An Investigation of English Sound Production Among Nande Bilingual Students in the Democratic Republic of Congo : A Case of Bilingual Christian University of Congo

Abstract

This article is based on a study that was conducted to examine the different areas of English sound mispronunciation by Nande bilingual students of the Bilingual Christian University of Congo (UCBC) in order to point out the instances where the phonetic system of Kinande causes difficulty for the learner of English resulting in communication and intelligibility breakdown. A total of 50 Nande students were randomly selected from the five faculties organized at UCBC and were involved in the study. The study adopted a qualitative design and used the ethnography method in which the researcher was involved in observing, listening, and asking a few questions as he was immersed in different activities (debate, presentation, dramatization, expressive reading , asking riddles, singing song, prayer, English teaching and teaching some content courses). After data analysis, it was revealed that bilingual Nande students of UCBC acquired their mother language (Kinande) before they began to acquire and to develop the English language. Moreover, the phonological system of Kinande has some sounds that are absent in English, and English has certain sounds that are absent in Kinande, which complicates the learning of those sounds and thus impede smooth communication and mutual intelligibility. Furthermore, Kinande and English have some letters that share the same spelling but they are pronounced differently. Also, teachers of English minimize the teaching of English pronunciations and thus reduce students’ chance to practice pronunciation. Adding to this, teachers of English medium courses do not play their role of language teachers. They seem not to be concerned with language related items and think only TESOL faculties should address challenges related to language.