CAUSES OF THE PROBLEMS OF ENGLISH INFLECTIONALMORPHEMES ON THE WRITTEN LANGUAGE OF IGBO SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS

Abstract

Second  language  learners  of English  find  it difficult  to  use  the  inflectional  morphemes properly when writing. The difficulties in using the morphemes arise because of the structural differences between the English language and the mother tongue of the learners. This study explores and highlights the causes of the problems faced by Igbo  learners of English as a second language in using the morphemes.  The study reveals  that the Igbo language lacks inflectional morphemes to show pluralization, genitive case, and third person singular present tense. The only inflectional morpheme the Igbo language possesses is past tense marking in verbs which is only marked following regular patterning. Therefore, the disparity between the English language and the Igbo language is found to be the cause of the problems in using the morphemes. Through the findings in this work, recommendations were given to curriculum planners, teachers and learners to help minimise the problems.

Chapter One

1.1      Background to the Study

A second language (L2) is a language next in rank to a bilingual person. In Nigeria, the English language is a second language to most people. In addition to the mother tongue (MT) which most Nigerians acquire as children, English ranks second in the Nigerian context. It is the functional  language  used  for wider  communication  by most  Nigerians  –  literate  and illiterate  alike.  This is as a result  of the British  invasion on  Nigeria.  However,  after  the ousting of the British government, the language remained  partly because of the prestige it gained during the colonial rule, and partly because  Nigeria is made up of so many ethnic groups with different languages. These ethnic groups were always in contact with one another

– either through trade or migration, and, of course, they needed a general language in which to communicate with one another and the English language became the best choice since it was  a  common  and  general  language  to  serve  as  Communication  Bridge  between  the indigenous languages.

However, since the language is not indigenous to Nigeria, and it is not acquired  or learned in a natural setting, it has been greatly influenced by the MTs of the different ethnic groups using it as L2 in Nigeria. Most of these influences are negative, because, many times they have hindered communication and intelligibility. It is worthy to note here that English has become a global language.  Therefore,  if Nigerians must use  English, it has to be the English that is intelligible and acceptable to all for communication to be effective. Mother tongue (MT) influence has been noted to be a major cause of the problems associated with using the language in Nigeria (Sam  Onuigbo  and Eyisi “English Language…”  103; Femi Akindele and Adegbite “The Sociology…” 69). This is because most Nigerian users of the English language tend to structure the language to fit into the frame of their MTs. The act has given rise to errors because of the structural differences between the two languages. Also, the

two languages in question (English and L1) are not closely related. They belong to different language families. Therefore, transferring the features of one into another are bound to create errors. Also, the learners in trying to reconcile the features of the two languages in contact, develop  an inter-language  – a kind of intermediate  language  developed  by L2 learners – which they use to express themselves in a language foreign to them.

Another problem faced by the learners is the irregularity and inconsistency which mark the English grammatical rules. Sam Onuigbo and J. Eyisi summarise the above thus:

The … English  in Nigeria  and in any second  language  situation  is affected  by two  important  factors.  The first  factor which  is a  very strong one derives     from the interference from the native languages and  other  languages  in  contact.  The  second  one,  which  is  equally crucial results from the inherent irregularities within the structure of the second language itself. (103)

No English rule is followed blindly to the end because each rule is marked with exceptions. The learners, who are learning English in a formal setting – classroom – are made aware of the rules of the language which they are expected to master. However, the mastering of the rules is not properly internalized by the learners who always get confused on where and when to apply the rules. The inflectional morphemes on which this study is based upon pose usage problems to learners.

