MOTHER TONGUE INTERFERENCE IN
ENGLISH NEWS CAST: A CASE OF A
KWARA TELEVISION NEWS
BY
OLUTEKUNBI BOLATITO IMOLEAYO
07/15CD146
An Essay Submitted to the Department of
English, Faculty of Arts, University of Ilorin,
Ilorin, Nigeria
In Partial Fulfilment of the
Requirements for the Award of Bachelor of Arts
(B.A. Hons.) Degree.
May, 2011.
i
CERTIFICATION
This research has been read and approved as meeting part of
the requirements for the award of B.A. (Hons.) Degree in the
Department of English, Faculty of Arts, University of Ilorin, Ilorin,
Nigeria.
_________________________
Dr. T. A. Alabi
Supervisor
__________________
Date
_________________________
Dr. S. T. Babatunde
Head of Department
__________________
Date
_________________________
External Examiner
__________________
Date
ii
DEDICATION
To my maker, the creator of heaven and earth and all
missionaries who are on the field fulfiling my maker’s heart desire.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am saying a big thank you to my supervisor, Dr. Taofiq
Adedayo Alabi, who saw my weak point, worked on it and made
this work a success. He is exceptional and an intelligent young
man.
To
my
parents
Elder/Mrs.
S.O.D.
Olutekunbi
and
Pastor/Pastor (Mrs.) P.O. Fatoye, who brought me up and backed
me with love, prayer and all the resources I used for this work,
may God grant you long life in good health.
To the best siblings in the world, especially Advocate, Sister
Busola, the Obafemis and the Oyekanmins, you are all cherished.
Thanks to all my fathers in the Lord, my friends, loved ones
and my wealth (Olawale Adewumi) who supported me with love
and prayers.
iv
ABSTRACT
Language and man are inseparable and since the languages
of the world come in contact, there is bound to be a problem like
mother tongue interference which is a sociolinguistic phenomenon.
This work takes for granted that grammatical competence is totally
different from phonological competence and it has worked on this
premise using phonological conventions in analysing the sampled
data. The findings proved that interference at the phonological level
is a major problem confronting our media houses in Nigeria with
respect to spoken English. Suggestions have been proffered to
effect the envisaged repair in the aspects identified.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page
i
Certification
ii
Dedication
iii
Acknowledgements
iv
Abstract
v
Table of Contents
vi
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction
1
1.1 The Research Problem
3
1.1.1 The Research Question
3
1.2 Research Purpose
3
1.3 Scope of the Study
4
1.4 Justification
5
1.5 Methodology
5
1.6 Data Description
7
1.7 Definition of some Terms
8
vi
CHAPTER TWO
2.0 Introduction
11
2.1 Bilingualism/Multilingualism
11
2.2 The Status of English in Nigeria
13
2.3 Language Acquisition
16
2.3.1 Second Language Acquisition
19
2.4 Mother Tongue Interference
21
2.4.2 Phonological Interference
22
2.5 The Position of the Media in our Society
25
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 Introduction
28
3.1 Under-differentiation
29
3.2 Substitution
31
3.3 Hypercorrection
39
3.4 Epenthesis
40
CHAPTER FOUR
4.1 Summary
44
4.2 Conclusion
45
4.3 Recommendations
46
Bibliography
48
Appendix
49
vii
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction
If the question “what is language?” is asked, it has many
senses and can be variously defined. It can be language of a
particular field like science, humanity just to mention few. It can
also be the animal language, sign language and many other types
of languages.
Human language especially spoken dominates them all.
Human language is natural. According to Adebayo (1995),
“Language (Human Language) is one of the chief means by which a
person learns to organise his experiences and thoughts”
In Adebayo’s words above, human language is one out of
many means by which a person’s experiences and thoughts can be
organised. This supports the many senses that language has. And
also, without language, (spoken) thoughts will never be born and
experiences of life will be wasted because no one will be able to
learn from them. Communication is the major bridge that links the
whole world. Communication is a crucial factor in the society at
large and there is pieces evidence that prove this. The global village
and the internet prove this among others.
viii
Language whether written, spoken, sign or through any
means is a tool for communication and English language, out of
many languages of the world has emerged the most used language
all over the world. The global village use this language (English)
and it stands to be the language of the net.
English language accords respect and pride to its speakers
but some have been left with the effective use of this language
especially in the countries where the language (English) is not the
mother tongue or the first language one comes in contact with, for
instance in countries like Nigeria, Ghana and many others.
The language teachers, the broadcasters and some few
others have been left with the duty of speaking the correct version
of English language in Nigeria. And if this proof is true, these
categories of people should speak error free English. However, it is
unfortunate that some of our broadcasters still goof on air and this
distorts communication. In the light of the above, this research is
out to work on the use of language in English newscast under the
title “Mother Tongue Interference in English Newscast: a Case of a
Recorded Kwara Television News”
1.1 The Research Problem
ix
This work knows that some issues that have become
problems in our media houses have been handled by some
scholars. For instance, Medubi (2007) and Okoye (2007). Both of
them dwelt more on the problems confronting the press in Nigeria
but not directly as this work will handle it. No one has really
worked
on
how
Mother
Tongue
Interference
distorts
communication in our media houses in Nigeria. This work will look
into this problem and will try to proffer solutions.
1.1.1 Research Question
In handling the research problem above, this research will
focus its attention on this question: How much does Mother
Tongue Interference distorts communications in our media houses
in Nigeria?
1.2 Research Purpose
The purpose of this research is to achieve some set goals.
Firstly, this research is to further enlighten the media on the
importance of Standard English.
Secondly, this research is to also help the second language
teachers. Since they are the foundation layers of all learners and
when the foundation of a leaner is solid, anything built on it will
stand erect.
x
Lastly, this research will be useful for the media and the
second speakers of the English language on how to produce
sounds of English that will be free from Mother Tongue
Interference.
1.3 Scope of the Study
This work will focus on “Mother Tongue Interference in
English Newscast”. Different authors have dealt with his topic from
different perspectives.
