A Comparative Analysis of English and Annang Phonological Systems (Published)
The problems facing an Annang speaker of English are many: he applies the rules of Annang in his use of English particularly in sound production; when he is confronted with vowel sounds that are non-existent in the Annang sound inventory, he reduces the English vowel to the nearest vowel in his inventory; he hardly discriminates between long and short vowels; he also has problems relating to nonsegmental phonology particularly in the areas of stress and intonation. This study has provided the rationale for the comparative analysis model. Four null hypotheses were used for the study and were measured with the Chi-square test. One hundred and twenty final year Annang Secondary School students provided the sample and were drawn through stratified random sampling. Literature was reviewed on phonology and Annang language studies. At 0.01 confidence level and 1 degree of freedom (df), the calculated value of x2 (30.8) was greater than the table value of X2 (6.63) and so. Hypotheses 1 and 2 were rejected. At 0.01 confidence level and 1 degree of freedom (df), the calculated value of X2 (22.8) was greater than the table value of X2 (6.63) and so Hypotheses 3 and 4 were rejected. It was discovered that Annang speakers of English encounter problems in sound articulation. There is need for English teachers in Annang land to diagnose these problems and help the learners overcome them
Keywords: Annang Language Studies, Comparative Linguistic Analysis, Phonology