The Social Sciences

Errors of Segemental Phonemes in the Spoken English of Nigerian Television Newscasters

S.A. Aladeyomi and A.K. Adetunde

Abstract: This study studies the errors related to segmental phonemes in the spoken English of television newscasters in Nigeria. It analyses the errors in terms of the newscasters` inadequate exposure to the rules of the English language. Sixty Nigerian television newscasters were selected from both the state and federal owned television stations and their newscasts were tape-recorded. The fact that oral English is now being examined in the senior secondary school, without the attendant necessity to find a local model to emulate, informs, the present study. The study submits that the newscasters commit errors such as substituting /s/ for /z/, /d/ for /t/, /ed/ for /id/, /e/ for / /, // for / /, //for //, //for //, // for//. These errors expose the inadequacies of the newscasters as they show a wide gap between Standard English and Nigerian English, a situation that makes it difficult to accept their performance as models.