A Study of Some Morphological Problems of Chadian Learners of English

Abstract

The study of new Englishes has been the focus of many researchers who evaluate the spoken and written quality of non-native English in different parts of the globe. This study investigates morphological errors made by Chadian learners of English in their written and oral production. 250 essays by Première and Terminale learners of Lycée Pascal Yoadimnadji and 300 ones by students of the University of Doba were scrutinised. This was completed with oral presentations and free conversations on topics of general interest by 30 secondary school learners and 50 university students. The paper particularly looked at their production of plural forms, third person singular markers, omission/addition, and the production of the -ed morpheme of the simple past tense and past participle. The results show that irrespective of their levels of education, Chadian learners of English generally omit or mispronounce the inflection morphemes in their various forms. The findings also reveal that some of the errors found are general features of non-native English, while others are specific to Chadian setting where English varieties from Cameroon (CamFE), Nigeria (NigE & Pidgin English), and from Sudan lead to a real mixture in classrooms.