Hoffmann (1991) identified four major types of mother
tongue interference in English.
a) Interference at the phonological level
b) Interference at the grammatical level
c) Interference at the lexical level
d) Interference in spelling.
Alabi
(2007)
also
identified
three
types
of
mother
tongue
interference in English which are: phonological interference, lexical
interference and grammatical interference.
This research will concentrate on the phonological level of
mother tongue interference because it deals mainly with speech
(Day to day conversation).
1.4 Justification
xi
This research topic “Mother Tongue Interference in English
Newscast” is important because the problem is obvious in almost
all the media houses in Nigeria.
Some authors have outlined the problems confronting our
media houses in Nigeria but few have given us solutions. An
author like Okoye (2007) outlined the problem of the press in
Nigeria but did not give solutions to such problems.
This research is set to look into the problems and proffer
solutions to them with top priority given to the phonological
aspect.
1.5 Methodology
This research is to analyse the Kwara Television main News.
This television station has two sections of news. Basically, the
news at five O’clock and the news at half past six in the evening.
This research will analyse one of the main news which is
usually broadcast by two people unlike the news at five which is
shorter and taken by only one person.
xii
More people also listen to the main news compared to the
one at 5pm perhaps because it is fuller or later than the first or
both.
Some of the workers in the newsroom will be interviewed to
know the philosophy, ideology and the brief history of the
television station.
The data will be analysed using phonological rules because
this is the most pervasive type of interference according Romaine
(1989, p.52).
In the process, if questionnaire will be useful, it will also be
composed and given to some selected people in the society to know
their reactions to the media house and oral interviews can also be
conducted.
These are some of the methods that have been chosen for the
success of this work.
1.6 Data Description
Kwara Television Authority UHF 35 (Socially responsible)
was established in 1991 under the able leadership of Mall. Ishaq
xiii
Maddibo Kawu. The establishment was promulgated into a decree
in (1997) with six departments.
The departments are Administration, Accounts, Marketing,
News, Programmes and Engineering.
After the tenure of Mall. Maddibo, eight directors have
managed the Television station and Barrister Mohammed Abdul
Raheem who is the current General Manager was appointed on
16th June, 2010. And he is the General Manager till date.
This station covers up to five states which are Kwara, parts
of Oyo-state, Kogi, Ekiti and Osun states.
This television station has the mind of becoming the best in
all things especially in informing people and updating them in all
useful and educating matters.
Most people complained of the time of the main news which
is (6:30pm) half past six. Many said they will still be at work or not
at home at the time of the news and few who listen to KWTV news
commend that the news is fuller and it covers more of the local
events which some other stations usually neglect.
1.7 Definition of Some Terms
Mother Tongue/First language (L1).
xiv
Mother tongue also called the first language (L1) is the first
language a child comes in contact with in his/her environment.
Mother tongue is slightly different from the first language.
Mother tongue is the language of the parents especially the father
while the first language is the language of the environment.
The child’s mother tongue can be his/her first language and
it may not also be. In the case where a Yoruba child grows up in
‘Okene’ in Kogi-state where the language in such environment is
“Ebira” the Yoruba child can or will conveniently speak, “Ebira”
because of his/her environment.
1.7.1 Second Language (Target Language)
A second language (L2) is that which exists side by side with
the indigenous language(s) in a bilingual or multilingual situation.
It is usually an official language and as such enjoys a high status
within the nation.
A second or the target language can be the fourth or the
third language to be acquired but as long as someone has a
language before learning another, it will be referred to as the
second language or the target language
1.7.2 News
Danuta (1998, p. 4) says:
xv
News is a late Middle English Word that
means “tidings” New information of recent
events. Even if we accept this definition as a
useful
description
of
what
Newspaper
delivers... A more useful definition might be
information about recent events that are of
interest to a sufficiently large group, or that
may affect the lives of a sufficiently large
group.
1.7.3 Phonology
Akmajian (2001, p.109) etal says “phonology is the subfield
of linguistics that studies the structure and systematic patterning
of sound of human language”.
In his words, phonology is used in two ways. The first one
describes the sounds of a language and the rules governing the use
of those sounds. While the second refers to that part of the general
theory of human language that is concerned with the universal
properties of natural language sound systems.
xvi
Conclusion
Since language and man are not the same and they cannot
be separated, problems will always arise from the two angles.
Solutions must also be provided to such problems in order to have
effective communication in the society.
This chapter has introduced us to the work that will be done
and the next chapter, chapter two will review some works of
literature by some renowned scholars in the field of language and
this will establish the place of this work by linking it to some works
that have been read.
xvii
CHAPTER TWO
2.0 Introduction
In this chapter, related works in the literature as this
research work is concerned will be reviewed. This will serve as
bases for the whole study i.e. some aspects to be reviewed here will
be used in analysing our data in chapter three.
Due to the fact that sociolinguistics is a wide field, mother
tongue interference and some other related sociolinguistic aspects
(including language acquisition, bilingualism and some others)
have been selected for the review.
2.1 Bilingualism/Multilingualism
Bilingualism
and
multilingualism
are
features
of
sociolinguistics.
According to Coates (1993, p. 4)
Sociolinguistics has been defined as the
study of language in its social context. The
study of language in its social context
means crucially the study of linguistic
variation.
Coates (1993) also identified two types of variations which
are: stylistics variation and social variation.
xviii
Mackey (1968: 554) in Romaine (1989) opines:
The study of bilingualism could therefore be
said
to
fall
within
the
field
of
sociolinguistics in so far as the later is a
discipline which is concerned with the ways
in which language is used in the society.
Grosjean (1982) estimated that about half the world’s
population is bilingual and that bilingualism is present in
practically every country of the world. It is very rare to see a
country with just a language, even a language has varieties.
McGregor (2009, p. 168) opines:
Many speech communities around the world
are constituted of individuals who speak two
or more shared languages. I use the term
bilingualism
to
refer
to
such
situations
allowing that more than two languages may
be
involved:
sometimes
the
term
multilingualism is used instead as the cover
term.
From all the scholars that been quoted above, it is deducible
that bilingualism is a situation whereby more than a language is
xix
present in a society and multilingualism in its case is referred to as
a situation whereby more than two languages are used side by side
in a geographical environment.
