YORUBA TEACHERS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AS MODELS FOR ENGLISH PHRASAL STRESS ASSIGNMENT

Abstract

This study investigated the (re)assignment of stress on English phrasal structures in the speech of Yoruba teachers of English language (YELTs) to determine their capability to model Standard English accentuation in Nigeria. The theoretical underpinning was Bandura’s social cognitive theory and Liberman and Prince’s Metrical Phonology. Fifty English language teachers were randomly selected from five Local Government Areas in Ibadan. A Briton served as the native baseline. Data was elicited from participants’ production of a prepared text into Speech Filing System (SFS/WASP). Extracted noun phrases were analysed statistically, metrically, and complemented with acoustic analysis. YELTs production revealed 7.5% conformity to the baseline stress patterns and 5.4% assignment of nuclear stress. YELTs shifted stress in 33.3% instances. YELTs’ metrical grids revealed preference of stronger than weaker syllables. Predominantly, YELTs did not assign nuclear stress. YELTs’ grid placeholders did not reveal expected reassignment of stress necessitated by iambic feet reversal for avoidance of stress clash. YELTs’ spectrograms lacked prominence variation between stronger and weaker syllables. Despite their academic competence, Yoruba English language teachers are not acceptable models of spoken English in Nigeria. They are advised to engage in constant speech practice and technology-enhanced learning of English prosody.