Handling the Articulation of Dental Fricatives by English as a Second Language Learners: Implications for Teachers of English as a Second Language

Abstract

The English Language in Nigeria serves as language of unity and most importantly, the language of formal education. All the over 500 Ethnic groups in Nigeria ‘scramble’ for the knowledge of the language so as to perfect in various fields. Due to the multiplicity of indigenous languages in Nigeria, and the use of English as a second and official language, teachers have to ensure that the language is properly taught at the different levels of the educational systems. This is because each of the languages has its peculiarities, which implies that there are phonological, morphological, syntactical and semantic differences not only between the indigenous Nigeria languages but also between English and any of the indigenous languages in contact. There are obvious phonological differences which across the different Nigeria languages as people use the English Language. A few examples of these can be seen regionally thus: indigenous speakers from the northern part of the country have problems with the English /f/v/ due to lack of those sounds in Hausa, the first language, therefore, substitute with /p/ sound. In the western part, Yoruba speakers have problems with/ʃ/ and could substitute with, /ʧ/; the Ibo in the South substitute the /g/ with for English /ŋ/ and also substitute /l/ for /r/ sounds. These problems emerge largely due to the absence of those sounds in the mother tongue. Similar problems of substitutions of one sound for the other obtain in several other languages, Nupe language not an exception. Thus, this paper highlights the problem of articulating the dental fricatives θ/ð (‘th’ sounds) by Nupe learners of English as second language as the language lacks dental fricatives in its repertory and so substitute /θ/ with t and /ð/ with d or even z sounds. These are likely to constitute problems for learners, particularly when being taught in metropolitan classrooms or by non-Nupe teachers of English language. Some remediation measures proffered include effective teaching through repetition of the sounds, use of minimal pairs, tongue twisters and real objects to familiarize the learners with the correct articulation of the sounds.