Abstract:
Pronunciation is a factor of two processes: the production and perception of human
individual sounds (segments), referred to as phonetics and the combination of
these segments in a speech, and referred to as phonology. Ekegusii and Kimeru are
Bantu languages spoken in western and central parts of Kenya respectively.
University students from the two language groups studying English and Literature in
their year one to year four in the university setting formed the population for the
study because the intonation and phonetic inventory for both languages are similar
to the extent that a non-native speaker of the two languages may not draw a
distinction between them. Some prosodic features of these languages such as
vowel insertion to break consonant clusters are different from English and when
speakers of these languages insert vowels in some English words with consonant
clusters, this results in error, sometimes impeding their intelligibility. A study was
needed to examine pronunciation errors among the Ekegusii L1 and Kimeru L1
university students so as to document the gravity of the problem. The study was a
qualitative description of students’ pronunciation errors in English language
committed while the students were participating in university activities. The
objectives of the study were to examine the most common mispronounced English
phonemes produced by the students and to explore the possible sources of the
errors. The study adopted a descriptive study design guided by Corder’s (1974)
error analysis model. A purposive sample of 50 students selected on the basis of
first encountered first recorded was used for data generation. The data was in the
form of notes from listening to the students’ natural talk and audio recordings of
their conversations. The study involved describing, analyzing, and interpreting
common pronunciation errors. Based on the results of data analysis it was revealed
that students made a multiple of pronunciation errors attributable to mainly
interlingual and intralingual sources. From the findings, the researchers recommend
that the best way to learn the pronunciation of a second language is by listening to
good role model speakers of English language and by practising it regularly.
