Mother Tongue Interference in the English Pronunciation of Hausa Speakers in Zamfara State

This study investigates mother tongue interference in the English pronunciation of Hausa first-language speakers in Zamfara State, North West Nigeria. The phonological mismatch between Hausa and English has been documented in broad terms in the Nigerian EFL literature, yet detailed phonetic analysis of the specific interference patterns among learners in the North West zone remains limited. The study adopts a contrastive analysis approach within the theoretical framework of Error Analysis. Data were collected from 100 secondary school students in Gusau and Kaura Namoda through reading aloud tasks using a standardised phoneme elicitation passage. The speech samples were recorded and phonetically transcribed using the International Phonetic Alphabet, then compared against Standard British English targets. The analysis identifies patterns of vowel reduction, consonant substitution, and syllable restructuring attributable to Hausa phonological constraints, including the absence of English front rounded vowels and the preference for open syllable structure. Findings reveal that vowel interference is more pervasive and persistent than consonant interference, particularly in unstressed syllables, while dental fricatives are systematically replaced by alveolar stops across the sample. The study recommends targeted phonological instruction and the use of contrastive analysis in English language teacher training programmes in Zamfara State. Keywords: mother tongue interference, English pronunciation, Hausa, contrastive analysis, Zamfara State.