The Impact of Yoruba Language on the Spoken English of Students (Indigenes) of Ilorin (Township)
Chapter One
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The aim of this study is to find out the influence of Ilorin Yoruba dialect (a variety of Yoruba language) on the phonology of standard British English (RP). That is, the changes that may likely occur as a result of the contact of the Ilorin Yoruba dialect and English language. In other words, this work is to search for the features that distinguish the phonology of Nigeria English variety from the Received Pronunciation. These features shall be identified from the recorded speech collected and analyzed. We hope to provide solution to bridge the gap in the differences.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter we shall begin with the different scholar views on the term phonetics and phonology. It will be followed by the theories of phonology. The phonemes and the status of English and Yoruba language shall be explained. We will move on to Nigerian English where we shall discuss the meaning of Nigerian English. Features of phonology of Nigerian English and various scholars’ works shall be reviewed. We shall explain the concept of interference and conclude by stating the elements to be used in analyzing our data.
PHONETICS
Traugh and Pratt (1980, p51) quoted by Osisanwo (2009, p1) phonetics is ‘the branch of linguistics concerned with the physiological and acoustic bases in speech, and with such question as how speech are produced and perceived’. According to Crittenden(2001, p6) phonetics of a language concerns the concrete characteristic (articulatory acoustic and auditory) of the sounds used in language. Ofuya (2007, p14) simply defined phonetics as ‘the description of the purely physical features of sounds in English. Akmajian et al (2008, p65-66) said; ‘Phonetics is concerned with how speech sounds are produced (articulated) in the vocal tract (a field of study known as articulatory phonetics) as well as with the physical properties of the speech sound waves generated by the larynx vocal tract (a field known as acoustic phonetics)’.
In describing phonetics, there are three approaches: the speaker (articulatory phonetics) the hearer (auditory phonetics) and what happen between the speaker and the hearer (acoustic phonetics) (Lodge, 2009). In the same view, Osisanwo (2009, p1) said: ‘phonetics is the study (description classification, transcription) of the actual speech sound that occur in human language wherever they are used or spoken.’
Therefore phonetics is divided into three: Articulatory acoustic and auditory. Ofuya (2007, p14) believes articulatory phonetics is the way in which English speech sounds are produced by the vocal mechanizing.’ To Osisanwo (2009, p1) Articulator phonetics examines the production of the speech sounds with a special focus on the specific function of the various organs of speech.’
Acoustic phonetics according to Ofuga (2007, p14) is ‘the physical properties of the sound waves during the transmission phase, i.e. the nature of the sound we hear. In the view of Akmajian et al (2008, p66) acoustic phonetics is the ‘physical properties of the speech sound waves generate by the larynx vocal tract’. Osisanwo (2009, p2) said acoustic phonetics as ‘A branch of phonetics involves a laboratory study of speech with the aid of specialized machine which are used to register the properties of the given sound. Some of the machines are sound spectrograph (which records the physical feature of sound), electro-aero meter (which is used in the recording of the movement of the air to and from the cavities-buccal and nasal-during speech), intensity meter (which measures intensity during speech), pitch meter (used in speech pitch).
Auditory phonetics to Kreidler (1989,p5) is the effects these (sound waves) have on the ear of the hearer (and on the ear of the speakers, for that mater). ‘Otuya (2007, p14) opined that auditory phonetics has to do with ‘the way in which the sounds are perceived in the ear of the listener and speaker.’ In the word of Osisanwo (2009, p3)’ auditory phonetics involves the training of the brain and the ear in practical phonetics in order o learn to make much precise and reliable discriminations among speech sounds.’ In conclusion auditory phonetics has to do with the study of how the sound waves are perceived and differentiated from one another.
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
This word shall make use of recorded speech of fifty selected undergraduates from three universities in Ilorin. These are; Ado- Ekit University (Ilorin chapter), Al- Hikman University and university of Ilorin. Samples are selected using snowball sampling techniques as a result of the limited number of accessible students. Only students that are native of Ilorin and have spent at least two academic sections in higher institution are sampled.
A theoretical application shall be phonemic theory, a phonological approach will be explored to analyze the samples. In this regard, elements such as substitution, under-differentiation, spelling pronunciation, epenthesis and simplification of consonant cluster that constitution the phonological features of Nigerian English will be deplored.
