THE HAUSA SPEAKER AND THE ENGLISH SYLLABLE: ISSUES AT STAKE

One particular phonological area that without any doubt creates a seemingly insurmountable hurdle for the average Hausa learner of English is how to unravel the complexity of the English syllable. The intention of this paper therefore is to explain why the syllable poses a great learning challenge to the average Hausa speaker of English .The paper examines the conceptualization of the syllable as a phonological construct which led to a comparison of Hausa and English syllable structures with a view to explaining some of the empirical issues that impede the speaker's smooth realization of English syllable especially where consonant clusters are concerned. The paper concludes with some suggestions on how best to find solutions to the teaching and learning problems.