The Phonological Analysis of French Vowels as Produced by Igbo-Speaking Learners in Anambra State

Igbo phonology, characterised by its tonal system, syllable structure, and vowel inventory, creates specific phonological transfer effects when Igbo speakers acquire French, yet systematic phonological analysis of French vowel production errors by Igbo-speaking learners has received limited scholarly attention in the published literature. This study analyses the production of French oral vowels by Igbo-speaking learners at three secondary schools in Anambra State, using acoustic and perceptual methods to characterise phonological deviation from standard French. A corpus of 90 recorded French vowel production samples was collected from 30 learner volunteers, with phonological analysis conducted using Praat acoustic software. Error frequency and type were classified using a contrastive analysis framework comparing French and Igbo vowel systems. Results indicate systematic confusion of the front rounded vowels /y/, /oe/, and /o/, which have no phonological equivalents in Igbo, with their nearest Igbo counterparts. Nasal vowel production showed marked devocalisation and nasalisation pattern transfer from Igbo tonal contrasts. Vowel length distinctions required in certain French minimal pairs were largely absent from learner productions. These errors were significantly more pronounced in learners with less than three years of French study. The study provides a detailed error taxonomy that can inform phonological instruction design for Igbo-speaking French learners and recommends the development of targeted phonetic awareness exercises for use by French teachers in Anambra State secondary schools. Keywords: French vowels, phonological analysis, Igbo speakers, Anambra State, contrastive analysis