealed up in writing in English. The same goes for political campaigns which can be

3

carried out in the language of the immediate environment, but manifestos and other

documents are produced in English.

1.2 Contact and Interference

The starting point in the acquisition of any language other than one‟s mother tongue is

the coming together of the two languages in some form of different linguistic and cultural

setting. Contact, therefore, arises when two or more languages are interchangeably used by

the same person. Hence, whenever there is a contact between two cultures, the languages of

the cultures involved are usually affected. While language contact could be seen as a product

of culture contact, language interference is a product of language contact. This view is based

on the general belief that when two languages or dialects of the same language come in

contact, there is normally going to be a mutual influence between them.

Interference, on the other hand, is the deviation from the rules of the languages in

contact, observable in the speech of bilinguals. It occurs at the phonological, semantic and

syntactic levels of two or more languages in contact. Taking the phonological component as

an example, Weinreich (1974) says that

Interference arises when a bilingual identifies a phoneme of the secondary

system with one in the primary system and, in reproducing it, subjects it to the

phonetic rules of the primary language (20).

As Lado (1957) puts it,

We have ample evidence that when learning a foreign language, we tend to

transfer our entire native language system in the process (11).

There may be interference from first language (L1) to the second language (L2) or from the L2

to the L1, but interference between items of L1 and L2 is not as common as that existing

between L1 and L2 items. This is because the L1 is the mother tongue and it is in a privileged

position to resist interference from the second language (L2). Moreover, it is the lower

4

language which borrows predominantly from the upper. For instance, the dental fricative /θ/

which is not available in most Nigerian languages is replaced with the alveolar phonemes /t/

and /d/. Suprasegmental is another area of phonological interference because in most tone

languages like Igbo, the high tone is equated to strong stress and the low tone to weak stress.

Therefore, rather than using stress to produce certain English words, tones are used instead.

Lado goes further to observe that

We tend to transfer to that language our phonemes and their variants, our

stress and rhythm patterns, our transition, our intonation patterns and their

interaction with other phonemes (5).

In English, for instance, the basic pitch pattern of a stressed syllable is a fall. A name

like “John” will be pronounced as „John‟ while a name like „Peter‟ will be rendered as

„Pétèr‟. In trying to pronounce an Igbo name like „òbí‟, a native speaker of English would

most likely say „obi‟. In so doing, he has transferred the stress pattern of English names to

Igbo.

1.3 Bilingualism

This is a situation whereby two languages are acquired by the same individual. In

other words, it is an art of using two languages interchangeably. Bilingualism is a by-product

of language contact. It is the ability of an individual or a society to speak more than one

language. This phenomenon is recognized wherever a native speaker of one language makes

use of a second language however marginally he may be doing so.

Bilingualism, as the case may be, is a cline ranging from the completely monolingual

person at one end to the speaker who has a complete mastery of two languages and uses both

equally. The individual speaker who has mastery of the two languages and uses both equally

can be described as having a divided linguistic allegiance. As stated in our discussion of

interference, culture contact can effect certain changes in the linguistic behavior of either the

individual or an entire speech community. In most cases, the personalities involved when two

5

cultures come in contact, use the languages concerned interchangeably.

In Nigeria, to be a bilingual might be both advantageous and disadvantageous. In

some cases, the bilingual occupies a unique position, particularly in a non-literate

environment. On the other hand, the Nigerian experience has shown a distasteful side of the

concept. There are many people learning or using two languages and eventually becoming

incompetent in the two. Usually, there are significant conflicts in their utterances; at times,

their utterances are rendered unintelligible.

Different stages of bilingualism occur and they are compound, coordinate,

subordinate, and incipient bilingualism. According to Hyman, incipient bilingualism

describes the early stages of bilingualism when the mastery of the second language is still

very low whereas compound bilingualism is the merging of the two languages into one

system and learning them simultaneously while coordinate bilingualism, adopted by

Weinreich (1974), is used “for any speaker learning more than one language either during

childhood acquisition of two or more native languages or later perfect mastery of a languages

other than the native one (3)”. Subordinate bilingualism, on the other hand, involves non-

native proficiency in the second language which presumably can be quantified. It involves the

learning of the second language (L2) for utilitarian purposes. Bilingualism can be possessed

by an individual or a community. When it is a possession of a whole community, it is said to

be communal bilingualism, but when it is that of a single individual, it becomes individual

bilingualism.

1.4 The Teaching and Learning of English Prosodic Features in Nigerian Schools

English, as indicated much earlier, has for well over a century now continued to enjoy

the pride of place in the nation‟s educational system. In education, it is introduced as a

subject from the first year in primary schools and used as a medium and subject of instruction

from the third year through secondary and tertiary education. In private schools, especially in

6

cosmopolitan areas, children are taught in English from kindergarten. To gain admission into

any University Faculty, a credit at O‟levels in English is a prerequisite. It is only in very rare

cases that a pass is considered. Thus, whereas indigenous languages are rarely given more

than three lesson periods a week on the school time table, English never has less than five

periods, and may even be given as many as seven or eight periods particularly in schools that

prepare students for the Oral English examination. Avidly patronized by commercial

publishers, the language enjoys a profusion of pedagogical materials, and in this respect

contrasts sharply with the indigenous languages, the vast majority of which lack enough

materials for teaching them as L1 even for a few years in Primary School.

Nevertheless, the teaching of English prosodic features in the nation‟s schools has its

own problems too, just as the teaching of the indigenous languages does as indicated above.

By far, the most serious of such problems has to do with the quality of the teachers available.

Nearly all such teachers are L2 speakers. Few L2 speakers who were themselves taught by

other L2 speakers who in their turn, had learned the suprasegmentals necessarily imperfectly

form other L2 speakers of English in the nation‟s schools today have such a good enough

command of the written and spoken form of the suprasegmentals, particularly the latter, that

they could import with confidence to their pupils. To make matter worse still, most such

teachers have no training in Contractive Linguistics and, therefore, are unable to understand

and consequently devise effective pedagogical strategies for combating the mostly mother-

tongue induced kinds of learners‟ errors that recur in their pupils‟ written and oral

performances in the language. According to Amayo (1980),

the well known fact is that it is far easier to superimpose an L2 syntactico-

semantic structure over an already internalized L1 structure than to do the

same for articulatory gestures and auditory habits (6).

Another problem besetting the teaching and learning of English prosodic features in

Nigerian schools relates to the books that are available locally in the area. Although the

7

country has come a long way with regard to the production of locally written texts in

suprasegmentals, a lot of books, particularly for children, nevertheless still have to be

imported from abroad. As such books are written and meant for other cultures than ours, one

of their glaring shortcomings as books for the nation‟s schools is their cultural

inappropriateness. The teaching and examination syllabuses for the prosodic features in

primary and secondary school would appear to be over ambitious and therefore inappropriate

for those two levels. Thus, primary school children being prepared for the Common Entrance

Examination (used for determining admission into Secondary Schools) are expected to be

able to tell, for instance, what intonation, tone, rhythm and stress require, a matter which even

most adult native speakers of English would not know for certain and would therefore tend to

avoid. Similarly, final year students in secondary schools are expected in their written

English to display mastery and control of various characteristics of prosodic features, even

though their control of the very basics of that language is so shaky that they scarcely can

produce two to three grammatically flawless sentences at a time.

While the latter two problems of suitable textual materials and communicatively

appropriate syllabuses can perhaps be easily solved with hard work and determination, this is

not the case for the unsatisfactory quality of the teachers of English available for the nation‟s

schools. Ideally, the prosodic features of English ought to be taught in the country by

specially trained native speakers, but given the current down-turn in the country‟s economy

and the great demand for such teachers in other parts of the world such as the Gulf states that

can better afford to pay them, the chances of being able to recruit those teachers in adequate

numbers for the nation‟s schools are nil. Accordingly, the possibility of effecting appreciable

improvement in the quality of the English spoken in the country as a whole would appear

very remote indeed.

