Challenges of Teaching Phonetics and Phonology in a Multilingual Classroom (original) (raw)
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An Appraisal of Phonetics and Phonology in English Language Teaching in Nigeria
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Speaking is one of the language skills that has proven a serious level of difficulty to the second language learner of English. This is the skill that the teaching of English phonology tries to develop in the learner-speaker of English language. Phonology is taught in segmental and supra-segmental dimensions, and the segmental phonology, particularly the consonant types have been influenced adversely by the fossilized aspects of the mother tongues of the learners. This paper is intended to proffer solutions to such linguistic problems by identifying the criteria for the description of the consonant types in English and embarking on the concise and comprehensive description of each consonant type. It is expected that the description of the consonant types will aid the learner in acquiring the speaking skill in English language. To do this, the researchers have relied more heavily on the library type of research, though some important cues have been taken from some language laboratory...
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THE NEEDS OF TEACHING ENGLISH PHONOLOGY IN TEACHING MATERIALS ENGLISH EDUCATION
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Phonological Difficulties Faced by Students in Learning English
Being exposed to English use at campus, the writers were interested in phonological difficulties faced by the students as second language learners of English. The question arised was about what kinds of phonological difficulties the learners are having in their effort to learn and speak English. Underlining this research question was the objective to focus on those difficulties when teaching English to L2 learners of English. In collecting the data needed, the initiation was to conduct a survey on talks, speeches, and presentations made by the students. From the findings, main areas where to focus on were decided. The results were then used to list possible difficult sounds and asked the students to pronounce them. How they pronounced the words were recorded to be analysed. The students were also interviewed in order to have another measurement to determine the difficulties they faced. As the result, most of the phonological problems found were related to consonant sounds such as voiced dental fricative, voiceless dental fricative, voiceless post-alveolar fricative, and voiced alveolar approximant sounds. These are the striking features among other phonological issues found after conducting the research.
phonological processes in the speech of undergraduate students of English
The spoken genre of English has been observed to pose a great challenge to the Nigerian users of English. Phonological processes, which account for proper pronunciation in English, are very crucial aspects of English phonology, which undergraduates students of English are expected to observe being role models. This paper therefore investigated the application of English phonological rules in the speech of undergraduate students of English language to ascertain how well they have internalized the phonological rules as taught. Chomsky and Halle’s (1968) Generative Phonology was adapted as the theoretical framework for the study. Fifty words were used to test the proficiency of fifty subjects in this area of study. The process of data collection involved two stages. The items were first read aloud and recorded with SFS/WASP computer program. The second stage involved the filling of questionnaire. The perceptual (auditory) method of analysis was adopted. The data was analysed using simple percentage to determine the subjects’ levels of conformity with the SBE phonological processes. The Longman talking Dictionary served as control. The results revealed that 54.98% of the subjects could conform to the rules of English phonology while a remarkable proportion of 45.02% deviated from the SBE phonological rules. Looking at the gender performances, the difference between the male and female performance is insignificant as the male had 55.7% while the female’s performance was 54.5%. From the overall performance of the subjects, it can be deduced that the undergraduate students of English have only fairly internalized the rules of English phonology despite their exposure to phonological rules. This underscores the peculiarity of the English language spoken in Nigeria. The study therefore adds to the body of knowledge that exists on the features of Nigerian English.