akamo O princewill (PhD) | University of Ibadan (original) (raw)

Papers by akamo O princewill (PhD)

PHONOLOGICAL COMPLEXIFICATION OF SCHWA: AN ENGRAINED ARTICULATORY ERROR AMONG YORUBA SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH

Non-native speakers have always encountered difficulties with the English central vowels, particu... more Non-native speakers have always encountered difficulties with the English central vowels, particularly the schwa / 0 4 D 9 /, due to their absence from the Yoruba sound inventory. This study focuses on the phonological challenges of the schwa as experienced by Yoruba English speakers. It was accomplished through the use of a qualitative technique. Sixty second-year Sociology and Anthropology students at the University of Lagos were requested to pronounce a set of 16 words featuring the schwa sound. Their responses were recorded on tape and analysed perceptually and phonologically. The study discovered that the respondents' pronunciations diverged significantly from the norm, with the schwa being erroneously pronounced in all 16 words by all the participants.

Dr. Akamo O. Princewll, 2023

Since inception, there have always been distinct variances between male and female voices. This r... more Since inception, there have always been distinct variances between male and female voices. This research thoroughly investigates this phenomenon phonologically, depicting its function in connection to the size of their vocal tracts. Men, for instance, frequently have deeper voices than women due to their longer vocal tracts, etc.

Akamo O. Princewill, 2023

This research delves into the difficulty of accurately pronouncing certain sounds in Received 0 2... more This research delves into the difficulty of accurately pronouncing certain sounds in Received 0 2 5 C 0 2 8 C Pronunciation (RP), namely the central vowels (CVs) / :, / and the dental fricatives (DFs) /θ, ð/, for second language speakers. It aims to provide insight on the complexities of acquiring new phonological skills and how the transfer of linguistic knowledge can impact pronunciation accuracy. By examining the factors and challenges that contribute to mispronunciation, this study also offers strategies for improving phonological proficiency in second language learners. The study involved eighty ND 2 students in Mass Communication, who were given 40 preselected words with CVs and DFs. Data from the study were transcribed and phonologically analysed, revealing that all participants substituted sounds from their native Yoruba language for the target RP sounds.

PHONOLOGICAL ACCURACY, APPROXIMATION, AND SUBSTITUTION OF THE ENGLISH CENTRAL VOWELS BY EDUCATED YORUBA ENGLISH SPEAKERS, 2023

Appropriate articulation of the English Central Vowels (ECVs) −/ ᴧ, ɜ:, ə /− is important to the ... more Appropriate articulation of the English Central Vowels (ECVs) −/ ᴧ, ɜ:, ə /− is important to the intelligibility of expressions of Educated Yoruba English Speakers (EYESs). Previous linguistic studies on educated Yoruba English (EYE) focused largely on the general description of English central vowels and the geo-tribal peculiarities of the realisation of English central vowels. However, scant attention was paid to the articulatory impact of the ECVs on achieving Standard Nigerian English pronunciation that will be globally recognised. Therefore, this study was designed to examine the production of ECVs by EYESs, with a view to determining the nature of their articulation accuracy, approximation, and substitution of the ECVs. Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle's Generative Phonology served as the theoretical framework, with analyses contingent on statistics and phonology. Overall, the EYESs substituted adjacent Yoruba vowels for the English central vowels, achieving marginal 0 2 5 C accuracy only with / :/. There were no significant differences regarding age and gender among the EYESs. The articulation of the central vowels by educated Yoruba English Speakers features substitution of adjacent Yoruba vowels for the English central vowels, not accuracy or approximation.

Dr. Akamo O. Princewill, 2024

The degree to which communication is comprehensible to other people is referred to as speech inte... more The degree to which communication is comprehensible to other people is referred to as speech intelligibility. Finding a balance between precise pronunciation and succinct articulation is generally necessary to achieve intelligibility when it comes to English pronunciation. Leveraging on research and academic works, this study explored the distinctions between speech intelligibility and a native-like English pronunciation accent, emphasising the significance that each plays in clear and concise communication. The elements that influence native-like accents are discussed, as well as the significance of speech intelligibility and how these features interact in language learning and communication.

