An Acoustic Analysis of Six English Monophthongs Produced by Undergraduate Cameroonian ESL Learners

Abstract

This study aims at studying the duration and the formants of the monophthongs /i/, /ɪ/, /a/, /æ/, /ɔ/ and /ɒ/ in the production of 19 undergraduate Cameroonian ESL (CamESL) students. The sounds put in hvd environment were read by the students in a calm environment, recorded and analysed using PRAAT version 6.1.16. The analysis of duration revealed that the students clearly distinguished between long and short vowels, but the study of the formants of the sounds indicated that no major distinction was made between the sound pairs, therefore resulting in the partial merger. The plot of the vowels also revealed a significant within-gender dispersion. It can therefore be concluded that CamESL learners’ productions were characterised by partial merger, inaccurate tongue advancement and within-gender dispersion.