Inflectional morphemes which are one of the two types of bound morphemes in the English language serve as grammatical markers that indicate tense, number, possession and comparison. According to George Yule (The Study… 77), the inflectional morphemes are not used to create new words in the English language. They only perform grammatical functions in words. In other words, they do not change the grammatical category of the word they are attached to. They are used to show plurality and the genitive case (ownership) in nouns, tense

formation  and  the  –s form  of the  3rd  person  singular  present  tense  in  verbs,  etc.,  and comparative and superlative comparison in adjectives. The English inflectional morphemes are eight in number. This is exemplified below:

“Let me tell you about Jim’s two little sisters. One likes to have fun and is always laughing. The other liked to study and has always taken things seriously. One is the loudest person in the house and the other is quieter than a mouse” (Yule 77). The morphemes in the above extract are in bold letters.  The English inflectional morphemes may look simple and easy to learn, but they have been identified as problematic to learners of English as a second language. This assertion is being supported by Benson O. A. Oluikpe (81), George Yule (79), David Jowitt (116), Sam Onuigbo (78), Femi Akindele and Wale Adegbite (143-144), and L. C. Ogenyi (666). For example, the regular rules for forming plural in the English language is by adding -s, or -es to the stem. Examples include:

boy …… boys girl …… girls bush …… bushes tax …… taxes study…… studies lady…… ladies thief…… thieves half…… halves

The above rule does not apply to the irregular nouns – man, child, sheep, mouse, teeth, etc. This gets the learners confused. Again, an -s added to verbs shows singularity  instead of plurality which the learners may be made aware of when they are taught the plural formation in nouns. Again, the singularity which the –s indicates in verbs is equally confusing to the

learners as it is only applicable to the grammatical person in the third person singular and not to the first person singular I. Examples:

Obi wants some oranges. She goes home always.

*I wants some oranges.

*I goes home always. (The asterisk shows ungrammatical expression). The –s which is applied  to nouns to  show  plurality and  to  verbs  to  show  singularity  in the  third  person singular poses pronunciation problem as it is realized with different allomorphs of the sound depending on the phonetic environment in which it appears. Under different contexts, the –s can be pronounced as follows:

-s              [s] [z]

[iz]

Noun	Verb
cats /kæts/	wants /wɔnts/
boys /bɔiz/	buys /baiz/
watches /wɔt∫iz/	washes /wɔ∫iz/

These  different  pronunciations  or  sound  realizations  often  get  learners  confused.  (Laz

Chinedu Ogenyi & Emeka Joseph Otagburuagu “Teaching/Learning…” 8)

Also, the use of the past tense marker -ed is equally inhibiting to the learners who are often confused about when and where to apply the marker as its application is not spared of the inconsistency problem of which the English language  is fraught with (L.  C. Ogenyi “The Nature…”666). The phenomenon is exemplified thus:

dance …… danced

wave …… waved start …… started

*cut …… cutted

*hurt …… hurted (The asterisk shows ungrammatical expression).

What is the rationale behind using cut and hurt as the past tense of cut and hurt respectively? To this, the ESL learners are left with no answer except that they are exceptions to the rule. The –ed is also realized with different allomorphs depending on its phonetic environment.

-ed                  [t] [d]

[id]

Present tense	Past tense
Dance	danced /dænst/
Wave	waved /weivd/
Start	started /sta:tid/

These and others are problematic to the ESL learners. The learners, in this confused state, overgeneralize the rules, misuse, or omit the markers where they should be applied.

From  the  above,  it  is observed  that  the  difficulties  learners  experience  in  using inflectional morphemes may arise as a result of the irregularities and  inconsistencies in the word formation rules which are common with English words (Ogenyi “The Nature…”667). According  to  Femi  Akindele  and  Wale  Adegbite  (143),  problems  arise  if  the  learners overgeneralize rules without being aware of the exceptions. Thus, the structure of the English words is difficult to master, and ignorance of the rules governing the syntax of the English language poses difficulty to learners. This is so because inflection is relevant to syntax for it

is defined by the requirements of the syntactic rules of the English language “because English has grammatical rules that require the verbs in a sentence to appear in an inflectional form that matches the person and number of the subject. In other words,  the syntactic rules of English care about the difference between dog and dogs because the choice between these two forms determines which form of the verb is to be used” (Morphology Wikipedia).

