Observed Intonational Patterns Among Akwa Ibom – English Bilinguals: The Need for Peagogical Introspection by Ubong E. Josiah & Susana M. Akpan

ABSTRACT
Studies on English intonation patterns in L2 situations, in most cases, do not seem to be as simple and straight-forward as it would occur in an L1 experiment. It is rather more complex in the former (cf Jowitt, 2000), thus the need for an inward (introspective) evaluation of the subject vis-a-vis L2 speakers. This study is aimed at pointing out specific, corpus—based occurrences of observed intonation patterns in recorded utterances among Akwa Ibom-English bilinguals. Adopting the metrical theory for its theoretical thrust, the authors examined the performance of some acrolectal Akwa Ibom—English users/’learners within Ugo metropolis in realising intonation. Utterances from sixty (60) respondents of variety three speakers among the bilinguals who were randomly selected from the three major ethnic groups in Akwa Ibom State were analysed. The paper adopted excerpts from Quirk and Greenbaum. (1973) and Eka (1996) as models to exemplify the control for the study. The results revealed that the ability to realize the correct intonation depended on the subjects level of education and academic discipline as well as interference from speaker’s mother-tongue. The authors conclude that inappropriate intonation generally result in ineffective communication and sometimes misunderstanding between. interlocutors. Based on the findings, the study proffers practical solutions to the problems observed among the subjects used for the study, and then suggest that, in designing future academic curricula for the spoken
English, emphasis should be placed on the production of correct intonational patterns at all levels of education. They also prescribe the adoption of internet softwares like Project Modelino (the English Phonetic Transcription Converter) for proactive pedagogical purposes.