CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF LAMBDACISM IN THE SPEECH OF IGBOENGLISH BILINGUALS IN ALOR DIALECT
This paper examines lambdacism in the speech of Alor Igbo-English bilinguals. It was observed that many students in Alor use /l/ in place of /r/ during interactions in the English language.The paper investigates the possible causes of lambdacism, its effects, and offers suggestions on how to improve the pronunciation of Alor second language learners of the English language. A qualitative approach characterized by participant observation was adoptedin this studyto ascertain the students’ interaction in the classroom. The researcher being a teacher in one of the schools used for this research at the time the information was gathered had time to observe and interact with the students noting their use of language. In addition, the interview method was used to elicit information from eight language teachers in the two government secondary schools in Alor; students were given a reading task during their break periods. The data were analyzed as a doublecheck for the qualitative approach. Findings show that there is no retroflex liquid /r/ in Alor dialect. The main cause of lambdacism is interference coming from the mother tongue, that even when the students have learnt through the efforts of the second language teacher, the difference between /1/ and /r/, the problem of competence and performance persists. The study concludes by positing that students learning a second language should also learn correct pronunciation in the target language. The study recommends the deployment of adequate trained language teachers to the schools in the above mentioned location. These teachers should address the peculiar language problems of the town.Teaching aids/ facilities should be provided to make second language learning more interesting. Slow speech rather than rapid speech should be encouraged for beginners that have the problem of interference.
Keywords: alor, bilinguals, dialect, effects, igboenglish, lambdacism, speech