Phonological Analysis of Errors in the Realization of Consonant Cluster System Encountered by Koro Ashe ESL Learners

This paper analyzes phonological errors in the realization of English consonant clusters system by Koro Ashe ESL learners with the hope of improving their spoken aspect of English. The population of this study consists of Eighty (80) Koro Ashe ESL learners of English in Nasarawa State University Keffi Nigeria. Out of this population, fifty (50) were randomly selected to carry out the investigation. The instrument used in collecting data for this investigation was Oral Production Test (OPT), a pronunciation test that assessed participants’ CCs pronunciations. The theoretical framework used in this paper was Error Analysis Theory (EA). The instrument employed to analyze the data was simple percentage. The result of the findings showed that most Koro Ashe learners of English do encounter CCs pronunciation difficulties in both the onset and coda positions. However, most errors occurred in the coda position, especially, the three to four CCs patterns (-CCC –CCCC) and the CCs with the dental fricative/stop either at the onset or the final position.it was also discovered that, the subjects used strategies such as epenthesis, deletion, substitution, or some combination thereof to simplify their CCs realization. It was recommended that, while teaching consonant clusters to Koro Ashe learners of English emphasis should be on three to four CCs patterns (-CCC –CCCC) and CCs with the dental fricative/stop either at the onset or the final positions. Also, the spoken aspect of English should be taught earlier in kindergarten or primary school to eliminate the challenges that mostly affect adult learners of English.