Relevance of Phonology toward effective communication in English language.

Phonology

English language in Nigeria as a language of instruction in schools, government and a lingua franca makes it learning compulsory to every Nigerian. It is also considers as the great melting pot as it swallows many languages in the world thereby making millions of non-native English adopting it as second or foreign language thus hundreds of languages losing their identity. Phonology as the study of how speech sound patterns and function in a particular language, therefore remains an integral part of English language learning toward proper articulation of its sounds thereby having a meaningful communication. As verbal communication is an agreed-upon and rule-governed system of symbols used to share meaning. phonological studies equips one with the knowledge on how speech sounds patterns or arrange in English language which as a result afford one all the technical know-how on the use of the sound in a connected utterances. It is against this background that, this study sets to examine the relevance of phonology towards proper and understandable communication in English language with particular reference to some selected senior secondary schools in Sokoto metropolis. Ten (10) students from the sampled schools were randomly selected through observation method while speaking English language in their school premises to ascertain the level at which they understand the phonology in their spoken English. In specific terms this research work will focus on the students ‘articulatory skills on some consonants in connected speech. The aim is to know whether or not the students are substituting some of the consonants sounds and suggest way forward. Errors detected were grouped as substitution and analyzed in tabular form using error analysis theory. This paper finds out that the students of the sampled schools are having serious pronunciation problem as most of the consonants sounds of English language are being substituted by the sounds available in the mother tongue of the students. For example /v/ in the word ‘’voice’’ is being substituted with /b/ and pronounce as ‘’boice’’ among others. This paper therefore suggest that teachers and students should redouble effort in learning the English language phonology to ensure a better and understandable communication.

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