Difficulty  in the use of the  inflectional  morphemes  may also  arise as a result  of mother tongue (MT) interference.  That is the introduction of items from the learners’ mother tongue into the target language. The difference between the learners’ mother tongue and the target language could be a source of problem to the second language learners in the use of the inflectional morphemes because most languages do not have inflectional morphemes to show plurality, past tense and/or comparison and possession. For example, the Igbo language has no inflectional maker to show plurality. And the presence or absence of the inflectional suffix of the past tense marker does not really affect the intended meaning in the language (E. Nolue Emenanjo “Elements of…” 97). This fact is illustrated below:

O je —– He went.

O jere —– He went.

Again, inflectional rules may differ from one language to another. Thus, learning a language in a second language situation poses a lot of difficulty to the learners. This is so because the learners have already mastered the features of their first language before they embarked on the learning of the second language. As a result of this, they draw inference from their first language (mother tongue) while trying to learn their target  language. Problems arise if the features of the learners’ MTs differ from that of their target language. The differences in the codes  of  the  two  languages  will  hamper  the  learners  use  of  the  target  language  (TL), especially if they are learning the target language (TL) in an artificial setting where they do not  have  adequate  exposure  to  the  linguistic  data  of  the  target  language  (Akindele  and

Adegbite 139). So, because the second language learners of the English language are learning the language against the background of their mother tongues (MTs) and also in an artificial setting, they are bound to commit errors in using the inflectional morphemes. Difficulty may also arise as a result of the learners’ inter-language which builds from the learners’ MTs. An inter-language,  according  to  David  Jowitt  (52),  can  be  regarded  as  the  production  of psycholinguistic interaction between two linguistic systems, those of the learners’ MTs and their TL. An inter-language  arises because the learners who  are not passive  learners,  but active ones, in trying to address their daily needs, may make false hypothesis in using the target language (Onuigbo qtd in E. J. Otagburuagu, L. C. Ogenyi, & P. A. Ezema “Language Teaching/Learning…” 130) thereby committing errors.

In the past, researchers have looked into the problems associated with the acquisition of the inflectional morphemes of English (A. T. Akande 2003; Martina Penke 2012; & Nan Jiang 2004). There studies were predicted on the variations common with languages as no two languages are entirely similar and partly because of the inconsistencies and irregularities which are common with the target language (English in this case). However, to the best of my knowledge,  they only investigated  the  problem(s)  associated  with  the  acquisition  of  the inflectional morphemes. It has been noted by Jiang (603) and Stephanie Solt, et al (No Pag) that second language learners even after attaining some level of proficiency in the English language still find it difficult to use the inflectional morphemes consistently in speech and writing. They tend to omit, misuse or abuse the inflectional morphemes even though they have the  knowledge of them. In other words, they could not produce them in speech and writing with the near native proficiency. The cause of this problem(s) has been attributed to the irregularities and inconsistencies with which the English language is fraught with (L. C. Ogenyi “The Nature…” 667).

In this present study, the researcher not only intends to examine the cause(s) of the problem in terms of the irregularities and inconsistencies  in the English language,  but she also intends to assess the learners’ mother tongue (MT) and inter-language to determine the extent  of their  being the major  causes  of the errors committed  in  using  the  inflectional morphemes of English by second language learners. The researcher intends to carry out this investigation  on  the  mother  tongue  because  the  second  language  learners  have  already internalized the rules of their MTs before learning their target language (TL), and some of these rules are totally different from those of the TL. Thus, when the learners try to apply the rules of their first language (L1) in producing their second language (L2), errors are bound to occur.  Lado’s   words,   according   to  Otagburuagu,   lend   credence   to  this   view,   thus: “Individuals tend to transfer the forms and meanings and the distributions… of their native language and culture to the foreign language and culture both productively when attempting to  speak  the  language…  and  receptively  when  attempting  to  grasp  and  understand  the language…as practised by the native” (“Diagnostic Tools…”6).

Similarly, the learners in trying to hypothesize on the rules of the new language may make wrong guesses, because of the opposing differences in the rules of their L1  and L2, which become fossilized  in the learners’  inter-language.  Thus, Sam Onuigbo  and J. Eyisi (103)  opine:  “The  development  and  growth  of  English  in  West  Africa  with  particular reference to Nigeria is fraught with many linguistic problems resulting  from the structural differences between the native language and the target language.”

