A CONSTRASTIVE STUDY OF IGBO AND FRENCH SPEECH SOUNDS

Abstract

This paper is aimed at finding out the similarities and differences between the speech sounds of the languages under review and predict difficulties Igbo learners of French and French learners of Igbo may encounter and proffer solutions to these difficulties. This study’s major interest is on the phonemic level of the phonology of Igbo and French. Based on this, the researchers compared the phonemes of both languages. This research work is based on the contrastive analysis theory of Robert Lado (1957). Findings of this study, showed that both languages share similarities in sixteen (16) consonants and six (6) vowels, and differences in thirteen (13) consonants and twelve (12) vowels. Although the /r/ and /w/ sounds exist in both languages, their places of articulation differ. Following the assumptions of contrastive analysis, these differences are presumed to constitute learning difficulties. To avert these difficulties for the L2 learners of Igbo and French, much emphasis need to be drawn on these stated areas of differences and properly handled by language teachers.