2.2 The Status of English in Nigeria
Nigeria is a multilingual state with (521) five hundred and
twenty one indigenous languages. (Nine of these indigenous
languages are dead while we have two languages (French and
English) which have no native speakers. However, we have (510)
five hundred and ten living languages apart from the dead and the
ones whose orthography have not been designed as well as French
and English) (Ethnologue; world languages; 2009). With English
language co-existing with these languages in a number of
situations, in other words, English language (a former colonial
language) is being used to transact in the Nigeria society alongside
the indigenous languages.
In the words of Alabi (2007),
It is now an established fact that English,
which
initially
came
to
the
Nigerian
environment as a foreign language was
later
shaped
and
transformed
xx
by
subsequent developments into a second
language with an official status.
English language serves different functions in Nigeria among
which are:
(a) It is the language of the media
(b) It is a subject/course in schools
(c) It is a tool for education
(d) It is the language of the politics
(e) English language is the lingua franca.
This shows that without the knowledge of this language, it is
impossible to attain an appreciable social height in the country.
English language also ascribes prestige to its speakers.
Many who speak this language (English) in Nigeria speak
only to communicate. There are people who have been left with the
duty of speaking the standard version of the language. Some will
say since English is not their mother tongue, they can speak the
language anyhow as long as they are understood.
The broadcasters, the language teachers and some others
are those that people in Nigerian society look up to for standard
version of English language but unfortunately; some of these
people still goof and this affect communication in a negative way.
xxi
Alabi (2007, p.80) again says:
It must be remarked that the variety of
English that performs these tremendous
functions in Nigeria is not the same as
the native speaker’s varieties spoken in
Britain or America.
No matter how people tried to speak English language in
Nigeria, it cannot be the same as the native speakers will speak it
because “The variety of English used in Nigeria has been
indigenized to suit Nigerian environment (Alabi 2007).
In all, English language in Nigeria is a status symbol which
built an heir of respectability to its speakers.
2.3 Language Acquisition
Under normal circumstances, any child within the first five
years will acquire the language in his/her environment. This
language is known as the first language or the mother tongue.
McGregor (2009, p. 203) writes that:
xxii
Normal children in all societies acquire,
within the space of a few years fluent
control of a language, sometimes two or
more...
Exceptions are few: children with severe
physical handicaps such as extreme mental
retardation, Down’s syndrome, may not
acquire a language. Fully; very rarely a
child is not exposed to sufficient speech.
McGregor (2009, p. 204) also says that the process of
acquisition of all languages is believed to proceed through similar
developmental stages”.
Language acquisition can also be the process by which
children learn to speak the language of the community they are
born.
McGregor has six of the stages of language acquisition which
are said to have been investigated to run across all the languages.
These stages are as follow:a. Pre-language stage cooing, beginning at about two or three
months; and babbling beginning at around six months. .
xxiii
b. One-word stage, beginning at about a year or so; at around
12-18months
children
produce
their
first
recognizable
words.
c. Two-word stage, beginning at about 18-20months at this
stage, he claimed that a child has an active vocabulary
increase to around two to three hundred.
d. Telegraphic speech, beginning at two to three years of age:
“In this stage, functions words and morphemes, such as
preposition (in language like) English and inflectional
morphemes, begin to appear”
e. Basic mastery, at around four or five years.
f.
Elaboration and expansion especially of lexicon also to some
extent
grammar-continuing
throughout
life.
Language
acquisition continues thought life.
Age is very significant in language acquisition and it has
been emphasized that children before puberty acquire language
easily compared to adults.
This is because some scientists believed with the help of
researches that the ability of the brain to transfer certain
information across the two hemispheres is what makes possible
xxiv
the effortless acquisition of language in early childhood. (Winkler,
2007, p.45).
“There is even a critical age for acquiring sign language
natively” (Winkler, 2007, p.45).
He also identified some stages in acquiring a language just
as McGregor (2009, p.204) did. Winkler says stages like babbling
stage, communication through single sign (word) and combination
of two signs or words. There are so many features that are
connected to a child’s language. English speaking children leave
out function words like an, a, and the. This is also called omission
of articles.
These are words that add functions rather than content to
an utterance. “Even their very first sentences follow a pattern”
They usually consist of a combination of a verb, noun or an
adjective. Something like. “Want milk” (Winkler, 2007, p.48).
Lastly, on the note of acquiring languages, each language
has its structure and children learn this structure in the process of
acquiring a language. No child will learn the structure of a
language that he/she does not have any contact with. They also
learn the sounds of their language as well as the constraints on
how those sounds can combine.
xxv
Lack of proper acquisition of a language in a child will cause
lack of competence when the child grows up to use the language in
the society at large.
2.3.1 Second Language Acquisition
Just as the name suggests, second language is a language
that is learnt either formally or informally after the first language
(L1) or after the mother tongue. Second language is also known as
the target language.
McGregor (2009, p.217) refers to it as “adult language
learning”. He says children grow up speaking more than one
language in many parts of the world.
Second
language
acquisition
research
focuses on the developing knowledge and
use of a language by children and adults
who already know at least one other
language (Norbert, 2002, p.115).
Lastly on this, Perrett (2000) has this to say about second
language:
Second language learners may be children,
adolescents or adults. They may have access
to their target language all of the time, some
xxvi
of the time, or for a very short period. They
may take lessons. Study alone, or pick up
with varying degrees of awareness. Some
learners will become fluent and accurate
language users others will achieve lower
levels of fluency and accuracy, or perhaps be
proficient user in only a limited range of
situations.
2.4 Mother Tongue Interference
Interference is the introduction of new forms or rules in one
language under influence from another where they already exist.
When there is overlapping of two codes then we say
interference had occured (Romaine, 1989).
Interference is possible if the languages involved are related
in some areas. For instance, if the two languages have the same
word order or even if not the same but very close to each other and
if the two languages involved are also related grammatically,
interference will be possible (Romaine, 1989).
