THE /H/ PHENOMENON AND THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE SPOKEN COMMUNICATION OF STUDENTS OF ADEKUNLE AJASIN UNIVERSITY, AKUNGBA-AKOKO, ONDO STATE

This research explored why the Yoruba speakers of the English language have difficulty in pronouncing word-initial glottal fricative in English. /h/ dropping and /h/ insertion is not expected as the Yoruba language supposedly have the glottal fricative in its sound inventory. The study gave a brief introduction to Yoruba phonetics, a brief history about the contact between English and Yoruba language, and what other researchers have written about the /h/ dropping and insertion phenomenon. The reasearch method used for this study is qualitative and verbal, The study employed a descriptive research design, which is suitable for providing a thorough description and analysis of the topic. The population includes all the Yoruba-English speaking students present in Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba-Akoko as the area of investigation due to its relevance in understanding the specific context and experiences of English-Yoruba speaking students in spoken communication. This selection allows for a targeted examination of the phenomenon within a specific educational setting. Data are collected from two sources: Primary and Secondary Sources, Primary data are divided from interviews conducted with English-Yoruba speaking students at Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba-Akoko. According to findings, the Yoruba glottal sound has three types of realizations at the word-initial position. It is realised as a glottal stop, and at other times, as a lenis or weakened glottal fricative or a zero realization. In conclusion that can be inferred from the summary and research result is that the Yoruba glottal sound is unique and there is evidence of transfer of this uniqueness from Yoruba to the English language, thus causing the /h/ dropping and insertion. Its is recommended that by developing awareness and implementing consistent practice, learners can gradually refine their pronunciation and achieve greater accuracy in using the “h” sound in English word.