In recent years, Oral English has become an integral part of the senior secondary

8

school syllabus and examination in the English Language. The official attitude of the regional

examining body (West African Examinations Council) which conducts these examinations, is

that test of continuous writing, comprehension and objective test of lexis and structure should

be assessed based on the mastery of Standard English as currently used by educated African

writers and speakers of English in the commonwealth. As far as Oral English is concerned,

no explicitly policy statements have been issued. The mode of testing is still evolving as it

changes from year to year, thus constituting additional burdens on schools which in the first

place are ill-prepared for teaching the subject. K.J. Stevenson (1969), reflecting on the

teaching of spoken English in Nigeria, summarizes the situation as follows:

English spoken by Nigerians is often difficult for others to understand

because each syllable is of nearly the same length and given the same stress.

There is a tendency to stress the final syllable in a sentence, even if it is not a

personal pronoun. The effect of this is not just that a Nigerian accent is

different from any other, but that the message that the speaker wishes to

convey is not carried efficiently by the medium; undue importance is given to

grammatical items while those words with full lexical meaning are deprived

of their prominence (231).

Students are required to perceive and produce rhythm/tone contrasts and to recognize

contrastive grammatical uses of stress. They are also expected to recognize attitudinal

functions of intonation. It is not clearly stated which accent is being tested. The entire Oral

English examination has been known to be conducted in objective tests, with no perception or

performance tests given. What seems to be the case is that while the educational authorities

realize the importance of teaching Oral English in schools, they find themselves unable

and/or unwilling to provide the necessary funds to support effective teaching and testing the

subject.

Within the level of phonology, it is a conspicuous fact that most Nigerians (teachers

and students alike) are relatively more conversant with the segmental component of English

phonology than they are with the suprasegmentals features. According to Banjo (1979), “…in

9

phonology, the appropriate use of English stress and intonation is the final hurdle which the

vast majority of speakers of English as a second language never manage to cross” (23).

Commenting on the same issue, Amayo notes that this might be due to the “more articulatory

and perceptually elusive nature of the suprasegmental features as opposed to the more

tangible nature of the segmental”(2). Adekunle (1978), on his own part, points out that

pitch variation, as a constituent of the speech process may be the first feature

learnt, the last forgotten, and hence represents the most difficult aspects of

speech to modify in the learning of a second language (10).

This means that when a person has internalized the use of pitch in his first language, it

becomes difficult for the same person to shift to another language that uses pitch in a

different way.

The above problems or difficulties notwithstanding, most phonologists believe that

the suprasegmental features are very important in terms of communication. This becomes

obvious when we note that mothers or parents generally understand their little children by the

tones they use than by the correct execution of the segmental features. Herbert (1980)

observes that

Non-native children who learn English under natural condition (that is not as a

school subject), appear to learn the pitch patterns first, filling them with

gibberish, then gradually fitting vowels, consonants and syntagms into the

pitch patterns already established (65).

Moreover, as Kingdon Roger (1958) observes,

A foreigner who speaks a language with correct stressing and intonation, but

with incorrect sounds (within reasonable limits) will be better understood by

natives than one whose sounds are correct, but whose stressing and intonation

are poor (70).

Summing up the Nigerian situation, Amayo in Teaching English Pronunciation notes

that “incorrect rhythm and incorrect word stress constitute the greatest source of intelligibility

failure”(9).

10

The aforementioned problems apart, we still have a lot of other factors negating the

mastery of English pronunciation in Nigeria in general, and particularly among the Igbos. For

example, for some socio-cultural reasons, a lot of Nigerians shy away from a pronunciation

that would make them sound too much like native speakers of English. A large number of

literate Nigerians have expressed their view on the need to de-emphasize not just English

pronunciation, but the use of English, in its entirety, in Nigeria. They regard the English

Language as an obnoxious smell lingering around after the departure of our colonial lords. A

leading Nigerian playwright and novelist, Wole Soyinka, has been quoted to have at a time

made some kind of “anti-English” statements in spite of his versatility in the language. He is

known to have once suggested that Swahili should be used as a continental language for

Africa. By implication, he is saying that the use of English should be de-emphasized.

There is no doubt that some Nigerians are changing their attitude towards the English

language. In the past, Nigerians desired to learn everything about English because it was then

regarded as a status symbol. At that time, it had economic advantage. On the other hand,

others believe that any attempt to produce anything near a standard English pronunciation

will make English unintelligible among Nigerians. Bearing in mind the fact that the essence

of language is communication, it might initially sound plausible that the Nigerian

verbalization of English need not be close to that of the native speaker‟s variety. This is

because most Nigerians may not understand it.

In conclusion, it is important to note that while international intelligibility should be a

major concern, we need not overstress the point. Local acceptability should be another crucial

point to be borne in mind when considering the teaching and learning of prosodic features in

Nigerian schools.

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CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Challenges Facing Igbo Native Speakers in the Area of Spoken English

Language teaching practice often assumes that most of the difficulties encountered by

learners in the study of the English language are a consequence of the degree to which their

native language differs from English. Yule (1997) notes that the primary difficulty for most

people can be captured in terms of a distinction between acquisition and learning. The term

„acquisition‟ according to him, refers to a gradual development of ability in a language by

using it naturally in communicative situations while the term „learning‟ applies to a conscious

process of accumulating knowledge of the vocabulary and grammar of a language. He further

argues that some challenges facing non-native speakers of English in the acquisition of a

second language are related to the fact that most people attempt to learn it during their

teenage or adult years, in a few hours each week of school time (rather than via the constant

interaction experience by a child) with a lot of other tasks and with an already known

language available for most of their daily communicative requirements.

Most Igbo speakers of English acquire accent and features that are related to their first

language. These accents and features pose some challenges to them during second language

learning. Ufomata (1996) states that differences exist when the English Language is spoken

by a second learner and a native speaker. According to Richards (1986), “interference from

the mother tongue is clearly a major source of difficulty in second language learning” (72).

Adults learn the target language against the background of their mother tongues in which they

have attained a reasonable degree of competence. Therefore, there is the inevitable tendency

to transfer the ingrained native-language attributes to those of the target language, thereby

hindering effective mastery of pronunciation of the new language (Eyisi, 2007). Abercrombie

(1956) asserts that “learning of foreign language is an artificial process: it can never be the

same as the „natural‟ process by which a child learns its mother tongue” (23). Lado (1957)

12

also observes that “the student who comes in contact with a foreign language will find some

features of it quite easy and others extremely difficult. Those elements that are similar to his

native language will be simple for him and those elements that are different will be

difficult”(2). For instance, a French learner of the English language would have little problem

in the acquisition of its vocabulary and pronunciation because English borrowed so many of

its words from French such as “religion”, “institution”, “page”, “avant-garde”, and so on, but

Igbo language differs from that of the English language, therefore a student of English as a

second language is bound to encounter many problems in the course of English

pronunciation.

Moreover, in Igbo language, words are pronounced exactly the way they are spelt, for

instance, ite (pot), azu(fish), okuko (fowl), etc; but this is not applicable to English words, for

instance, „psychology‟/saikoləʤi/, „aura‟ /ɔ:rə/, and „physical /fizikl/.

The mastery of the prosodic features of English is basic to intelligibility in spoken

English. This does not mean that the segments are less important, but the accentual patterning

of utterances will diminish efficiency in communication. For instance, the English word

„federal‟ rendered as „pederal‟ by an Hausa English speaker will be understood better than

when the English utterance „yes‟ with a rising tune [´ yes] used to indicate continuity is said

with a falling tune [` yes] to mean finality. Hence, “the ability to say correctly the rhythm and

stress patterns in the English language should be placed higher than the ability to say the

consonants and vowels correctly” observes Dunstan, (1969). Banjo (1979) also describes the

appropriate use of stress and intonation as “the final hurdle, which a vast majority of speakers

of English as a foreign language never manage to cross”(12).

In a more specific observation, Cruz-Ferreira (1989) identifies intonation of all the

suprasegmentals features, as “the last stronghold of a foreign accent in speaking any L2” (24),

asserting further that, that observation is true “even of speakers who otherwise have perfect

13

or near perfect command of the phonetics of the L2”(24). Not surprisingly, the intonation of

non native English poses serious intelligibility problems to native speakers of the language,

as reported by Tiffen (1974) on Nigerian English.

The problem of intonation for the users of English as a second language has been

accounted for in various ways. For example, Amayo (1981) has argued that the

suprasegmental features, of which intonation is a major component, are generally more

elusive than the segmental and are therefore more inherently difficult to learn for foreign

learners. As further observed by that writer, the suprasegemental features, particularly

intonation, are much less researched and are, consequently, much less taught than the

segmental aspects of English.

