ABSTRACT

This study examined the influence of Mother Tongue on the Spoken English of Television correspondent reporters: implication for SS students with a view to determine whether correspondent reporters’ use of English vowels, consonants and stress pattern are influenced by their mother tongue and also to see the implication on students. Consequently, three research questions were raised as follows: In what areas does mother tongue influence the use of vowel sounds of television correspondent reporters? What is the influence of mother tongue on the use of consonant sounds of television correspondent reporters? What is the influence of mother tongue on the use of stress pattern of television correspondent reporters? To determine these, live report of two correspondent reporters from Desmims International Television (DITV) and Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Kaduna were recorded and played back. Errors detected were grouped according to whether they are Substitution, Epenthesis, Under-differential or Re-interpretation errors. Points at which the mother tongue phonic features conflicted with that of English language were presented side by side. A basic assumption was raised based on the general belief of people on the place of correspondent reporters as regards proper use of the English language segmental and supra-segmental features. The overall study revealed that the television correspondent reporters committed errors when they pronounced vowel sounds, consonants in some English words and also they stress every syllable of bisyllabic and polysyllabic words of English language. Based on these findings, it is recommended that in-house routine intensive training be organized for reporters on the job in order to train them before any television report. Similarly, well trained English language graduates with good command of language should be employed as reporters in order to avert unwarranted errors where the general public would be misled on the pronunciation of words.
 
 
CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1               Background to the Study
It is a fact that language remains the medium of communication in any society. Nigeria, as a multilingual society, has adopted English Language as its lingua franca to enable its over 450 ethnic groups to mutually communicate. This suggests why Bamgbose (1971) asserts that of all heritage left in Nigeria by the British colonial administration, probably none is more than English in value and importance. It is now the language of government, business, education literature, mass media….
Despite the importance attached to English Language in Nigeria’s educational sector which trains correspondent reporters, there has been so much worry and concern over the problem of errors in the use of English of correspondents, particularly the spoken aspect of the English Language, which, interestingly, is the obvious tool that broadcasters use to communicate to the masses. Okpara (2001:120) opines that the central problem of errors committed by second languages users is in the concept of interference; which is the trace left by someone’s native language, mother tongue (MT) upon the foreign language (FL) he or she has acquired (Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, Svartvik, 1972). This follows that some Nigerian broadcasters are highly likely to be haunted by the problem of mother tongue interference. However, it should be assumed that this problem is tackled in-house before such a broadcaster is allowed to face the world on television. They should be allowed to conquer their intrusion before they come on air.
The last sentence, ideally, should be what is expected but scholars argued it is rather absurd to see trained correspondent reporters, some, senior correspondent reporters committing serious errors as a…….