Study of the Rwandan learners' intelligibility in spoken English

Munyandamutsa, Jean Baptiste 2005. Study of the Rwandan learners' intelligibility in spoken English. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.

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Abstract

The present study investigates the phonological productive and perceptual competence of a group of Rwandan learners of English and the effect that phonological deviations have on their intelligibility and comprehension in spoken English. In order to discover the hierarchy and degree of difficulty these subjects have in the segmental and suprasegmental features of English, productive and perceptual tests of words and sentences were designed and administered to a group of 60 subjects. The study also attempts to explain the effect of various interlanguage phenomena which occur in the production and perception of the pronunciation of English by Rwandan speakers. The results of this study support many of the claims of CA, EA and phonological interlanguage. Chapter One gives background sociolinguistic information on the roles of Kinyarwanda, French, Kiswahili and English in Rwanda. Chapter Two discusses a number of theoretical key issues involved in language learning and acquisition. Chapter Three defines the topic of the study, i.e. intelligibility and comprehension, to gain insight into the study and to provide a framework for the research design and methodology. Chapter Four is a description of the Kinyarwanda and English phonological systems, which is the basis of the predictions of the difficulties and the design of data for Chapters Five and Six. Chapter Five analyses, categorizes and explains the source of deviations in the data gathered from subjects' pronunciation of words and sentences as interpreted by native English speakers. Chapter Six analyzes the effect of phonological deviations on the subjects' comprehension of spoken English. Chapter Seven concludes the whole study with a discussion of the major findings, and suggests some useful steps towards more effective teaching of the pronunciation for better intelligibility and comprehension in English.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	English, Communication and Philosophy
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PE English
ISBN:	9781303166488
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	12 Feb 2016 23:14
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/55571

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