Hence, the errors committed by the second language learners can be intra-lingual or inter-lingual (Oller, et al qtd. in Onuigbo & Eyisi “English Language…” 88; Otagburuagu & Ogenyi “Teaching/Learning…”  7). Since errors could emanate from  both intra-lingual and inter-lingual sources, the focus of this research is to find out whether the learners’ MTs and

inter-language are the possible causes of the problem(s) encountered in using the inflectional morphemes in speech (spoken language) and writing (written language).

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Over the years, second language learners have been observed to experience some difficulties in  using  the  inflectional   morphemes   both  in  writing  and  speech.   These  difficulties experienced  by the  learners  have  caused  problems  to  them.  The  problems  faced  by the learners  could  be  in  the  form  of  omission,  wrong  addition,  pronunciation,  misuse,  and deletion  of  the  inflectional  morphemes,  especially  where  consonant  clusters  are  present. These  lapses  have given rise to ungrammatical  expressions  in the speech and writing of second language learners of the English language. It has been noted in the background of this study  that  the  differences  between  the  learners’  first  languages  (L1s)  and  their  second language (L2) could be a major cause of the problem(s) as the learners’ L1s may hinder them from using the inflectional morphemes. Again, the wrong hypotheses made by the learners about the rules of their  L2 may also hinder them from using the inflectional morphemes appropriately.  Thus,  the researcher seeks to investigate the causes of the problems the L2 learners experience in using the inflectional morphemes. The problems may be surmounted if the causes are identified.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

This research is undertaken to explore and highlight the various ways in which inflectional morphemes are neglected and abused. Specifically, the objectives of the study are to:

i.   identify the errors committed by the learners of English in the use of the inflectional morphemes;

ii.  find out the reasons behind the errors being committed;

iii. determine the impact of these errors on the performance of the learners; and

iv.  profer  solutions  and  make  suggestions  on ways  of improving  the learners  use  of inflectional morphemes.

1.4 Significance of the Study

Identifying the causes of the problems inflectional morphemes pose to second language learners  will help to improve proficiency in the teaching and learning of  the English language in L2 environment such as Nigeria. This will bring to light the causes of the difficulties faced by the second language learners in using the  inflectional morphemes. The significance of this study is that it will be of use to teachers and learners of English, curriculum planners and researchers in the field of language teaching and learning. It will help teachers to note and focus attention on the problems faced by the learners in using the inflectional morphemes and the causes of the problems. It will also help curriculum planners to include and give adequate attention to morphemes when planning language curriculum. It will again open the door for researchers to research more on the problem areas to improve the performance of the learners.

1.5 Scope of the Study

This research is limited to investigating the causes of the errors committed by senior secondary school students in the use of inflectional morphemes.  The  research focuses only on the causes of the errors committed in the use of the regular plural and genitive markers in nouns, the past tense marker in regular verbs, and  the –s form of the third person singular present.

The analysis in this research will be carried out only in the written language of the learners. However, the researcher may, where necessary, make reference to the  spoken

language of the second language learners of the English language. The population of the study will be drawn only from learners of English whose L1 is Igbo.

1.6 Research Questions

This study will address the following research questions:

1     To what extent  do inflectional  morphemes  cause  problem  to the second  language learners of English?

2     To what extent does mother  tongue interference  hinder the use of the  inflectional morphemes?

3   To what extent does difficulty in the use of the inflectional morphemes affect learners’

performance?

1.7 Limitations to the Study

The researcher in the course of carrying out this research work does not include the past tense morpheme of the irregular verbs, the present and past participle morphemes, and the comparative  and the superlative  morphemes  of adjectives.  The  study is only conducted on four of the morphemes – plural and genitive morphemes in nouns, the past tense morpheme in regular verbs and the third person singular present tense morpheme in verbs.  The study is not  conducted  on all the  native  languages  of Nigeria.  It is only conducted on the written language of  second  language learners of English, who are of Igbo origin. The study is only  carried  out on senior secondary schools within Enugu metropolis and not outside  it.  The study does not include primary schools and tertiary institutions within the area.

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