Each of these elements will be applied across the data and any deviation from the RP will be under lined. Tabular form shall be used for the comparison.
DATA DESCRIPTION
Ilorin town is in the south western part of Nigeria. It lies along Lagos to Kaduna high way Kaduna (Oloru, 1998). In the past Ilorin town comprised different linguistic groups who spoke different language such as Fulfulde, Hausa, Nupe, and Yoruba as their first language. But today, all these linguistic group speak Yoruba as their first language. This means Yoruba language because a dominant language in Ilorin town. As a of this process of language shift, the Ilorin Yoruba dialect is different from other Yoruba dialect such as Ekiti, Ijebu Ondo, Oyo dialect etc (Jimoh, 1994).
CHAPTER FOUR
INTRODUCTION
This chapter will center on the phonological analysis of the fifteen selected undergraduate Ilorin indigenous Yoruba students. The transcribed version of the selected samples will be compared with the Received Pronunciation (RP). Any phoneme that is underlined depicts where the speakers deviate from the standard pronunciation of the words contain in the selected passage. The correct version of such sounds will be underlined under the RP Column.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY
We started with the general introduction to the study in the first chapter. We stated the statements of the research problem, scope of the study, the purpose, and justification of the study, methodology and data description. Chapter two contained the review of related literature. We discussed the term phonetics and phonology, phonological theories, we explained the concept of Nigeria English and the phonological features of Nigerian English. The concept of interference was discussed and the chapter was concluded with the stating of the elements to be used in the next chapter. Chapter discussed methodology of the study
In the fourth chapter, we analyzed the data and we gave a discussion on the data. The rest of this chapter five will be based on findings resulting from our studies and recommendation shall be made.
FINDINGS
It was discovered that our subjects have problems with most of the sounds which were not available in their first language and they replaced them with the ones that were found. They were also unable to differentiate a sound from other related and counterpart sounds. These sounds /v, z, ∂u, eI, ∂/ were more substituted for /t∫, θ/.
More so, they pronounced sounds according to how the words were written down. This is because in the students L1, words are written as they were pronounced and vice versa. The sample find consonant clusters problematic and they removed certain e.g. consonants where there is a consonant cluster. In some situations, they inserted vowel specifically at the end of the words that end with consonant cluster.
Also, it was noticed that those students who have received some training on the English language were a bit better than other students. The level of exposure to English has a role to play in the perfection of the spoken English of L2 learners.
CONCLUSION
As a result of the differences between the English language sound system and the Yoruba language sound system, the samples as second language learners of English language. This situation indicates that the spoken English of the subjects has been affected by the sound system of Yoruba language.
RECOMMENDATION
Students should try to learn and master the area of differences between the sound system of their L1 and the sound system of English language. They should also be conversant with the proper usage of the English language sounds. They should try to apply the proper pronunciation on English words whenever they are speaking. They should be a companion of their Pronouncing Dictionary.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Adedimeji, M.A. (2007) ‘The Linguistic Features of Nigerian English and their Implication 21st Century English Pedagogy’ in S.E. Dandaura (Ed) The Abuja Communicator, Abuja: Department of Theatre Arts, University of Abuja. Vol. 3.1. pp166 – 183.
- Adeniyi, K.O. (2006) Attitude to Nigerian English among Lagos State Teachers: A Sociolinguistic Survey. Unpublished Ph.D Dissertation, University of Ilorin.
- Ahwefeada, .S. and Ojaruega, .E. (2009) ‘Cultural Imperative and the Evolution of Nigerian English’ in W. Adegbite and B. Olajide (Eds) Refereed Proceedings, Nigeria: NESA pp.72 – 73.
- Akmajian, A. Demers, A.R. and Harnish, R.M. (2008) An Introduction to Language and Communication. India: Prentice Hall.
- Alabi, T.A. (2007) ‘Language Contact: The Nigerian Experience with English.’ In O. Obafemi, G.A. Ajadi and V.A. Alabi (Eds) Critical Perspective on English Language and Literature, Ilorin: Department of English, University of Ilorin pp.78 – 95.
- Bamgbose, A. (2001) Fonologi ati Girama Yoruba. Ibadan University Press.