According
to
Grosjean
(1982),
Interference
is
“the
involuntary influence of one language on the other”. Interference is
not a voluntary action as borrowing and code-switching can be.
xxvii
Grosjean (1982) also says that interference is not an element
to be emphasized on the young bilinguals. He says this is because
they are still undergoing the process of language acquisition unlike
the adult who have acquired his/her first language.
Ruke-Dravina (1967) has argued that “Interference is always
present in bilingualism and is more marked the closer the
languages are in their phonological and morphological features”.
Romaine (1989) says “Interference can be as a resu
lt
of
incomplete acquisition… Interference can occur when a bilingual
starts to use the two languages he has acquired separately”.
She also says that interference can take place only at a
boundary of the languages common to each other.
In conclusion, since mother tongue interference is not
voluntary as other features of bilingualism or multilingualism are,
it is then not grammatical and a deviation not a variation of any
language in which it occurs. Interference is a deviation from the
norms.
2.4.1 Phonological Interference
There are many types of interference according to different
scholars.
xxviii
Alabi (2007) Identified three types of interference which are:
phonological, lexical and grammatical.
This is seen in his following statement. “Interference occurs
virtually at all the primary levels of language description most
especially phonology, lexis and grammar”.
According to Akmajian (2001, p.12) etal, “for every word we
know, we learnt a pronunciation. Part of knowing the word tree is
knowing certain sounds more precisely, a certain sequence of
sound”.
Alabi (2007) who follows Weinreich’s (1968) Identification of
four phonological interference, identifies six major ways which are:
Under-differentiation,
Over-differentiation,
Re-interpretation
of
sounds, Phonemic substitution, Hypercorrection, Epenthesis and
simplification.
This
phonological
interference
is
the
major
problem
confronting our media houses in Nigeria English Newscast.
This is because the expectations from the people who listen
to them often, both in Nigeria and outside the country is high and
it is expected of them to have foreign accent.
xxix
Weinreich (1953, pp. 14-28) as quoted in Romaine (1989)
gave a detailed analysis of “What happens when the phonological
systems of the bilingual individual are in contact”.
“This has four different consequences: Under-differentiation,
Over-differentiation, Re-interpretation and Substitution.
1. Under-differentiation: Here the second users of English
tend to use many sounds/phonemes for only one. This also
reflects in our broadcaster’s speech as we listen to news
from them day after day.
2. Over- differentiation: This is the use of a sound/phoneme
in many ways which are not necessary. For instance, the
interpolation of the glottal sound in the introductive
statement of one of our broadcasters. “/haɪ ham/ for /aɪ
am/ I am.
3. Re-interpretation: This is seen when a bilingual reorganised the phoneme of the target language based on the
features of his/her first language. For instance the word
“Mosque” /mɔsk/ is often pronounced /mɔks/ by some
Yoruba speakers of English.
4. Substitution: This is when a bilingual replaces a sound
/phoneme in the target language with one in his /her MT.
xxx
This is because of the absence of the sound in the MT.
Example is when a typical Yoruba man pronounces the
word “very” /vεrI/ as feri /fεrI/ This is because the voiced
labio-dental fricative /v/ is absent in the Yoruba sound so
he substitutes /f/ for /v/ because of the closeness of the
two sounds.
Alabi (2007) has two more consequences when phonological
systems of the bilingual individual are in contact.
Hypercorrection: when a bilingual over-pronounces a sound in
order to meet a standard in the target language.
Example: A person who pronounces debt /dεbt/ in place of /dεt/
and even some /dεθ/, Thank /θεŋk/ in place of /θӕŋk/.
Epenthesis: “is a superfluous insertion of vowel segments as
a way of alleviating the complexity of consonant clusters which
characterize English”
2.5 The Position of the Media in our Society
When you read any Nigerian Newspaper or magazine, listen to any Nigeria
radio and watch the television, you
begin to wonder if the majority of
Nigerian journalists think of what they
xxxi
say, why they say it and whom they say
it. (Akinfeleye, 1990, p.26).
Information is one of the major tools that enlighten and
develop a person, a group or a nation at large. One of the main
sources of this information is the media.
It can be print or spoken. It is unfortunate that our media
houses in Nigeria are not giving us the correct thing needed from
them and even when they do at times, they do not do it in the right
and conventional ways.
According to Medubi (2OO7) “Traditionally, the press has
been known to perform four major functions. These are informing,
educating, service providing and entertaining”.
In the process of performing their functions or roles, the
press should be able to educate and entertain the society in a very
positive way.
Conclusion
There is no more doubt according to the literatures that have
been reviewed in this chapter that many things happen when
languages come in contact, part of these is mother tongue
interference which has negative effects on the language it occurs.
xxxii
The consequences of phonological interference have been analysed
and these will be used to analyse our data in the next chapter.
xxxiii
CHAPTER THREE
DATA ANALYSIS
3.0 Introduction
In the previous chapters of this work, we have been
introduced generally to the work and some literatures have been
reviewed. In this chapter, the data will be analysed using the
consequences
of
phonological
interference.
The
six
major
interference phenomena discussed in chapter two which are:
Under-differentiation, Hypercorrection, Over-differentiation, Reinterpretation, Substitution and Epenthesis, will be used in
analysing our data.
Since interference according to Grosjean (1982), “is the
involuntary influence of one language on the others”, we will see in
the analysis of the data how Yoruba language influences the
English language.
It has been argued by some language scholars that
interference is a proof of errors in the target language because it is
involuntary and a deviation from the norms of the target language.
This work will agree that interference is a proof of the presence of
errors in the target language.
xxxiv
In the words of Alabi (2007), “Error is simply a confusion of
the rules in the target language.” This definition is important to us
at this stage of our analysis.
The data (Kwara Television News at 6:30pm) have been
grouped into fifteen sections according to all the sub-sections and
the turns taken by each broadcaster. Each of these sections has
different reflections of phonological interference and all of these
will be grouped under the six major ways that have been
mentioned.
3.1 Under-Differentiation
This is a process where the second users of English language
tend to use many sounds/phonemes for only one.