Consequently, Jowitt (2000), after an examination of the form and the frequency of

intonation patterns in educated Nigerian spoken English, concludes that “certain patterns

having a high frequency, constitute a system in Nigerian usage differing in important respects

from native-speaker system, though lacking stability”(64).

One of the sources of the difficulty of English intonation for the foreign learner is, no

doubt, the undue emphasis placed, in teaching, on its structural analysis rather than on its

communicative value in EL2 programmes. Thus, the notions of tonality, tonicity, and the tone

group (Crystal, 1972), also variously designated as the intonational phrase, phonological

clause or sense group (Cruttenden, 1990), are introduced to the foreign learner in that

structuralize analysis expounded by Pike (1945), Kingdon (1958), Abercrombie (1964), and

O‟Connor and Arnold (1973), to mention a few classic examples. Consequently, the

description of tone as rising and falling, with many complex configurations such as „fall-rise‟,

„falling to mid‟, and „low rising‟ (Halliday, 1967) confuses the EL2 learner, whose primary

business, like that of the non-linguist native speaker‟s, is to use English intonation

appropriately in everyday communication. Nor do the notions of tone group, foot and syllable

14

help the non-native user of English to understand the language better, even more perplexing

is the demarcation of the tone group‟s internal structure into the obligatory nucleus (the tonic

or nuclear syllable) and the optional Head, Pre-head and Tail.

In a nutshell, the adoption of the structuralize framework for teaching intonation to

learners of English as a second language, which is in vogue in many a university lecture hall

today, may have achieved little success.

Syllable structure is another factor that poses challenges to the Igbo native speaker in

the area of spoken English. While most people find it easy to recognize the number of

syllables in a word, it has been a very difficult task for linguists to agree on what the syllable

is. Difficult as the issue might be, Akere (1987) defines it as “an intermediate level of

phonological organization, that is, intermediate between individual segmental units,

consonants and vowels, and other combination into words”(16). According to Eyisi (2007),

“Nigeria has over four hundred vernacular languages. Out of all these, none is genetically

related to nor has a similar syllable as English” (358).

The syllable structure of English is conventionally recognized as C0-3

VC0-4

or

(CCC)V(CCCC) whereas in Igbo language it is V, CV and N where N represents a syllabic

nasal which shows that a nasal sound can form a syllable of its own. From the above

representation, English syllables can have between zero and three initial consonants, an

obligatory vowel, and between zero and four final consonants, for instance, „straw‟/strɔ:/ has

CCCV, „desks‟ /desks/ CVCCC, „glimpse‟ /glimps/ CCVCCC. The formula above

excludes syllabic consonants like /l/ and /n/.

However, a non-native speaker finds it difficult to recognize the consonant clusters

either at the beginning or at the end of a syllable thereby causing problems for speakers of

many other languages. Igbo language, for instance, broadly alternatives consonant and vowel

sounds. So Igbo learners of English often try to force vowels between consonants thereby

15

increasing the number of syllables and wrong pronunciation. For instance, „desks‟ becomes

„desiki‟, „milk‟ becomes „miliki‟ and street‟ becomes sitiriti‟ which has been pronounced as

though it has four syllables. Moreover, Igbo native speakers do not always recognize the fact

that in pronouncing words like „Christmas‟ „krisməs/ „comb‟/kəυm/ and „womb‟ /wu:m/, the

underlined letters remain silent. Instead, the silent letters are realized during pronunciation

and a vowel sound inserted between each sound.

The learner‟s task is further complicated by the fact that native speakers may drop

consonants in the more complex blends, for instance, „mns‟ instead of /mΛnθs/ for months.

Udofot (1997) finds that when reading a passage of 143 syllables, a non-native speaker, an

Igbo precisely, may accentuate between 63 and 121 syllables whereas a native speaker

control will accentuate 61. Onuigbo (1990) concludes that “stress and intonation must be

properly used by a speaker of English if his speech is to be understood by the users of the

language” (5). He goes further to say that

No matter how difficult the features of stress and intonation may be to learners

of English, serious efforts should be made to master and use them correctly in

order to maintain intelligible communication among all speakers of the

languages (5).

2.2 Variation in Language

Formal grammatical properties such as phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and

semantics can help use gain insight into how language works. However, we must also realize

that language as a “thing” to be studied is necessarily a kind of simplification because

language is not a „thing‟ external to human beings, but rather something that makes up a part

of who we are. The point, here, is that language must also be profitably studied in its social

context.

The works of Labov (1972) introduced sociolinguistics which paves the way to the

understanding of language variation. In a general term, Yule (1997) views sociolinguistics as

16

an inter-relationship between language and society. In other words, it is the study of the effect

of any and all aspects of society including cultural norms, expectations and context on the

way language is used.

Our focus here is on a major aspect of sociolinguistics, an area generally referred to as

language variation. As its own name implies, language variation focuses on how language

varies in different contexts, where context refers to things like ethnicity, social class, sex,

geography, age, time, pronunciation, socio-economic status, usage and a number of other

factors. Below is a brief description of the various contexts of variation in language:

Variation in Time: Anagbogu et al (2001) note that language varies in time and this is best

demonstrated through a language that has a long history of written tradition as it is then

possible to look at earlier forms of the language. The English language, as an example, is

generally accepted to have three periods in its development. They are:

1st period Old English (500 – 1100AD)

2nd

period Middle English (1100-1500AD)

3rd

period Modern English (1500 – present)

According to Anagbogu et al (2001), a look at the English language shows that it has

varied enormously from what it was in the Old English and Middle English periods, and we

can look at the variation in terns of pronunciation, spelling, and meaning.

Variation in Pronunciation: Here, a table of diagram is used to illustrate what it is all about.

Old English Modern English Pronunciation

Differences

Wif Wife /i:/ /ai/

Hus House /u:/ /a /

Nama Name /a:/ /ei/

(Adapted from Anagbogu et al (2001)

17

From the table above, one can see that what was long [i:] in Old English is now a diphthong

[ai] in Modern English; what used to be an [u:] is now a diphthong [a :], what was a long [a:]

has become a diphthong [ei].

Variation in Spelling: In the above table, the „wif‟, „hus‟, and „nama‟ of Old English

changed to „wife‟, „house‟, and „name‟ in Modern English.

Variation in Meaning: This is very extensive in Old English, „Knight‟ meant „a young man‟,

but presently, it means a man to whom a title of honor has been conferred; „honest‟ in Old

English meant „chaste‟, but today, it means a different thing and „chaste‟ also has a separate

meaning. In Middle English, „boy‟ meant „a rough and unruly person‟, but it now represents

„a young growing adult male‟.

Ethnicity: Yule (1997) states that “within any society, differences in speech may come about

because of different ethnic backgrounds” (243). He further observes that “the speech among

immigrants, and often of their children, will contain identifying features” (243). Also are

some areas where there is a strong language loyalty to the original language of the group, a

large number of features are carried over into the new language. Ethnicity is, therefore,

another factor driving language variation.

Social Network: This is another way of understanding variation in language. Wardhaugh

(2002) notes that it “describes a particular speech community in terms of relations between

individual members in community” (126).

Social network could be loose or tight depending on members‟ interaction with each

other. The looseness and tightness of a social network may affect free rendition of prosodic

features adopted by a speaker. For instance, Dubois and Hovarth (1998) find that speakers in

one community are more likely to pronounce English „th‟ /θ/ as [t], / ð/ as [d] if they

18

participate in a relatively dense social network (had strong local ties and interacted with many

other speakers in the community), and less likely if their network were looser (that is, fewer

local ties).

Social Class: Sociolinguistics as a field distinct from dialectology was pioneered through

the study of language variation in urban areas. Class and occupation are among the most

important linguistic markers found in society. Wikipedia (2008) points out that one of the

fundamental findings of sociolinguistics which has been hard to disprove, is that class and

language variety are related. This is because not only class, but class aspiration, is important.

Age-graded Variation: This is a stable variation which varies within a population based on

age. That is, speakers of a particular age will use a specific linguistic form in successive

generations. Chambers (1995) cites an example from Canada where the pronunciation of the

letter „z‟ varies. Most of the English-speaking world pronounces it as „zed‟, whereas in the

United States, it is pronounced as „zee‟.