Akamo O. Princewill, 2024

Linguistically speaking, words can be written or spoken, yet many non-native English speakers mis... more Linguistically speaking, words can be written or spoken, yet many non-native English speakers mispronounce a high percentage of words, especially those containing "silent letters." L2 English speakers find it difficult to ignore silent letter during pronunciation. Therefore, this paper critically addressed a widely held erroneous assumption by some L2 English learners who firmly believe that silent letters are ineffective and devoid of significance in English pronunciation as they are deliberately omitted during reading. In English, silent letters work similarly to diacritic letters in that they modify the sound of another syllable rather than being pronounced. For example, in the word "hymn" (noun), the letter "n" is silent, whereas it is articulated in the second syllable of "hymnal" (adjective).

The operative tools for studying phonology in any language, either locally or cross-linguisticall... more The operative tools for studying phonology in any language, either locally or cross-linguistically, are vowels and consonants. They are inherent features of phonetics and phonology in every language, as phonotactic constraints differ from language to language, and phonological impediment ensues when the constraints are breached by either transfer, substitution, insertion, or deletion. Consequently, it explains why many L2 learners struggle with the articulation of target language sounds, which often influences syllabification and intelligibility. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the dissimilarities in the phonotactic constraints of the syllable structures of English and Yorùbá languages induce pronunciation impairment in English for Yorùbá-English speakers. The Natural Phonology Theory of David Stampe serves as the theoretical foundation for this research. One hundred National Diploma students of Lagos State Polytechnic participated in the study. They are all Yorùbá by origin, with some dialectical differences. They were given a thirty-word list that encapsulates words with monosyllables, disyllables, and multi-syllables. The participants had to pronounce the words aloud. Their pronunciations were recorded on a digital recorder and subjected to perceptual, phonological, and syllabification analyses, supported by sonority hierarchical schemas. Finally, the study reveals that Yorùbá speakers of English have myriad phonological challenges as a result of the divergent Yorùbá and English phonotactic constraints.

THE PHONOTACTIC IMPACT OF CONTEXTUAL HETEROSYLLABIC CONSONANTS AND SYLLABIFICATION ON ENGLISH SILENT LETTERS IN A SECOND LANGUAGE ENVIRONMENT, 2020

English is a problematic language for most L2 speakers since it is not a phonetic language like Y... more English is a problematic language for most L2 speakers since it is not a phonetic language like Yorùbá, Hausa, or Igbo. Its different phonemic letter realisations have posed articulatory impediments to most L2 speakers. In English, silent letters are purposely ignored when pronouncing a word, thus complicating English spelling all the more. Thus, the purpose of this research is to conduct an empirical investigation into the phonotactic impact of contextual heterosyllabic consonants and syllabification on English silent letters in a second language environment. Both descriptive and qualitative approaches were utilised. The data were obtained from seventy respondents who are 100-level Political Science and Social Studies Education students at Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education in Lagos State. They had to pronounce a total of twenty-seven words from a prepared word list. The words were examined from two perspectives: (i) clusters within the same syllable, and (ii) clusters between two separate syllables. Their pronunciations were recorded and taken to a language laboratory for perceptual, phonological, phonotactic, and silent letter spelling analyses. According to the findings, some L2 Yorùbá English speakers imprecisely syllabify and pronounce English silent-letters unwittingly.

ANTITHETICAL PHONOTACTIC CONSTRAINTS BETWEEN ENGLISH AND YORÙBÁ LANGUAGES: A SOURCE OF PHONOLOGICAL IMPRECISION AMONG THE L2 SPEAKERS, 2022