Section 1
/i:/ for /hi:/ he
/ɪs/ for /hɪz/ his
The speaker here is a Yoruba man and the glottal sound is
present in his L1 but due to confusion of rules in the language
where the sound /h/ is articulated in some words and in others, it
is not realised. In words like hour /aʋə/ honour /ɔ:nə/ /h/ is not
realised but in some others it is. The speaker has not been able to
articulate the sound /h/.
xxxv
Section 3
/ka:pɪtəl/ for /kӕpɪtl/ Capital. Here, he replaces the sound /ӕ/
with /a:/ because his L1 has limited vowel system and he has not
mastered the L2 to the point of differentiating between the two
sounds.
Section 11
/afri:/ for aɪvri:/ Ivory
The only thing we are concerned with in this section is the
first sound /aɪ/ which the speaker pronounced as / a/ this occurs
because in the Yoruba sound system, there are no long vowels or
diphthongs. So, being a Yoruba man who has not mastered the
English vowel sound system very well, he has narrowed the first
sound in “Ivory” /aɪ/ to /a/ which he has in his language thereby
causing overlapping of sounds in the English language and the
Yoruba language.
Section 12
/a:ʋaz/ for /aʋəz/ hours
This is another reflection of the speaker’s L1 sound system.
His language’s vowel sound system which is Yoruba language has
limited vowels compared to the vowels in the English language and
due to this, the sound /a/ has been used by him.
xxxvi
Section 14
/ɪstri:/for /hɪstri:/ history
This is another case of intralingua error just as it occurs in
section one above. It is intralingua because even his L1 has the
sound /h/ but because of lack of competence, he was not able to
articulate the sound.
/a:dεd/ for /ӕdɪd/ added
We are concerned with the first sound /ӕ/ and the speaker
here who is a Yoruba speaker has limited vowel sound system
compared to the English vowel sound system and because of this,
and lack of competence, he has under used the sound /ӕ/ by
replacing it with /a:/.
3.2 Substitution
This is when a bilingual replaces a sound/phoneme in the
target language with one in his or her MT
Section 2
/dɪ/ for /ðə/ The
/εnʃɔ/ for /ɪnʃɔ:/ Ensure
/εltkeə/ for /hεlθkeə/ Healthcare
/dɪs/ for /ðɪs/ This
xxxvii
/wɔ:kɪŋ/ for /wᴈ:kɪŋ/ working
/fɪsɪt/ for /vɪzɪt/ visit
/wɪt/ for /wɪθ/ with
Section 2
/mӕkεts/ for /mɑ:kɪts/ Markets
/εksprεs/ for /ɪksprεs/ Express
/dεm/ for /ðεm/ Them
/tɔ:sdeɪ / for /θᴈ:zdeɪ/ Thursday
/səʋt/ for /səʋθ/ South
/εkɔnəmi:kz/ for /Ikɔnəmɪks/ Economics
/wɔ:ld/ for /wᴈ:ld/ World
Section 5
/ feəri:əs/ for / veəri:əs / Various
/fɪft/ for /fɪfθ/ Fifth
/dɪs/ for /ðɪs/ This
/Mɔnt/ for /mΛnθ/ Month
/də/ for /ðə/ The
/fɪk.tɪm/ for /vɪktɪm/ Victim
/wɪt/ for /wɪθ/ with
/rikɔfə/ for /rikΛvə/ Recover
Section 6
xxxviii
/dɪs/ for /ðɪs/ This
/də/ for /ðə/ The
/εlεkʃn/ for /ɪlεkʃn/ Election
/deə/ for /ðӕ/ Their
/deɪ/ for /ðeɪ/ They
/ənədə/ for /ənΛðə/ Another
/trɪ/ for /θrɪ/ Three
/rut/ for /ruθ/ Ruth
/ dəɪrεkʃn / for / dɪrεkʃn / Direction
Section 7
/εlεkʃn/ for /ɪlεkʃn/ Election
/deə/ for /ðeə/ Their
/fa:də/ for /fa:ðə/ Father
Section 9
/feɪtfʋl/ for /feɪθfl/ Faithful
/təʋzΛd / for /θəʋzΛd/ Thousand
Section 11
/mɔnt/ for /mΛnθ/ Month
/rεspεktɪv/ for /rɪspεktɪv/ Respective
Section 12
xxxix
/mӕkεt/ for /ma:kɪt/ Market
/εltkeə/ for /hεlθkeə/ Healthcare
Section 13
/brɪtɪs/ for /brɪtɪʃ/ British
/1a:ʤεst/ for /1a:ʤɪst/ Largest
/ εzεku:tɪvs/ for /ɪgzεkjətivs / Executives
/Infεstmənt/ for /invəstmənt/ Investment
/faɪs/ for /vaɪs/ Vice
/də/ for /ðə/ The
Section 14
/dεn/ for /ðεn/ Then
/a:dεd/ for / ӕdɪd/ Added
Section 15
/mɔnt/ for /mΛnθ/ Month
/dᴈu:ɪs/ for /ʤu:ɪʃ/ Jewish
/ɔkupeɪʃn/ for /ɔkjəpeɪʃn/ Occupation
/fɔɪsɪs/ for /vɔɪsɪz/ Voices
The problem “substitution of sound occurs because there are
some sounds of the English language which are not present in the
xl
speaker’s language which is Yoruba language. It can also be
because of the closeness of the two languages.
Sound like /p, z, tʃ, ᴈ , θ, ð and v/ which can be described as found
below, are not present in the Yoruba sound system.
/p/ voiceless, bilabial, plosive
/ z/ voiced, alveolar fricative
/tʃ/ voiceless, palatal-alveolar affricate
/ᴈ/ voiced palatal-alveolar fricative
/θ/ voiceless inter-dental fricative
/ð/ voiced inter-dental fricative
/V/ voiced labio-dental fricative
Logically, since all the above sounds are not present in the
Yoruba language, the speaker who wants to use English language
or who has acquired English language and has difficulty in
producing the sounds or any of it is supposed to learn how to
pronounce it specially or live without the sounds. But since it is
impossible to live without the sounds as long as the English
language will be used, the L2 speaker of the English language who
has problem or has not mastered any of the sounds will naturally
substitute the sounds for the ones closer in his/her own language.
