On Allophones: Lecturers’ and Students’ Use of the [Ði] and the [Ð?]

The paper presents an examination of both teachers and students use of appropriate allophones in different environment pronunciation among lecturers and students of English language and related courses. The study is premised on the fact that poor quality of spoken English has been observed among graduates of English in polytechnics within and outside Nigeria. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methodology to assess and determine the performances of lecturers and students in selected institutions in Nigeria and Uganda. A reading exercise was administered on the research subjects, and the results showed some lecturers and students hardly differentiated the appropriate pronunciation of [ði] from [ðə] in their respective environments with a mean percentage of 48%. In fact, hardly were they able to appropriately apply [ðə] such in reading exercise. The study recommended that lecturers of English should ensure they pay due attention allophones in their spoken English. Also, they should ensure that they emphasised allophones when teaching oral English in tertiary institutions. It was further suggested that oral drills should be incorporated into the curriculum of tertiary institutions.