Acoli learners’ challenges in articulating the received pronunciation of English in primary schools, Gulu District.

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of the English Vowel and consonant sounds missing in Acoli and the Acoli stress patterns on the learners’ articulation of the Received Pronunciation (RP) of English in primary schools, Gulu District. This was effected by examining the teaching methods used by the teachers of English and the instructional materials they used to achieve intelligible articulation of RP. The study employed a cross-sectional survey research design; it used qualitative and quantitative approaches complementarily. The methods used were questionnaires, observations, interviews and oral tests. Findings from the questionnaires, observations, interviews indicate that there is inappropriate use of methods of teaching RP. There is very limited use of instructional materials and also minimum emphasis on the teaching of listening and speaking skills. In conclusion, the study revealed that the English vowel and consonant sounds missing in Acoli and the Acoli stress patterns could not enhance the articulation of RP by Acoli learners. It was recommended that teachers of English need to be provided with a variety of authentic instructional materials that can be used to promote the teaching of RP, the teachers also need to be given refresher courses occasionally to update them on the appropriate methods of teaching RP and that, teacher education programme put much emphasis on the listening and speaking skills of English language.