The Yoruba speaker will likely do the following:xli
produce
/p/ as /kp/
/z/ as /s/
/tʃ/ as /ʃ/
/ᴈ/ as /s/
/θ/ as /t/
/ð/ as /d/ and
/V/ as /f/
Some of these reflect in the above analysis
Examples:
/t/ for /θ/
/εltkea/ for /hεlθkeə/
/wɪt/ for /wɪθ/
/trɪ/ for / θrɪ/
/d/ for /ð/
/dɪ/ for /ðə/
/dɪs/ for /ðɪs/
/f/ for /v/
/fɪsɪt/ for /vɪzɪt/
/feəri:əs/ for /veəri:əs/
/ɪnfεstmənt/ for /ɪnvεstmənt/
xlii
/fɔɪsɪs/ for /vɔɪsɪz/
/s/ for /z/
/ɪs/ for /hɪz/
/fɔɪsɪs/ for /vɔɪsɪz/
/fɪsɪt/ for /vɪzɪt/
There are some sounds in the data that are substituted for
other sounds and are not part of the ones listed above. Some of
these are means of simplifying the sounds for pronunciation while
some are confusion of the rules within the language itself.
For Example:
/ε/ was used for /ɪ/ in the following words which have been
picked from the analysis above.
Section 1
/εnʃɔ/ for /ɪnʃɔ:/
Section 2
/mӕkεts/ for / ma:kɪts/
Section 3
/εkɔnəmi:kz/ for /ɪkɔnəmɪkz/
Section 4
xliii
/ εksprεs/ for /ɪksprεs/
Section 11
/rεspεktɪv/ for /rɪspεktɪv/
Section 13
/la:ʤεst/ for /la:ʤɪst/
Section 14
/a:dεd/ for /ӕdɪd/
The two sound above i.e. /ε/ and /ɪ/ are both present in
Yoruba language and English language. So, normally, the speakers
above are not expected to have problem with the two sounds but
because of confusion of the rules and because of lack of
competence on the part of the speakers they substituted the
sounds.
3.3 Hypercorrection
When a bilingual over-pronounces a sound in order to meet
a standard in the target language
Section 1
MDGs /εmdi:ʤi:z/ which was realised as /εmdi:ʤi:εs/. The
speaker here pronounced the sounds as if “S” Carries the same
weight as others just to meet up to a particular standard.
Section 6
xliv
/tʃӕtəd/ for /ʃӕtəd/ shattered
Although, the sound voiceless palatal-alveolar affricate /tʃ/ that
the speaker used here in place of the voiceless palatal-alveolar
fricative /ʃ/ is not present in the Yoruba sound system but in
order to meet up with the standard, he over-pronounces it
Section 8
/praɪmarɪ/ for /praɪmrɪ/ primary
This is another case of hypercorrection and this could be
because of the speaker’s language (Yoruba) which is toned whereas
English is a stressed language and in order for the speaker to meet
up to a standard, he has over-pronounced the word above.
Section 10
/dεbt/ for /dεt/ Debt
This is another reflection of mother tongue interference
under hypercorrection. The speaker here over pronounces the
sound just to meet up to a standard in the target language.
Section 11
/wu:ld/ for /wʋd/ would
The same reasons, over-sensitivity, overgeneralization and
hypercorrection that call for the mispronunciation of the words
xlv
above also made the speaker here to pronounce /wʋd/ as /wu:ld/
in order to meet up to a particular standard in the target language.
3.4 Epenthesis
“This is a superfluous insertion of vowel segments as a way
of
alleviating
the
complexity
of
consonant
characterize the English language.
Section 1
/tεknɪkəl / for / tεknɪkl / technical
/kapitəl/ for /kӕpɪtl/ capital
Section 4
/ɪlεgəl/ for /ɪli:gəl/ illegal
/əfɔ:dəbʋl/ for /əfɔ:dəbl/ affordable
Section 9
/feɪtfʋl/ for /feɪθfl/ faithful
/kӕtʋl/ for /kӕtl/ cattle
Section 12
/Pəlɪtɪkəli:/ for /pəlɪtɪkli:/ politically
/nεst/ for /nεkst/ next (simplification).
Section 15
/ɔkʋpeɪʃΛn/ for /ɔkjəpeɪʃn/ occupation
xlvi
clusters
which
Almost all the cases here except one are cases of syllabicity
in the English language. But in order to elevate the consonant
cluster, the speakers have inserted some of the vowels, which show
lack of competence on their part.
Conclusion
If the above cases of wrong pronunciation (interferences) are
found within the words of anybody in the society who is not a
professional (Newscaster, language teachers e.t.c.), it would not
have called for analysis, but since broadcasters are supposed to be
pacesetters, role models who have been trained in this line of
study, they are supposed to be masters in this line. But the reverse
is
the
case
and
this
is
a
problem
because
it
distorts
communication.
The two major broadcasters in the data analysis above speak
Yoruba language as their L1 and this reflects in their L2. For
instance, Yinka, whose major problem is the substitution of the
sound /f/ for /v/ e.g. in various /veəri:əs/ which he pronounced
as /feərɪəs/ and in many other cases as seen above. This is
because he has not mastered the sound system of his L2 and this
brings confusion to the non language specialist who has little or no
knowledge of the English sound system. Many of our Newscasters
xlvii
and Broadcasters are sources of confusion. Personally, I have been
confused on how to pronounce the word INEC some pronounce it
as /ɪnεk/while others /aɪnεk/. This is a Nigerian acronym for the
body Independent National Electoral Commission which cannot be
seen in the main dictionary.
However, a close study at some of the most respected Newscasters
in the nations network (NTA News at 9pm) shows that it may be
better to pronounce it as /aɪnεk/ as against /ɪnεk/. Since the word
is an acronym and each letter /sound/ is representing a word, all
of the sound will be articulated. It would therefore be better if
broadcasters will pronounce it as such and reduce the confusion
in the society.
