THE EFFECT OF IGBO (L1) ON THE LEARNING OF CHINESE (L2) AMONGST JSS2 STUDENTS OF NNAMDI AZIKIWE UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL, AWKA

Abstract

The intention of this study is to look at the effect of Igbo (L1) on the learning of Chinese (L2) amongst the JSS2 students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University High School, Awka. The two languages under study have their phonological peculiarities, hence, any Igbo learner of Chinese is bound to encounter difficulties and vice versa. In other words due to the phonological differences between the mother tongue (MT) and the Target Language (TL), the sound system may create a problem in learning the target language. The sudy looks at the contrast in the segmental phonemes of Igbo and Chinese in order to point out some difficult areas Igbo speakers and Chinese speakers may possibly encounter in the process of learning Igbo and Chinese. The data for this study were collected through primary and secondary sources. The work is able to bring out the similarities and differences using the contrastive analysis as a framework. Through a descriptive approach, the two languages are presented, Isolated and described. The pedagogic problems are predicted based on the differences that exist in the sound systems of the two languages. The work reveals amongst other things that the absence of some of the phonemes in Igbo which are present in Chinese will pose learning difficulties for Igbo learners of Chinese. Chinese has the greater number of vocalic phonemes than Igbo, hence the Chinese learners of Igbo will have less difficulty in learning Igbo. Certain sounds in Igbo which are absent in Chinese will pose learning problems to the Chinese learners of Igbo. Chinese has aspirated sounds such as /Ph th Kh tSh etc/ which are absent in Igbo, will pose learning problems to the Igbo learners of Chinese. Absence of retroflex sounds in Igbo may lead to error in production. Also, in the Chinese vocalic inventory, there are diphthongs and nasals, they constitute learning problems. The study concludes by suggesting that language teachers should focus more on those areas of difficulties in the two languages in the course of teaching, in other to enhance learning them as target languages (TLs).