According to him, a linguistic survey found in 1979 that two third of the 12 year olds

in Toronto ended the recitation of the alphabet with the letter „zee‟ where only 8% of the

adults did so.

2.3 Environmental Factors Affecting Igbo Native Speakers of English as a Second

Language

A number of factors have been claimed to influence second language acquisition. The

relative impact of various factors affecting the acquisition of a second language phonological

system warrants a closer scrutiny. In Nigeria, as the researcher has noted earlier, the official

language is English. Thus, it becomes vital for every citizen to learn English. Among many

factors that affect the second learner of English studied broadly by researchers over the

decade are environmental factors (Zhang, 2006).

19

Environment can be physical or social as the case may be. Various researchers have

noted different types of environmental factors that can affect a second learner of English such

as the culture of the individual or people, proficiency in mother tongue, family support,

literacy level, motivation, and so on. ( Gardner, 1982 and, Crookes and Schmitt, 1991).

Culture, as one of the environmental factors, cannot be over-emphasized. According

to Briskin (cited in Linda, 2001), culture

is an attribute of individuals, of small groups of organizations and of nations; a

single person can belong to a multiplicity of cultures, any one of which may

be important at any given time. What implies in this definition is that culture

may comprise macro-culture, such as the national or large. communal one, and

micro culture, as can be observed even in the individual culture (43).

There is a great bound between language and culture (Pinker, 1994). Jiang (1999) states that “

a language is part of a culture and a culture is part of a language, the two are intricately

interwoven so that one cannot separate them without losing the significance of either

language or culture”(71).

When acquiring a second language, one will inevitably encounter a new culture which

might contradict his or her native culture. Because of the fact that language and culture are

inseparable, the new culture may interfere with the acquisition of the second language.

Therefore, cultural differences existing between two languages contribute to a breakdown in

intelligibility in the sense that the L2 user finds it difficult to interpret certain meanings the

way an L1 user will do. For instance, the phrase „senior wife‟ used in Nigeria to mean the

„first wife‟ in English only reflects the polygamous cultural setting that is found in Nigeria.

This expression is unacceptable to the RP English user.

Second language speakers most times apply roles and forms of the first language

(mother tongue) into the second language. During second language acquisition, learners

begin by transferring sounds and meanings as well as various rules including word order and

20

pragmatics (White, 2003). For instance, an Igbo native speaker of English may say, “you

have a big eye.” instead of “you are greedy”.

The extent of parental support and stability of home is another factor. Attitude

towards learning is highly influential. Even if the parents have missed out on formal

schooling, their attitudes are hugely influential on the children‟s own learning. Homes that

are secure both economically and emotionally, with parental influence have an environment

of stability conducive to learning. Far more important than speaking English is that parents

value both the native language and English, communicate with their children in whichever

language is most comfortable and show support for and interest in their children‟s progress.

Second language acquisition is made easier if the user has a high level of education.

Aida (1997) states that “metalinguistics development training in formal and academic

features of language use and knowledge of rhetorical patterns and variation in genre and style

affect acquisition of a second language” (50). The more academically sophisticated the user‟s

knowledge and abilities are, the easier it will be for that user to learn a second language

(Doman, 2006).

The role of motivation has been the subject of extensive scholarship, as one of the

factors affecting a native speaker as a second learner. Before examining the effect of

motivation on second language learning, it is first important to realize that it is one variable,

which combined with other factors, influences a learner‟s success. Motivation is defined by

Gardner (1982) as “the learner‟s orientation with regard to the goal of learning a second

language” (92). Ellis (1997) reasons that individuals who are motivated to integrate both

linguistic and non-linguistic outcomes of the learning experience will attain a higher degree

of L2 proficiency and more desirable attitudes.

2.4 English and Igbo Languages Broadly Compared and Contrasted

21

All languages of the world are said to be tonal, but not to the same degree (Jubril,

1982); tone is basic in Igbo language. In other words, Igbo language belongs to the group of

languages usually described as „tone languages‟. Like all other languages, it is said to use

“lexically significant contrastive, but relative pitch on each syllable”, (Pike, 1948). According

to Igwe (cited in Ogbalu and Emenajo, (1978)), tone in Igbo is “the use of pitch difference

between the syllable of a word to distinguish that word from another with which it shares the

same segmental features”(95).

Pitch is said to be „significant‟ in this language because it can effect a change in the

meaning of words with identical consonant and vowel phonemes. Thus, tone determines the

meaning of a word and changing from one tone to another can completely change the

meaning. According to Anagbogu et al (2001),

When we say that tone differentiates two otherwise identical lexical items, we

mean that although two words may be morphological identical, the tonal

element can completely change the meanings of these otherwise identical

words (96).

For instance, àkwá (egg) ígwè(iron)

ákwá (cry) ígwē (king)

ákwà (cloth) ìgwè (crowd)

àkwà (bed)

are identical in segments, but are distinguished by tone only.

Goldsmith (1976) has distinguished three level tones in Igbo. They are high (/), mid (-

), and low (\), though the mid is realized only phonetically as a down step. Its occurrence is

largely predictable and can only occur with a high or another mid tone. It occurs only as part

of the necessary pattern of a number of nouns and adjectives as in ódūōké (tail rat).

Hyman (1975) suggests that stress, among the suprasegmentals of prominence,

receives the most developed treatment in the literature. This, according to him, might be

because most European languages are stress languages. Ladefoged (1975, on the other hand,

22

defines stress as „a suprasegmental feature of utterance. It applies not to individual vowels

and consonants, but to whole syllables‟ (88) whereas Jones (1972) observes that stress may

be described as “the degree of force with which a sound or syllable is uttered” (245). Uzoezie

(1992) supporting Jones, defines stress as “the amount of articulatory force or energy with

which different syllables in an utterance are produced in a language” (140).

Igbo language does not seem to make use of stress in a very systematic way. The

English language has a complex stress structure; hence some monosyllabic words are

normally stressed while some others are not. Where a word has more than one or two

syllables, the stress could fall on the first, second, third, etc. syllables without any obvious

indications for knowing in advance where stress falls.

In the English language, a word which under normal circumstances, may not be

stressed, can consciously be stressed to give it importance or special meaning, and where

several words occur in an utterance, the stress pattern can be adjusted not only to give a

rhythmic shape to the whole utterance, but also to give different shades of meaning to the

sentence.

The most important thing to note about stress is that it makes use of pitch. In English,

the basic phonetic cue of stress is pitch as observed by Hyman (1975). Pitch is accompanied

by loudness and duration in order to make a syllable prominent. When this happens, all

neighboring syllables are relatively weakened. Hence, stress can be referred to as being

cumulative on one syllable in English and so could be referred to as prominence.

Some linguists like Jubril (1982) have argued that if stress refers to prominence then it

can be replaced with a more precise term „accent‟ because according to him, studies by Ohala

(1977) and Adams (1979) have shown that what is popularly known as stress in English and

other languages has no direct physical correlate. An accented syllable is the most prominent

in a word, but while recognizing the role of „prominence‟ in the phonetic identification of

23

stress, Jones (1967) warns against confusing stress with prominence. To him, prominence is

more of a resultant factor. There are some cases where a strong stress fails to make a sound

objectively prominent.

Every syllable in the English language bears some degree of stress. Although several

levels of stress can be distinguished, English stress in usually analyzed as having three

degrees and they are primarily, secondary, and unstressed. All these levels of stress occur in

different environments of the word and sentence.

Phonetically, both stress and tone are similar in the sense that they operate at the

level of the syllable. Pitch is seen to be the most important cue of stress and tone. While

pitch is the combination of loudness and duration in stress, it occurs alone in tone. It is

cumulative with stress, that is, it gives prominence to one particular syllable per word, but

every syllable on a tone language is given an equal amount of prominence irrespective of its

pitch. According to Eyisi (2007),

The syllables of some Nigerian languages such as Igbo and Yoruba are articulated

with more or less equal force thereby leading other languages, particularly English,

syllables are pronounced in such a way that in connected speech, some of them stand

out more prominently than others and thus sound louder and longer (347).

