Acquisition of Articulatory Competence among the Nigerian Users of English: A Study of Praat Speech Analysis

Abstract

Articulatory competence is one aspect of language learning that non-native learners grapple with. This paper suggests how articulatory competence can be enhanced using praat speech analysis tool. Nigerians usually experience difficulty in articulating some English speech sounds or pronounce words that contain them. In this study, praat was used to teach 12 to 15 years old female students of Girls High School, Gindiri how to produce vowels /i:/, /I/, /ɒ/, /ᴧ/ and /ɜ:/. They were four each from northern, southern and western Nigeria. Formant frequencies of the sounds were retrieved from analysed utterances of native speakers extracted from Wells (2002) to serve as control. 20 participants produced 20 words containing the sounds, which were recorded and analysed using praat. The frequency values of formants one and two (F1, F2) of the participants’ and native speakers’ utterances were compared to establish the student’s articulatory competence. After learning the selected words using praat, the participants were able to pronounce them more appropriately. Although the pronunciations did not exactly match the control samples in all phonological aspects, they corresponded, to a large extent, in terms of F0 changes. The research is based on Laboratory phonology which is a phonological theory that ensures that empirical phonetic data are obtained and analysed through experimental methods.  The research reveals the effectiveness of praat speech analysis tool in the acquisition of articulatory competence. It shows that Nigerians, as non-native learners of English, can develop the ability to pronounce English words that contain vowels not present in their native languages which will eventually improve communication among users of English in Nigeria.