The way forward on these problems will be proffered in the
next chapter where summary and conclusion will be drawn.
xlviii
CHAPTER FOUR
4.1 Summary
The first chapter of this work introduced us to the entire
work with the topic “Mother Tongue Interference in English
Newscast with a case study of Kwara Television news”. In this
chapter, the purpose of the work was given; the justification and
the scope were considered. Also, the methods that were employed
for the success of the work were highlighted and some key terms in
our broad topic defined.
We have focused on the review of relevant works in
interference, language acquisition, bilingualism/multilingualism,
phonological interference in chapter two. This was done to relate
this work to the existing literature in the language field.
The chapter three of this work has focused on the analysis of
our data. Four phonological phenomena which are: Underdifferentiation, Substitution, Hypercorrection and Epenthesis; have
been used because the errors in the work fell under these four
aspects.
The last chapter, chapter four, includes the summary, the
conclusion and the recommendations to the problems identified in
chapter three.
xlix
Conclusion
Based on the work that has been done, here are the
conclusions reached:
Mother Tongue interference
is evident in the broadcast of
the news on our various channels and especially on our selected
Kwara Television. Evidence of this abound in how some words were
pronounced wrongly. There were cas es of substitution of sounds.
For instance, pronouncing /tʃ/ as/ ʃ/, /v/ as /f/, the overemphasis of other salient consonants.
Another conclusion reached based on the research that has
been carried out is that the presence of Mother Tongue
Interference in utterances sometimes leads to mis-interpretation.
For instance, “Hall of the main building was gutted by fire” instead
of All of the main building was gutted by fire. The statement above
was taken from one of the sentences that were read on air and lead
to erroneous interpretation.
The speaker inserted /h/ thereby pronouncing /hɔl/ for
/ɔ:l/ making it sound like only the hall was gutted by fire instead
of the real situation which claimed all the main building.
4.3 Recommendations
l
No broadcast media transmits without a license. In the same
vein, the first recommendation towards getting out of the problems
identified is to ensure that only those who studied English
language in the universities cast the English news on any channel.
It is almost certain that such person will have attained a level of
proficiency that mediocre cannot boast of. Until the role of English
newscast stops being an all-comers affair, delivery will keep
suffering from mother tongue interference.
Another recommendation is the one that goes back to the
acquisition of the language (English language) and the teaching of
the language in schools especially in our universities in Nigeria.
Most of our language teachers even at the tertiary level are learners
themselves. So this work will recommend the English language
immersion programme for both the teachers and the students of
the English department; an overseas trip to an English speaking
country where they will be exposed to the native speakers
completely. This is usually the case with French under-graduates
who for a matter of course must have some months of practical
training as part of their curriculum. The upcoming newscasters
must then be required to present evidence of all these in addition
to their paper qualification before becoming newscasters.
li
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Akmajian, A. etal (2001). Linguistics an introduction to language
and
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technology.
Alabi, T. A. (2007). Language contact: The Nigeria experience with
English. In 0. Obafemi, & G.A. Ajadi & V.A. Alabi (eds.)
Critical perspectives on English language and literature
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Coates, J. (1993). Women Men and Language. New York: Longman
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R.
(1998).
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language
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Routledge.
Grosjean, F. (1982). Life with two Languages. Harvard: University
Press Cambridge.
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Hoffmann, C. (1991). An introduction to bilingualism. London:
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library.
McGregor, W. B. (2009). Linguistics an Introduction. New York:
publishing group continuum international.
Medubi, 0. (2007). The fundamentals of Journalism. In 0. Obafemi
&
G. A. Ajadi & V.A. Alabi (eds.) Critical perspectives on
English language and Literature (pp.105-110) Ilorin: The
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Hodder education.
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Library Cataloguing- in- Publication data.
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Winkler, E. G. (2007).
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Ethnologue: World Languages (2009).
liii
Appendix
Kwara State Television Authority
The main News at 6:30pm
The Headlines
-
NACA reaffirms commitment to treatment of HIV/AIDS
patients in the country.
-
Kwara State police command nabs six suspects for various
criminal offences
-
Ghana top scorer other listed for 2010player of the year
award
-
President Barrack Obama arrives Indonesia in continuation
of his Asian trip.
News casters
Yinka Owolewa
Bisi Mohammed
News producer/ News Director
Abdul-Fatai Beki
The News in full
The
national agency for the control of Aids, NACA says he is making
effort to ensure treatment of HIV/AIDS at the primary healthcare
liv
centers across the country, Professor John Idoko said this in Abuja
where the United States president’s emergency plans for HIV relief
adult treatment technical working group paid him an advocacy
visit, he said the country needed a holistic approach on HIV and
AIDS in order to achieve the millennium development goals
(MDGs). In his speech, the co-chair of the working group Mr. T
Elabroch urge the government to provide the package of care at the
primary healthcare that will include diagnose of HIV, malaria,
tuberculosis treatment Mr. Elabroch said that PEPTRAL will work
with ministry of health. NACA and other ministries to scale up
Programme that will enhance primary healthcare unit in the
country.
A constitutional lawyer has faulted the judgment delivered
by the federal high court in Lagos that the on-going amendment to
the 1999 constitution by the National Assembly could be illegal
unless it receives the presidential assent. Prof. Saige express this
while speaking with news men in Lagos. He noted that since the
amendment has been passed by the thirty six states houses of
assembly and their governors, there was no need for the
presidential assent to make it legal.
lv
A former president of the Nigerian Bar Association had lodge
the capital challenge declaimed by the National Assembly that the
president’s signature was not necessary before the amended
constitution could become a law.
And away from that. The international labour organization
has called on the members of the G20 to strengthen the policies to
create jobs and reverse the prevailing high-rate of unemployment.
The group made the call in a report issued ahead of the G20
summit which begins on Thursday in the capital of the republic of
Korea. Report says south African is the sole African country in the
group of G20 major economics, the country controls 85% of global
growths,
National
international
products
labour
and
organization
85%
of
newest
world
trade.
statistical
The
update
prepared for the G20 summit stated that unemployment increase
in ten of the G20 member countries this year compared to last
year.