While the English language has primary, secondary, and unstressed, Igbo language

has high, mid and low tones. Due to this similarity, stress and high tone sometimes correlate

with prominent pitch, but “it must be concluded that the segmental effects of stress are due

entirely to its cumulative function”, (Hyman, 1975). The cumulative nature of stress helps to

make it dissimilatory. This means that the primary stress often helps in weakening the

neighboring syllables of a stressed syllable. Contrary to this, tone is assimilatory. It tends to

make tones of neighboring syllables more like it. Both English and Igbo languages have the

high-low pitch pattern. Despite the differences between tone and stress, they are similar to a

great extent.

24

It has been observed that every language of the world makes use of intonation

(Kingdon, 1958). No language is spoken on the same musical note all the time. Uzoezie

(1992) comments,

No human language is spoken monotously on the same pitch (or frequency)

without any pitch variations. So intonation is a universal characteristic of all

languages, but its manifestation and use differ from one language to the other

(149).

In addition to breaking an utterance into thought groups, “intonation also conveys

information about the syntactic components of the utterance” (Ladefoged, 1982). For

example, sentence types such as declarative, command, interrogative request, etc. In

Abercrombie‟s‟ words (1967), “intonation is not therefore a random fluctuation, but follows

well-defined melodic patterns which are common to the community and which are of

considerable linguistic and social importance” (102).

In Igbo language, intonation is superimposed on tone. It does not consist of

manipulating and varying the pitch contour of the accented syllable as in the English

language, but it consists of using a different register for the utterances as a whole such as

using low tones for questions and an additional morpheme at the end of the utterance to

signify an attitude or additional shade of meaning. Also an extra-high tone may be used to

distinguish grammatical features like questions and exclamations from statements as in

Ó nà àbiá He is coming (statement)

Ò nà àbiá! / ? He is coming (question and exclamation)

The changes observed in the above sentences are the change in tone used on the pronoun (o)

representing the question word, and the extra-high pitch given to questions and exclamations

on the final syllable.

The use of intonation to express varying attitudes is not very elaborate in Igbo

language. In an attempt to express attitudes such as anger and impatience, the voice is made

louder while other forms of attitudes are said without loudness in the voice. It is generally

25

observed that attitudes are shown more by gestures and facial expressions than with

intonation.

In English intonation, the variation of pitch does not bring about a change in the

lexical meaning of words; rather it is used to create grammatical contrast. For instance, the

English word „yes‟ when said with different tunes could convey for different changes in

attitude as in

Yes - agreement yes - surprise

Yes - reservation yes - continuity

According to Abercrombie (1956),

…things such as gait, or the wearing of clothes, can, in addition to their main

function, reveal personality; but probably no aspect of human behaviors does this

so constantly or so subtly as speech (4).

For instance, a sentence “Done it.” can be a question, an exclamation or a statement.

The meaning of the word and utterance still remain despite the different intonation patterns

used. Instead, additional shades of meanings are given to the word or utterance when

intonation is used. According to Frantisek Davies (1960), “the fundamental function of

intonation is to transform words as appellative units, into communicative units, that is, into

utterances. Each word or succession of words automatically becomes an utterance when it is

pronounced in a certain intonational form” (46). These utterances have specific grammatical

forms, described as sentence patterns. The communicative validity of the sentence is,

according to Frantisek, signaled doubly by the intonation and by the sentence pattern. This

view, therefore, presents intonation as an utterance-making device. Phonetically, intonation is

purely the use of pitch in both English and Igbo languages. Hence, the use of the term

„accent‟ to represent both features since they all concentrate on pitch, but while intonation

makes use of a gliding pitch in the English language, it makes use of a stationary and relative

pitch in Igbo.

26

Intonation system in the English language requires that words or parts of words be

picked out for pitch prominence to convey varying shades of meaning or to give emphasis to

an utterance, but in Igbo language, this variation in points of emphasis is not achieved by

giving the relevant word pitch prominence rather intonation is used as part of the word so

that a change in the intonation of a word means a change in the tone pattern of the word.

An outstanding similarity between English and Igbo intonation is that both languages

use the falling tone to realize neutral declarative sentences and wh-questions. Anagbogu et al

(2001) observe that

Whereas intonation adds its own peculiar „meaning‟ over and above the intrinsic

meaning of an utterance, tone gives meaning to a word. In other words, pitch

variation in intonational languages do not alter the dictionary meaning of the words,

but in tone languages, they alter the dictionary meaning of words (97).

Another aspect of comparison is rhythm. The languages of the world have

traditionally been divided into stress-timed and syllable-timed (Pike, 1945 and Abercrombie,

1967) where rhythm is understood to be a periodic recurrence of events. In stress-timed

languages, these recurring events are stress beats and in syllable-timed languages, syllable.

Abercrombie (1967) observes that, “rhythm in speech as in other human activities arises out

of periodic recurrence of some sort of movement, producing an expectation that the regularity

of succession will continue” (97). These movements involve both the stress pulse and the

chest pulse, hence making some languages stress-timed and others syllable-timed.

Rhythm in the English language is stress-timed. This means that it is detectable in the

regular recurrence of a stressed syllable irrespective of the unstressed syllables separating

them. Any utterance in the English language has an alternation of weak and strong beats

which are rhythmic in manner. The unstressed syllables are reduced thereby making it

possible for the speaker to expand roughly the same amount of time in saying stressed

syllables in an utterance.

27

As in most tone languages, Igbo language has a syllable-timed rhythm. All syllables

are made equally prominent when said with tone. The Igbo word, àkwùkwò (book), for

instance, receives tone on all syllables and all the tones have equal prominence.

One proposed reason for Igbo language being more syllable-timed than the English

language is that vowel reduction is less pronounced, which leads to a perpetual impression of

more equal weight and length of each syllable. Udofot (1997) measured the duration of the

syllables in one read sentence and found that syllables containing reduced vowels were, on

average, considerably longer in Nigerian English than in British English.

However, both English and Igbo languages make use of rhythm. While the English

language has a stress-timed rhythm, Igbo language has a syllable-timed rhythm in which case

equal amount of prominence is given to the pronunciation of all syllables in Igbo language

while only prominent syllables are realized at equal intervals of time in the English language.

28

2.5. Summary of Literature Review

The literature review has delved into all the aspects connected with this study. English

is studied and used as a second language in Nigeria. As shown in the review, scholars lament

the poor use of English Prosodic features in Nigerian schools. There are some factors which

are responsible for this.

Mother tongue interference is the major factor because English is learnt against the

background of their mother tongues in which they have attained a reasonable degree of

competence. Intonation, on its own, is difficult because of the undue emphasis placed, in

teaching, on its structural analysis rather than its communicative value in EL2 programmes

.Stress is another factor that poses challenges because the English language has a complex

stress structure; hence some monosyllabic words are normally stressed while some others are

not. The syllable of English is recognized as C0-3

VC0-4-

. A non-native speaker finds it difficult

to recognize the consonant clusters either at the beginning or at the end of a syllable thereby

causing problems for speakers of many other languages. Igbo language, for instance, broadly

alternates consonant and vowel sounds, that is, trying to force vowels between consonants

thereby increasing the number of syllables and wrong pronunciation.

The researcher discusses the challenges facing Igbo native speakers in the area of

spoken English, variation in language, environmental factors affecting Igbo native speakers

of English as a second language, and finally compared and contrasted both English and Igbo

languages.

Finally, a number of factors that affect second language learning are reviewed.

Mother tongue, as one of the factors, involves applying roles and forms of the first language

into the second language. Culture is another factor because one will inevitably encounter a

new culture which might contradict his or her native culture when acquiring a second

language. The extent of parental support and stability of home is another factor. Literacy

29

level cannot be left out because second language learning is made easier if the user has a high

level of education. Individuals who are motivated to integrate both linguistic and non-

linguistic outcomes of the learning experience will attain a higher degree of L2 proficiency

and more desirable attitudes.

30

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Population of the Study

The population of this study will be based on a sample of participants selected from

the Orlu speakers of English. They are all Igbo native speakers; thus most of them learn

English as a second language from different schools and from their contacts with the society.

In all, sixty participants will be sampled from the indigenes of this zone. They include twenty

teachers and forty students who were born and bred in this locality.

The reason for choosing these two groups is because they are believed to have learnt

English as a second language. They are also expected to have received or known, to an

extent, the correct pronunciation of these prosodic features. Thus, if they eventually have

some errors, it could be attributed to other factors including language interference. If

teachers, for instance, have some problems in the pronunciation of these prosodic features,

them students are bound to have the same problems too because they learn from their

teachers.

