JOURNALS

ABSTRACT

This paper undertakes a contrastive study phonemes realization and distribution in Koro Ashe and in English at the segmental level with the view of helping ESL Koro Ashe learners of English to improve their performance and communication in English. The phonological features of both English and Koro Ashe languages differ significantly at the segmental and supra segmental levels, thereby posing serious communication challenges to the study population. Contrastive Analysis (CA) is the model employed to carry out this investigation. CA contrasts the phonological features of two different languages, which have practical objectives of showing in what respect the two languages differ from or resemble for improved pedagogy. Oral Production Test (OPT) was the instrument used gathering data for this investigation. The findings of this investigation shows that, (1) the consonants; [s] and [?]; [f] and [hw]; [z] and [?]; [r] and [kp]; [p] and [kw] are in free variation in Koro Ashe but they are not in English; However, the pairs of the sounds; /ai/ and / i: / in ‘either’; /e/ and /ei/ in ‘again’; /a:/ and /æ/ in ‘pasta’; the realizations of aspirated [ph], released [p] and unreleased [p?] in the English words ‘map’ [mæph], [mæp] and [mæp?] and the free variation in the realization of the word ‘contribute’, where the stress can be in the first syllable (?“) or in the second syllable (.?“) are in free variation in English but they are not in English. The above results reveal that Koro Ashe and English have great differences with regard to their phonological free variation. It is in consonance of this that CA model maps these areas of difficulties for improved pedagogy with regard to the study populace.