REALISATION OF LABIODENTAL FRICATIVES BY HAUSA LEARNERS OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE: A SPEECH LEARNING MODEL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This study investigates the realisation of English labiodental fricatives
/f/ and /v/ by Hausa learners of English as a second language in
selected senior secondary schools. The study adopts the Speech
Learning Model (SLM), as proposed by James Emil Flege and further
developed by Munro and Derwing (1995), to explain second-language
speech acquisition and foreign-accent phenomena. The objectives of
the study are to identify the pronunciation patterns of Hausa-speaking
learners in producing English labiodental fricatives, determine the
factors responsible for the observed pronunciation deviations, and
examine the implications of these deviations for intelligibility and
second-language learning. The study uses SS III students as the data
source because they have undergone several years of formal English
language instruction. Data were collected through oral reading tasks,
word lists, and minimal-pair pronunciation exercises administered to
50 Hausa-speaking students selected from senior secondary schools.
The findings reveal that Hausa-speaking learners experience difficulty
in producing both /f/ and /v/. Many learners substitute /f/ with /p/
and /v/ with /b/. The study attributes these pronunciation
difficulties to mother tongue interference, phonological differences
between Hausa and English, and inadequate exposure to native-like
English pronunciation. The paper concludes that pronunciation
instruction should receive greater attention in English language

teaching in Nigerian secondary schools. Teachers should incorporate

phonetic drills, listening exercises, and contrastive pronunciation
activities to improve learners’ spoken English proficiency.