The perception of English vowels by Sesotho speakers of English as a second language

Abstract

The current study investigated how Sesotho speakers of English as a second language perceived English vowel sounds. It also investigated how first language (Sesotho) interfered in the perception of English vowels and the effects of failure to perceive the vowels correctly. The study followed a quantitative approach because the data and it analysis was in numerical form. The population was the high school learners of Nyakosoba Harmony High School and Moruthane A.M.E High School. The study opted for stratified random sampling strategy because the population of interest was the grade 8 and 9 learners. The study sampled 53 participants who were boys and girl ages between 13 and 17. A native English speaker’s voice was used to investigate how L2 speakers perceive English vowels uttered with a native English accent. This study discovered that Sesotho speakers have a problem of perceiving English vowels because they perceived various vowel sounds for each vowel sound uttered. In some cases, they perceived consonant sounds in place of vowel sounds. The study also found out that learners’ L1 interferes with the perception of English vowel sounds. Lastly, it revealed the effects of perceiving the uttered vowel sounds incorrectly