Analyse Du Systeme Vocalique Des Apprenants De Fle De Mount Mary College Of Education. Réalisé Par

Abstract

This research work is an attempt to describe the vowel system of French students of Mount Mary College of Education. Through the analysis of recorded data from learners, it came to light that, learners of the school mentioned above pronounce some French vowels correctly and some wrongly. The study further revealed that, the wrong pronunciations of certain vowels are the result of cognitive activities on the part of the learners. Thus, learners pronounce what comes to their mind. Also, the analyzed sounds are part of the segmental inventory of learners, which has cognitive correspondences. The study also revealed that two motivations that can be argued to be of a cognitive nature, are at the basis of the learners' productions: an appropriation of distinctive properties of vowels and crosslinguistic influences. Couched in Generative theory, the study attempts to explain the difficulties students of Mount Mary College of Education faced in the pronunciation of French vowels. It was suggested that teachers focus on teaching the following vowels [ɛ̃] [oẽ] [oe] [ɛ] in class, as they constituted the majority of the difficulties observed. They must also teach learners to dissociate the pronunciation of certain pairs of vowels such as [a]/[ɑ], [e]/[ɛ], [o]/[ɔ], [u]/[y] and [e]/[ə]. Finally, it was suggested that more scientific research should be done in the analysis of the production of French vowels by Ghanaian students so as to help in the development of pedagogical materials that are relevant to the local context. Key words: Vocalic System, Interlanguage, Foreign Language Learning, Formant.