Vowel Articulation Errors in Nigerian Secondary Students’ Spoken English An Error-Analysis Study

Abstract

Language plays a crucial role in human interaction, and errors in speech can significantly affect the conveyance of meaning. This study evaluates errors in the spoken English of selected S.S.1 students at Army Day Secondary School, Sobi, Kwara State, Nigeria, focusing on the articulation of English pure vowels. Data were collected through voice recordings of twenty respondents during informal interviews. Using an error analysis approach, the study identifies errors in the articulation of five vowels: [ə, ʌ, æ, ɜː, ɔː]. Analysis of recordings from 20 students aged 13–16 revealed that vowel errors were most frequent in [ə] and [ʌ], with substitution and omission as the dominant error types. A total of 97 vowel tokens across the five target vowels were analysed, with substitution errors accounting for 97.9% and omission for 2.1%. These recurring, unmonitored patterns suggest early-stage fossilisation. The findings indicate that pronunciation difficulties among learners are primarily linked to grapho-phonological interference, first-language influence, and inadequate phonetic instruction. The findings suggest that these articulation issues hinder effective communication. The paper concludes that articulation errors can be addressed, and communicative competence in English can be enhanced by incorporating targeted pronunciation drills into Nigeria’s English curriculum, providing specialised teacher training, and using engaging phonological activities. While the study provides valuable insights into students’ spoken English errors, its limited sample size and single-school focus restrict generalizability.