3.2 Instruments for Data Collection

Two instruments will be used for data collection in this study. They include:

a. 25 English words with more than one syllable (see Appendix 1). This instrument

is designed to assess the pronunciation of English words stressed by the

participants.

b. A conversational passage will be used to assess the use of intonation in connected

speech by the participants (see Appendix 2).

3.3 Procedure for Carrying out the Study

31

Sixty participants (twenty teachers and forty students) who have not lived outside

Orlu zone for more than two years will be given the instruments one after the other to read. A

tape recorder will also be used to record the reading of each participant. Thereafter, the

researcher will score them in those areas. Percentage error of the two different groups

(students and teachers) will be obtained to compare their levels of education.

3.4 Method of Data Analysis

The frequency and percentage of errors will be used to determine the rate of English

prosodic problems encountered by the participants. With these, the researcher will be able to

obtain the percentage error encountered in the pronunciation of different prosodic features by

the participants. Thereafter, discussions will be made based on the findings.

32

CHAPTER FOUR: ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF ENGLISH PROSODIC FEATURES BY

IGBO SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH IN ORLU EDUCATION ZONE

This chapter seeks to analyze the errors committed by some selected Igbo speakers of

English in Orlu Education zone in the use of English prosodic features. It deals with the

presentation of detailed analysis of the data collected on the performance of the respondents,

an interpretation of the data and the results of the analysis which are related to the research

questions. The responses from the interviews were assembled in groups and presented in

tables using percentage calculations.

The analysis is based on the data collected from the participants in the study

comprising twenty teachers and forty students. For ease of analysis, the errors have been

grouped into three broad categories: errors in the use of stress, intonation errors and those in

the use of rhythm. The errors collected under each category and their causes are discussed in

detail. The errors were identified from two tests administered on the participants.

a. The participants were tested in the use of intonation, using dialogues and rhythm.

b. The second test concerns the use of stress in words. The

aim of the first test is to see how effectively Igbo native speakers of English in Orlu

Education zone make use of intonation to signal different functions in conversation and

sentences while the second test is aimed at evaluating the participants‟ ability in the

placement of stress in words. A summary of the performances of the participants is presented

below in tables.

4.1 Analysis of Data Collected from Students

TABLE 1

This table depicts the performance of the participants in the use of stress.

S/N

Test Items

Number of Respondents

Number of those with correct responses

and their percentage equivalent

Number of those with incorrect

responses and their percentage

33

equivalent

1 'doctor 10

(25%)

30

(75%)

2 'baker 7

(17.5%)

33

(32.5%)

3 'lavish 8

(20%)

32

(80%)

4 'honour 6

(15%)

34

(35%)

5 'damage 15

(37.5%)

25

(62.5%)

6. 'lengthy 14

(35%)

26

(65%)

7. 'teacher 11

(27.5%)

29

(72.5%)

8 'tally 13

(32.5%)

27

(67.5%)

9 'render 10

(25%)

30

(75%)

10 be'lieve 8

(20%)

32

(80%)

11 di'sease 12

(30%)

28

(70%)

12 e'vade 15

(37.5%)

25

(62.5%)

13 ob'serve 9

(22.5%)

31

(77.5%)

14 mi'stake 11

(27.5%)

29

(72.5%)

15 individu'ality 5

(12.5%)

35

(87.5%)

16 vulnera'bility 7

(17.5%)

33

(32.5%)

17 pho'tography 4

(10%)

36

(90%)

18 a'natomy 3

(7.5%)

37

(92.5%)

19 e'conomy 2

(5%)

38

(95%)

20 'criticism 2

(5%)

38

(95%)

21 'glamorous 9

(22.5%)

31

(77.5%)

22 nu'merical 6

(15%)

34

(35%)

23 internationali'zation 7

(17.5%)

33

(82.5%)

24. indi'stinguishable 6

(15%)

34

(85%)

25 tange'rine 10

(25%)

30

(75%)

The survey shows, among other things, that 32 participants representing 79% of the

participants could not place stress correctly in the words used for testing whereas 8

34

participants were able to place stress correctly. One reason for the above might be the

influence of the mother tongue. In Igbo language, it is possible to have a polysyllabic word

pronounced with the same pitch level on all the syllables.

The participants were able to perceive stress, but stress was wrongly placed on words

in some cases. Their ability to perceive stress is due to the fact that stress and tone are

somehow similar, but the differences which exist between stress and tone and also the stress

rules of English which are a bit complicated make it difficult for the participants to place

stress correctly. The problems prominent with the placement of stress on words include the

following:

i. The placement of primary stress on the wrong syllable.

ii. Assignment of primary stress on more than one syllable.

iii. Assignment of stress on wrong syllable.

It was also generally observed that thirty out of forty participants assigned primary

stress on the first syllable of the word “tangerine” instead of the second syllable and also the

word [a'natomy] was realized by 80% of the participants as ['anatomy] with the primary

stress on the first syllable instead of the second syllable. Thirty eight out of forty participants

realized the word ['criticism] as [cri'ticism]. The wrong syllable was given prominence here

and a different sound was produced altogether.

Below is another table that depicts the performance of the participants in the use of

intonation. Eight statements were issued to the participants whereby they were tested on the

ability to use intonation in a connected speech.

TABLE 2

S/N

Test Items

Number of Respondents

Number of those with

correct responses and

their percentage

equivalent

Number of those with

incorrect responses

and their percentage

equivalent

1 Father, will you carve? 12

(30%)

28

(70%)

35

2 Certainly, my dear. 10

(25%)

30

(75%)

3 Wash your hands,

children!

9

(22.5%)

31

(77.5%)

4 Don‟t wait! 7

(17.5%)

33

(82.5%)

5 Are they clean? 8

(20%)

32

(80%)

6. I thought not, you‟ll have

to wash them again!

11

(27.5%)

29

(72.5%)

7. Is that enough for you,

dear?

6

(15%)

34

(85%)

8 It‟s just right. 14

(35%)

26

(65%)

Intonation was tested with dialogues and sentences. The dialogues comprised mainly

eight sentences and they were supposed to bring out grammatical function of intonation in

neutral contexts. The grammatical function was tested to differentiate between sentence types

and also to break sentences into relevant grammatical units.

Although one can observe a clear use of intonation in the speech of Igbo native

speakers of English, it is only a very limited number of English intonation tunes that can be

identified in their speech. Sometimes, Igbo native speakers of English do interchange the

falling and rising pitch patterns. The sixth and the eighth items were rendered with a rising

intonation pattern by 70% of the participants, while only 40% realized polite statements as if

they were an angry command.

In a nutshell, participants were not able to use intonation to a large extent to achieve

its aim, that is, giving subtle changes in meaning to utterances. There was a general failure of

intelligibility as a result of poor manipulation of intonation.

The table below presents the performance of the participants in the use of rhythm. Just

like intonation, eight statements were issued to the participants whereby they were tested on

the ability to use rhythm in a connected speech.

TABLE 3

36

S/N

Test Items

Number of Respondents

Number of those with

correct responses and

their percentage

equivalent

Number of those with

incorrect responses and

their percentage

equivalent

1 Father, will you carve? 12

(30%)

28

(70%)

2 Certainly, my dear. 10

(25%)

30

(75%)

3 Wash your hands, children! 9

(22.5%)

31

(77.5%)

4 Don‟t wait! 7

(17.5%)

33

(82.5%)

5 Are they clean? 8

(20%)

32

(80%)

6. I thought not, you‟ll have to

wash them again!

11

(27.5%)

29

(72.5%)

7. Is that enough for you, dear? 6

(15%)

34

(85%)

8 It‟s just right. 14

(35%)

26

(65%)

In terms of errors, participants committed the same errors they made in intonation because

rhythm and intonation in dialogues are used together. Since Igbo rhythm is syllable-timed,

the participants assigned equal amount of prominence in the pronunciation of all the English

syllables. The participants did not observe the alternation of weak and strong beats in

utterances; instead all the syllables received tone with equal prominence.

4.2 Analysis of Data Collected from Teachers

Teachers committed less error than students; this means that as the level of education

increases, so also the error changes. A summary of the performances of the participants is

presented below in tables.

TABLE 4

The table depicts the performance of the participants in the use of stress.

