Investigating English Pronunciation of Speakers of Asante Twi: A Case of Wesley College of Education Level 100 Students, Ghana

Abstract

English language pronunciation teaching is typically based on native speakers' norms. English is spoken all over the world. It has become a lingua franca for many people, an international language that ends up promoting successful communication for all. It is a medium of instruction for our learners from Basic Four to the tertiary level. Despite this, English pronunciation presents a lot of difficulties to its users, as it is inconsistent with the spelling of words. The problem exists with speakers of Asante Twi as students of Wesley College of Education who use it as a second language. They make errors in pronouncing some English words. Against this background, this study seeks to assess the pronunciation intelligibility of speakers of English whose first language is Asante Twi. It is worthwhile to identify and analyse their peculiar difficulties and get a specific prescription to correct the errors. The study findings will have significant pedagogical implications for teaching English pronunciation at Wesley College of Education. It will help raise awareness among teacher trainees of the critical problems they are going to face in the future as teachers.