Report from Aba says the Abia state government has set up a
committee to harmonize tax payment and levies. The state’s deputy
governor, chief Ajo Iwankawa made this disclosion known during
an interactive section at Aba, he said it was necessary to stop
illegal and multiple taxes on residents of the state. Promising that
lvi
the government would fix acceptable and affordable prices at the
three zones in Aba. Chief Nwakama however condemned the
conversion of the three markets zones. The deputy governor
expressed determination of the administration to reconstruct and
rehabilitate all roads and infrastructure in the city. He appeals to
traders whose shop were part of the problem to remove them forth
with.
Speaking at the forum, Aba’s south transition committee
chairman Dr. Christian Okoli express happiness that the area was
being transformed. Also the president of the Abia market
amalgamated trader association chief Ike urge the government to
construct central parks and to construct all roads.
The kwara state police command today paraded six suspects
arrested for various criminal offences perpetrated at different parts
of the state and neighboring states. Briefing newsmen at the kwara
state command headquarters, the commissioner of police said the
state police command is working round the clock to sustain the
relative peace being experienced in all parts of the states. The
police boss in the state tell journalist that his command is
consistent in its fighting strategies which resulted in the arrest of
six suspects on 5th of this month. The police commissioner said
lvii
information got to the A’ division that five man robbery gang
attempted and robbed one Ola Joel Ayodele at the gun point in
Ogbomosho, Oyo state, the victim was subsequently abandon in
the bush but the tracking device membranes on the stolen ToyotaCamry VEXLE with registration number Lagos SL342AA gave an
insight to the recovery of the car and later the arrest of three
suspects believed to have carried out the act. Gun, assorted cell
phones, charms among others were stolen. Similarly, another
trailer with registration number XU825AGL alleged to have been
stolen where it was parked at Odota area of Ilorin was also
recovered and two suspects Taiwo Raji and Shina were also
paraded. A middle age man Yele Deno from Kaima village in kwara
state who was alleged to have killed his father was also arrested.
The commissioner of police also added that investigation into all
the cases are still in progress. On the Eld-kabir celebration around
the corner the police boss assured members of the police that his
command is fully prepared to ensure the itch free celebrations. He
however
advice
members
of
the
public
to
provide
useful
information that will assist in cubing criminal activities in all parts
of the state before, during and after the festival. This is kwara TV
main news and we are glad to have you back.
lviii
Recently local government elections was held in all the
sixteen local government areas of kwara state out of these only
that of Offa was matched with crises and violence which led to the
cancellation of the election in Offa-local government of the state in
this special report Abdul-Rakeem Garuba takes a look at the cause
of the violence to provide solutions against future occurrence.
On October this year, the local government election was held
throughout the 16 local government area of the state, to usher in
new ex-men or return the incumbent who have performed well
previously. Visit by the Crew of KWTV to the nooks and crannys of
the state includes the remote parts such as kaima, Pategi, Ifelodun and Batunnu shows that the elections were held peacefully
without any ranchor or crisis except the few complaints of late
arrival of voting materials to polling boots.
However, the situation at Offa, the headquarters of Offa local
government areas could not be said to be peaceful as the election
which started in an orderly manner was allegedly disturbed by
members of the opposition. The tugs according to the Offa local
government chairman of the people democratic party.
Snatched ballot boxes, beat the agents of PDP and scare
away the security personal in order to perpetrate their evil act.
lix
Otunba Folourusho explained that ballot boxes in 50 polling
unit out of 86 in Offa were high jacked as at 12’O clock when over
70% of the vote have been caste. A community leader, prince A.O
explain how nearly 30 togs invaded his house claiming to be
looking for ballot boxes kept in his house in which they found non
after ransacking his residence.
Another sorrowful scene was that of Rasheed who was
beaten and wounded on that faithful day and has been bedridden
due to broken leg. The vandalization of the residence of the first
Asiwaju of Offa late Josiah Olawoyin could be describe as the most
disastrous. His doors and windows were scattered with stones
allegedly thrown by togs. The wife of the late politician, Mrs. Ruth
Olawoyin said three motorcycles and two vehicle were damaged in
the process while the occupants had to run for their lives when the
stones were flying from all directions. The chairman of Offa local
government Segun Olawoyin she added was rough handled and
was saved by divine intervention Otunba Folorusho and the PDP
chairman of Offa Alhaji Abdulrahim Bello explain that the fear of
loosing the election prompted members of the opposition to
embark on the ugly act and call on security agents to be alert to
their responsibilities in future to guide against future occurrence.
lx
The chief Imam of Enugu state police command has urge
Nigerians to shown violence and embrace peace in the 2011
general elections. He said this in an interview with the newsmen.
He said that Muslims should inculcate the fear of God in all their
dealings in business in utterances, actions and at working places.
He advices Nigerians to pray so that God fearing persons will
emerge in 2011. From Akwa-Ibon state capital reports came that
the Akwa-Ibon state government has promise to build transit
camps for the members of the NYSC in the 31 local government
area of the state. The state governor chief
Godswill Ophabio
the pledge while receiving the national chairman NYSC governing
board, the governor who was on a tour of the state orientation
camp explained that transit camp will accommodates corp.
members who were yet to settle at the places of their primary
assignments immediately after the orientation camp. The governor
who said NYSC scheme had contributed to the reforms in the
operation of the scheme suggested that the military training
available to corp. members at the orientation camp could be used
as part of requirement for military employment requirement of
graduates in the country.
Welcome to business news. Bearly
ten days to celebration of Eld-Kabri festival Muslim faithful. The
lxi
prices of ram is an important item of the festival and it has remain
on the increase at the most of the major cattle markets visited
today in Ilorin kwara state capital.
Kwara TV Staff reporter who visited Oke-Ose cattle market
in Ilorin Isin local government area of the state community has
reveals that the price of big rams at the market goes up between
N10 thousand and N100 thousand depending on the sizes. While
the middle sizes at the market were sold between N30 thousand to
N60 thousand. The price of small and medium size at the market
also goes up between N15thousand and N25 thousand. Speaking
with kWTV news across section of ram sellers at the market
attributed a low level of patronage at the market to the recent
economic situation of the country.
lxii