S/N

Test Items

Number of Respondents

Number of those with correct

responses and their percentage

equivalent

Number of those with

incorrect responses and

their percentage equivalent

1 'doctor 7

(35%)

13

(65%)

37

2 'baker 5

(25%)

15

(75%)

3 'lavish 4

(20%)

16

(85%)

4 'honour 8

(40%)

12

(60%)

5 'damage 6

(30%)

14

(70%)

6. 'lengthy 9

(45%)

11

(55%)

7. 'teacher 7

(35%)

13

(65%)

8 'tally 6

(36%)

14

(70%)

9 'render 10

(50%)

10

(50%)

10 be'lieve 5

(25%)

15

(75%)

11 di'sease 9

(45%)

11

(55%)

12 e'vade 7

(35%)

13

(65%)

13 ob'serve 8

(40%)

12

(60%)

14 mi'stake 6

(30%)

14

(70%)

15 individu'ality 5

(25%)

15

(75%)

16 vulnera'bility 4

(20%)

16

(80%)

17 pho'tography 8

(40%)

12

(60%)

18 a'natomy 10

(50%)

10

(50%)

19 e'conomy 6

(30%)

14

(70%)

20 'criticism 5

(25%)

15

(75%)

21 'glamorous 9

(45%)

11

(55%)

22 nu'merical 7

(35%)

13

(65%)

23 internationali'zation 4

(20%)

16

(80%)

24. indi'stinguishable 6

(30%)

14

(70%)

25 tange'rine 8

(40%)

12

(60%)

From the data presented above, teachers made an average percentage error of 66% in stress.

Words like ['criticism], [be'lieve] and [internationali'zation] were realised as

ćrìtícísm

believe

íntérnàtìonátízátion

38

by 75% of the participants. The reproduction of secondary stress as primary stress is not

unconnected to the fact that some people can perceive secondary stress as primary stress.

Perhaps because of the similarities between stress and tone, one can observe quite a

lot of cases of the substitution of tone for stress in the pronunciation by the participants.

Seventy per cent (70%) of the participants pronounced the following words

'baker 'damage

'lavish 'tally

as bákèr damage

lavish tálly

In a lot of cases, the participants identified primary stress as high tone and rendered

unstressed syllables with low tone. Sixty seven percent (67%) of the participants rendered the

secondary stress as mid tone.

Below is the fifth table that depicts the performance of the teachers in the use of

intonation. The same statements that were administered to the students were also issued to the

teachers whereby they were tested on the ability to use intonation in a connected speech.

TABLE 5

S/N

Test Items

Number of Respondents

Number of those with

correct responses and

their percentage

equivalent

Number of those with

incorrect responses

and their percentage

equivalent

1 Father, will you carve? 5

(25%)

15

(75%)

2 Certainly, my dear. 7

(35%)

13

(65%)

3 Wash your hands, children! 4

(20%)

16

(80%)

4 Don‟t wait! 5

(25%)

15

(75%)

5 Are they clean? 6 14

39

(30%) (70%)

6. I thought not, you‟ll have to

wash them again!

8

(40%)

12

(60%)

7. Is that enough for you, dear? 4

(20%)

16

(80%)

8 It‟s just right. 9

(45%)

11

(55%)

Though intonation is used for grammatical purposes in Igbo language such as the use

of low tone for questions and high tone for statements, it does not function in the same way in

the English language. Almost ninety per cent (90%) of the participants found it difficult to

derive questions from statements. This is because intonation patterns are not used in opposite

direction to derive either question from statements or vice versa in Igbo language.

Although we do not have this in our data, it is a fact observable in everyday speech of

many Igbo native speakers of English, that people generally prefer other methods of

converting a statement to question to using intonation. Their failure to discriminate between

questions and statements by the use of intonation is clearly not a case of interference of any

type. This is true because intonation is used for this purpose in Igbo language.

In explaining the errors evident in the use of English intonation by teachers, we ought

to bear in mind that since the intonation patterns of L1 are relatively simple, the intonation

patterns of L2 (the English Language) and their appropriate uses have to be learnt by Igbo

speakers. So imperfect mastery may be one explanation for the inadequate use of English

intonation patterns by the teachers. For instance, the third item was rendered as an ordinary

statement by 85% of the participants, whereas the seventh item was rendered with a falling

tune by 93% of the participants. The eighth item that was supposed to be rendered just as a

polite statement was realised with a rising tune by 72% of the participants. The total average

percentage error of the participants is 70% which means that since teachers find it difficult to

use English intonation correctly, students are in danger of wrong presentation of English

intonation as well.

40

The next table presents the performance of the participants in the use of rhythm. Eight

statements were administered to the participants to enable the researcher to test the ability of

the participants to use rhythm in a connected speech.

41

TABLE 6

S/N

Test Items

Number of Respondents

Number of those with

correct responses and

their percentage

equivalent

Number of those with

incorrect responses

and their percentage

equivalent

1 Father, will you carve? 5

(25%)

15

(75%)

2 Certainly, my dear. 7

(35%)

13

(65%)

3 Wash your hands, children! 4

(20%)

16

(80%)

4 Don‟t wait! 5

(25%)

15

(75%)

5 Are they clean? 6

(30%)

14

(70%)

6. I thought not, you‟ll have to

wash them again!

8

(40%)

12

(60%)

7. Is that enough for you, dear? 4

(20%)

16

(80%)

8 It‟s just right.

9

(45%)

11

(55%)

There was also failure in the use of rhythm to achieve approximately equal intervals of time

as the qualities of vowels were not reduced and syllabic consonants were not elided. In terms

of errors, teachers made exactly the same errors they made in intonation. As mentioned

earlier, this is as a result of the fact that rhythm and intonation are used mostly together.

4.3 Discussion of Findings

The errors encountered by the participants are classified as both linguistic factors and

extra linguistic factors.

Linguistic Factors

Interference was observed as a major linguistic factor in the use of English prosodic

features by the participants. This is in agreement with Richard‟s (1986) observation that

“interference from the mother tongue is clearly a major source of difficulty in second

language learning” (72). The linguistic background of the participants affected their use of

intonation. However, the participants were able to perceive stress to a large extent probably

42

because they are learned and their knowledge of English has improved. Despite this effort,

they still encountered some difficulties in placing stress correctly on words because of

English stress rules which are a bit complicated as mentioned earlier.

An emphatic stress was hardly recognized by 86% of the participants. This problem is

connected with the fact that tone is not usually used for emphasis in Igbo language. This is

also in agreement with what Lado (1957) has observed. He states that “the student who

comes in contact with a foreign language will find some features of it quite easy and others

extremely difficult. Those elements that are similar to his native language will be simple for

him and those elements that are different will be difficult” (2). Emphasis is achieved by

syntactic means and gestures. So it is not surprising that the participants were unable to use

intonation for expressing emphasis. Also there are some cases where the generally unstressed

words were supposed to be stressed, but they were not stressed because in Igbo language,

such use is not made of tone.

It was also discovered that all vowels were realized in their strong forms by 84% of

the participants. This is due to the fact that all vowels receive equal weight or are of the same

quality in Igbo language.

Intonation posed the greatest problem to the participants. According to Banjo (quoted

earlier), the use of stress and intonation is “the final hurdle which a vast majority of speakers

of English as a foreign language never manage to cross” (12). No function performed by

intonation was adequately met by all the participants though the grammatical function was

better used than others, probably because intonation is used for grammatical purposes like

questions and statements in Igbo language. However, the reason for their inability to use

intonation adequately is not far removed from their linguistic background too. This finding

goes together with Abercrombie‟s (1956) comment that “intonation is not therefore a random

fluctuation, but follows well- defined melodic patterns which are common to the community

43

and which are of considerable linguistic and social importance” (102).

Intonation system in English requires that words or parts of words are accented for

pitch prominence to convey varying shades of meaning and emphasis. Most of the

participants were not aware of this function. It was rather observed that most of the words

were given prominence and so ambiguity in utterances was unresolved. The reason is that

accentuation for prominence on a particular word is not a feature of the Igbo intonation

system. Accentual distinction is made in Igbo, not with intonation, but with different

syntactic structures stating categorically the intention of the speaker.