PHONOLOGICAL AND MATURATIONAL CONSTRAINTS ON RHOTACISM OF SOME YORUBA-ENGLISH SPEAKING INDIGENES IN LAGOS STATE, 2022

Precise pronunciation is one of the requisites for effective language communication, as mispronun... more Precise pronunciation is one of the requisites for effective language communication, as mispronunciation impedes perception and comprehension. Rhotacism is a speech disorder characterised by the lack of precise articulation of the "r-" family, which could be linked to the lack of sufficient air-flow in the vocal tract, inappropriate movement and positioning of the tongue, and the lack of the tongue's regular articulatory exercises among sufferers. This type of "r" imprecise pronunciation is frequent in early childhood development, and it usually does not pose problems for parents because it is anticipated to fix itself naturally at such an early stage. Accordingly, when a child reaches the age of six without the impediment being fixed, intervention is advised. This study seeks to determine why some Yoruba-English-speaking indigenes of Lagos State mispronounce the alveolar trill /r/ and how to remedy the disorder. A qualitative approach was employed to accomplish this study. Thirty members of the Christ Victory Church in Lagos Island, aged 25 to 45, were purposively chosen and participated in the study because they had difficulty pronouncing the trill "r." They were given a pre-made word list with 34 trill /r/ letters. The first 24 words were concatenated to form sentences, while the remaining 10 words were pronounced in isolation. The participants were asked to read the sentences and pronounce the words aloud, with their pronunciations being recorded on a digital recorder. Following that, perceptual, phonological, and contrastive analyses were conducted on the data. The findings revealed that some Yoruba-English-speaking indigenes in Lagos state are immersed in rhotacism, which suggests that they mispronounce "r" as a bilabial, velar approximant /w/.

English departmental journal, 2022

Linguacultural consequences apparently reveal that L1 is always in the minds of the L2 speakers, ... more Linguacultural consequences apparently reveal that L1 is always in the minds of the L2 speakers, which often spurs them to speak the target language with considerable L1 features. This can be seen at different levels of language, such as pronunciation, accent, spelling, grammar, and so forth. The current study intends to do empirical research on Igbo dialectical subgroups in Anambra state that substitutes (interchanges) the trill sound /r/ for the lateral /l/ sound and vice versa. This study employed a qualitative analytical approach. From the spontaneous discussions of sixty respondents who were randomly selected for this research, thirty English words were elicited, both singly and in strings of words featuring /r/ and /l/ sounds. The 60 participants were all Anambra state natives who hailed from the same dialectal subgroups like Ekwulobia, Ozubulu, Ichi Awka, Ogbaru, Ihiala, Ojoto, and Ajali. They belong to a language family since they share a common ancestral or parental language. The findings revealed that some Igbo-English speakers displayed articulatory glitches as a result of their instinctive substitution of /r/ for /l/ and vice versa, for instance, "Amelica" for "America," "balacks" for "barracks," "blown" for "brown." Education administrators, presumably, are more concerned with other aspects of the English language than with oral speech competency. As a suggestion, when drafting the English work plan for schools, they should realign their priorities towards the development of intelligible pronunciation.

Akamo, O. Princewill , 2022

Spelling in English is perhaps the least researched aspect of the English language (cook, 1997), ... more Spelling in English is perhaps the least researched aspect of the English language (cook, 1997), especially among non-native learners, as other facets of the English language have garnered a lot more attention. Indeed, spelling breathes life into reading and writing in all languages throughout the world. Thus, any neglect on the part of either teachers or students will inevitably have a detrimental influence on both writing and reading. A writer's intended meaning is noticeably altered when the rules of English spelling are violated. In light of the foregoing, this study aims to determine why non-native learners struggle with English spelling and to confirm the commonest spelling errors being committed by them. To accomplish this, the study employs quantitative and qualitative analytic approaches. A total of 150 English words were dictated to 120 final-year SSS3 students of Precious Prinx Comprehension College, Idimu, Lagos, and Cityclass High School, Akoka, Lagos. According to the findings, 39 (39%) of the 120 participants committed transportation errors, 29 (29%) made insertion errors, 14 (14%) made errors of omission, and 18 (18%) made substitution errors. Thus, inconsistencies abound in non-native English spelling. In summary, (i) there is autochthonous language interference; (ii) there is a significant difference between the 26 English letters and their 44 phonemic sounds; and (iii) teachers' inadequate attention to teaching English spelling; (iv) the lack of concordance between sound and spelling in English; and (v) English's origin in Latin, French, German, and other languages. All of these have been attributed to non-native learners' misspellings of English words.