THE PRONUNCIATION OF NON-NATIVE PHONEMES BY EDUCATED HAUSA SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH

This study examines the pronunciation of non-native phonemes by educated Hausa speakers of English, with a focus on the dental fricatives /θ/ and /ð/, which are absent in the Hausa phonological system. These sounds are frequently replaced with phonemes such as /t/, /d/, /s/, or /z/. Data were collected from 40 participants, evenly divided into graduate and postgraduate groups, through a word-list reading task containing 20 target words. The results revealed that while a minority of participants accurately articulated the target phonemes, the majority relied on substitutions, with /t/ and /d/ being the most common. Postgraduate participants demonstrated slightly higher accuracy than graduates. These findings underline the pervasive influence of Hausa phonology on English pronunciation and highlights the need for focused pedagogical strategies to address these challenges and improve intelligibility in English spoken by Hausa speakers