TESTING SPEAKERS' USE OF THE ZIN SPOKEN FRENCH: IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIOLINGUISTIC DYNAMICS IN NIGERIA
Keywords:
French Liaison,, French, Sociophonetic, PerceptionAbstract
French language is an international and official language of francophone countries learnt to improve communication with other non-francophone countries. However, learners often struggle with aspects of spoken fluency, especially sociophonetic features like liaison. One critical gap is the lack of attention to variable liaison—a phonetic feature that functions both linguistically and socially in French. The disconnect between learners’ production and listeners’ perception of socially marked features like liaison poses challenges for effective communication. This study adopted a phenomenology design. A sample of ten participants was purposively selected from Odeda Local Government Area. Using French Liaison Interview Guide (FLIG) which was validated using participant check procedure and audio recording, data were collected and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results showed that people perceived Nigerian learners to have wrong Pronunciation pattern, wrong pronunciation of silent consonants and liaison, phonological interference of local dialects and English. Francophone indigenes view Nigerian Learners to have wrong application of liaison, perceived them as beginners in French language and reveals that their usage of French liaison reflects their background. There is a huge difference on alphabet pronunciation, lexical and pragmatic usage, sociolinguistic implication when Nigerian Learners and francophone indigenes are compared. Finally, the challenges of using of French liaison are sounds and pronunciation uniqueness, lack of confidence, poor authentic language exposure, poor phonetic training and teacher proficiency, sociolinguistic unawareness. Recommendations include practical, engaging, and sustainable solutions. With consistent practice, exposure, and encouragement, learners can develop more accurate, fluent, and confident spoken French.
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