The fact that intonation in Igbo can be used to change statements to questions does

not guarantee an effective control in English. Though pitch variation in everyday speech is

not a unique property of English, it is clear that most language have a unique way of using

such variations. This becomes pertinent when we observe that the only thing needed in Igbo

language is making the high tone of a statement extra-high to arrive at the question form. In

English, one would have to change a falling tune to a rising tune. This is in accord with

Uzoezie‟s comment (quoted earlier) that

“… No human language is spoken monotonously on the same pitch (or frequency) without

any pitch variations. So intonation is a universal characteristics of all languages, but its

manifestation and use differ from one language to the other.” (149).

Extra Linguistic Factors

This is mainly attributed to the fact that most of the participants were not exposed to

English very early. Most of them started learning English in schools and even then, they were

not taught by native speakers. They were taught by teachers whose mastery of the language is

not perfect. Most of these teachers have not been exposed to RP English as they seem to have

44

acquired their English from non RP users. English was therefore taught as if it were simply a

written language, hence the poor mastery of the phonology of English, more especially, the

prosodic features.

Even a few of the participants who claimed to have been taught by native speakers

still use their mother tongue most of the time at home and only use English formally. This

also has a great effect on the participants‟ use of English.

Another reason is that some participants feel that it will be too affectatious to speak

English the way a native speaker does, thereby losing their cultural identities. This finding is

in agreement with Jiang‟s comment (quoted earlier) that

a language is part of a culture and a culture is part of a language, the two are

intricately interwoven so that one cannot separate them without losing the

significance of either language or culture. (71).

This means that when acquiring a second language, one will inevitably encounter a

new culture which might contradict his or her native culture.

45

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Summary

Although the English Language is the language of instruction in Nigeria, a general

competence in it is yet to be achieved by many Nigerian speakers. Recently, some more

researches have indicated that the suprasegmentals prove the most difficult phonological

aspect to be learnt by L2 users of English. This is as a result of the interference from the

mother tongues of non-native users of English. In the light of this, the researcher decided to

select the participants from Orlu speakers of English. It was expected that the errors the

participants made in this area would be minimal since by virtue of the level of their

education, they must have overcome some of the peculiarities of L1 users of English in their

speeches. The speeches of these participants were hence compared with the RP rendition of

similar speeches.

The greatest difficulty in the area of the suprasegmentals encountered by all the

participants was the correct use of intonation. Most of the time, the participants failed to use

intonation correctly in their proper contexts. The various functions of intonation in English

and the complex structure of English tone groups were the greatest problems they

encountered here.

Though stress turned out to be less problematic than intonation in the findings, the

participants still had problem with the correct placement of stress. They were able to perceive

stress though they failed to place them correctly. Their ability to perceive stress may be due

to similarities between tone (as used in Igbo) and stress, and their long exposure to the use of

the language in their studies, but the fact that they still lack a proper mastery of the English

language made it difficult for them to exploit, more especially, the weak and strong forms of

stress of empty words. It was discovered that words were all the time pronounced in their

strong forms, thereby making all such syllables prominent. This tendency is related to the fact

46

that tone is equated to stress at times in Igbo and the participants seemed to have transferred

this notion into English.

A major contributory factor to this failure to use the suprasegmentals properly is the

linguistic background of the participants. Most of the participants were exposed to learning

English relatively late in their lives. None of them was even taught by a native speaker and

they hardly spoke it outside the classroom. They were hardly taught correct rendition with

stress and intonation as most of them could not even render correctly these features. This

problem is not peculiar to the Igbo-English users alone. It is a general one encountered by

almost all Nigerian speakers of English as they tend to transfer features from their languages

into English.

5.2 Conclusion

In conclusion, this study was revealed, among other things, that Igbo native speakers

in Orlu Education zone have problems in the use of English prosodic features. The findings

show that they can be helped and encouraged to overcome their major reading problems. The

students are not the only people who will benefit from this study; teachers and the State

Education Commission are not left out. There is, therefore, the need for English teachers,

educational planners and school administrators to take concrete steps that are realistic and

attainable for the improvement of the reading and pronunciation habits of teachers and

students taking into consideration the great importance attached to the efficient use of English

prosodic features.

5.3 Recommendations

All these problems, mentioned above, should not serve as a hindrance to the learning

47

of the suprasegmentals of English and using them correctly like a native speaker. So in order

to remedy the inability of L2 user of English the teaching of English, more especially the

suprasegmentals, should be given priority in our schools since intelligibility in English does

not only depend on the ability to produce correct syntax and lexis alone, but depends also on

the ability to render correctly the prosody and intonation features of English. Competent and

qualified teachers already acquainted with the problems of teaching English should be

employed to teach English at the early stages of education. If the correct suprasegmental

features of English are acquired early in a child‟s development, it will go a long way to

enhancing his spoken English.

Oral English should also be made compulsory and a scoring subject in the GCE/O

level examination, and emphasis should be given to the suprasegmentals in teaching English.

An English pronunciation course should also be taught to all primary and secondary school

students. It is very disappointing to note that graduate speakers of English (no matter their

fields) could not still manipulate the suprasegmentals features of English well. This has a far

reaching effect on these participants as users of English since they may lose international

intelligibility. The notion of some Nigerians, especially students studying the sciences, that

English is not an important subject to them should therefore change. Also Nigerians trying to

learn English should learn it with the intention of approximating native speakers‟

pronunciation. To update the quality of the existing English language teachers, seminars,

symposia and in- service training courses should be organized from time to time. Sandwich

programmes of the Nigerian Universities should be optionally compulsory for our non-

graduate teachers.

Workshops and seminars should be organized at the education zone or even beyond to

prepare instructional materials for English teachers who do not know how to use instructional

materials. Government and principals of secondary schools should finance the construction of

48

worthwhile instructional materials for use by the teachers. They should, as a matter of

urgency, make provisions for the existence of language laboratories in schools.

A standard library ought to be made compulsory for the English Language teachers to

use. The school library should also be stocked with adequate up-to-date books.

English rather than the native language should be made the main medium of

classroom communication at all levels of education. Moreover, the number of students in a

class should not exceed forty. This would afford the English Language teacher the

opportunity of giving individual attention to students in the class.

Finally, some of the limitations in this study must be pointed out. One of such

limitations is that the method used in collecting the data was not very ideal for a study like

this. The RP representation of the data was taken mainly from text books such as those of

O‟Connor and Arnold (1973) because it was not possible to record the speeches of a native

speaker of English due to certain reasons. Furthermore, not much information was got from

the previous works in the field. Only very few people have researched into the

suprasegmentals in recent times.

However, it is hoped that more studies will be done in this field so as to discover more

clues on how Igbo speakers of English will attain the native speaker‟s level in the

pronunciation of the language. If we have to use English then we must try to use it correctly

irrespective of the obstacles.

49

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APPENDIX 1

„doctor - - /‟d ktə(r)/

„baker - /beikə/

„lavish - /‟læviʃ/

52

„honour - /‟ nə(r)/

„damage - /‟dæmɪʤ/

„lengthy - /‟leŋθɪ/

„teacher - /‟ti:ʧə/

„tally - /‟tælɪ/

„render - - /‟rendə(r)/

be‟lieve - /bili:v/

di‟sease - /dizi:z/

e‟vade - /i‟veid/

ob‟serve - /əb‟zɜ:v/

mi‟stake - /mi‟steik/

individu‟ality - /indiviʤυ‟æləti/

vulnera‟bility - /vʌlnərə‟biləti/

pho‟tography - /fə‟t grəfi/

a‟natomy - /ənætəmi/

e‟conomy - /ik nəmi/

„criticism - /‟kritisizəm/

„glamorous - /glæmərəs/

nu‟merical - /nju:‟merikl/

tange‟rine - /tænʤəri:n/

internationali‟zation - /intənæʃnəlaizeiʃn/

indi‟stinguishable - /indi‟stiŋgwiʃəbl/

53

APPENDIX 2

“Father, will you carve?”asked mother, bustling round with the vegetable dishes.

“Certainly, my dear,” he answered, rolling up his sleeves

“Wash your hands, children!” Mother called, sitting the baby in his high chair.

“Don‟t wait!” shouted the twins, running in later with hungry looks.

“Are they clean?” She demanded, looking at them suspiciously.

“I thought not! You‟ll have to wash them again!” she said firmly, pushing them out.

“Is that enough for you, dear?” asked her husband, passing up a plate.

„‟It‟s just right”, she replied, piling some potatoes beside the meat.

Represents rising tune

Represents falling tune