Addressing the

pronunciation difficulty
experienced by a
Jamaican ESL learner as
a result of the Creole
phonological depletion of
the letter H sound
A Case Study

Name: Mickcole Powell CH20118522

Institution: Church Teachers College: Mandeville
Course: Teaching English as a Second Language

Lecturer: Mrs. T. McMasters Isaacs

Abstract
There are many Jamaican students who have difficulty reading and speaking in English as a
means of communicating with English speakers because of an interference with the Creole
Language which results in some English words being mispronounced because of an additional
insertion or depletion of specific letters; whether consciously or unconsciously. This may result
in information being poorly interpreted and often leads to confusion. This Case study therefore
seeks to address the pronunciation difficulty experienced by a Jamaican student through the use
of meaningful strategies that will seek to allow him to understand and appreciate the
phonological differences between the two languages; Jamaican Creole and the English Language

Table of Content

1) Introduction to Research
i. Purpose of study
ii. Significance of study..
iii. Description of case/ Introduction.
iv. Research Questions
v. Definition of terms
2) Review of Literature

3) Research Design
i. Method
ii. Methodology
iii. Data collection instrument
iv. Sample and Procedure ..
v. Findings & Data Analysis &
Conclusion.
vi. Recommendation..
4) References .
5) Appendix .

Purpose of Study
The pronunciation difficulties experienced by Jamaican ESL students as a result of the
interference of the L1; the Jamaican Creole is a critical topic to study as the Jamaican Creole is
the main language or everyday language of the Jamaican people whilst English is used for
specific and unusual everyday life contexts such as formal settings, interviews, talkshows
amongst others. This study therefore aims to investigate the cause of this difficulty and to use
various strategies that will decrease this issue.

Significance of Study
Undoubtedly, this study is significant has it will seek to bring to the fore some of the causes of
this problem and determine which strategies will be most effective in overcoming it. This will
surely be a good reference for Teachers of English who are having difficulty teaching Jamaican
students how to pronounce English words as a result of the depletion of the letter H sounds and
other sounds as well. The strategies that will be used are practical and can be adjusted to meet the
learning styles or needs of other students. This case study also has the potential to strengthen the
language policy by highlighting the importance of students being knowledgeable about the
syntactic features; similarities and differences, of the L1 and the L2.

Description of Case Study

Newfoundland Education (2009) effectively defines an ESL learner as a student whose

primary language or languages of the home, is other than English and would require additional
English language support to develop reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. In relation
to the Jamaican context, an ESL learner then is a Jamaican student who is acquiring English as a
second language since the Jamaican Creole would ultimately be his or her first language; the
language spoken at home or during daily social interactions. Undoubtedly, such the acquisition
of a second language would pose several challenges such as vocabulary, pronunciation, spelling,
making an effort to consciously adapt the grammatical structures and differences of the L2
(second language).
However as it relates to the Jamaican ESL, the English Language would not largely be a
new language to be understood as they are exposed to it on a regular basis through several
mediums: formal functions, news, music, poetry, reports, talk shows and several other forums. In
addition, the L1; Creole was derived from several other languages with the English Language
being one of them. Yet, there are several common challenges that exist with the Jamaican ESL
despite the fact that students are informally and formally exposed to the language. One such
issue is the pronunciation of distinctive English words because of the interference of the
Jamaican Creole.
The purpose of this case study is therefore to assess a student to overcome this challenge
through the use of meaningful strategies that were employed by notable linguists and other
experts or theorists in the field of Language acquisition. The student selected for this case study
is Jammi McIntosh (true name has been disclosed for ethical reasons) who is 13years of age and
attends Mile Gully High School. She resides in Mandeville with his parents, two brothers and

two sisters. She revealed that of all the subjects done in school, Mathematics was her favourite
and had received high grades in this subject area. In giving a description of herself and her
involvement in school, she revealed that she is a beautiful young lady, athletic; enjoys playing
football, hardworking and sometimes shy when asked to address the school during devotional
exercises. Also, she is a member of the 4H club at her school
As it relates to English, she was quick to reveal that she does not like reading because she
has no interest in it whatsoever. Upon giving him an English passage to briefly read aloud, I
observed that she was slow paced reader and skipped over words that proved difficult to
pronounce. In addition, English words such as Had were pronounced as add, eggs as
Heggs, The as Di, and yard as yaad.
.

Research Questions

1. Why are some of the English words that are mispronounced as a result of the
interference?
2. What methods or strategies would help the ESL learner overcome the identified
challenge?

Definition of Terms
ESL- English as a Second Language- An individual who is learning English as another language
is termed an ESL leaner

L1- This is the first language of an individual; native tongue

L2- This is a second language of an individual

Jamaican Creole the main language used in Jamaica; usually in informal settings. Its roots
origins from a combination of French, Spanish, English and African. It was created during the
period of slavery by slaves as a means of communication.

Jamaican Standard English - is a variety of English spoken in Jamaica. It resembles parts of

both British English and American English dialects, along with many aspects of Irish intonation.
Typically, it uses the same spellings as found in British English.

Literature Review
Who is the Jamaican ESL?
Pollard (1993) asserts that:
Jamaicans speak an English- related language. Yet when we use it speakers of internationally
acceptable versions (dialects) of English, do not understand us. On the other hand, Standard
Jamaican English (SJE) which is the official language of Jamaica, the language used in formal
situations, is understood by the international community of speakers of English.
The English- related language or the Jamaican Creole is the first language (L1) of the
majority of Jamaicans since it is frequently used language in homes and during informal social
interaction. However, in formal settings such as political discussions, formal meetings, debates,
classroom settings, public speeches or radio broadcasts, there is a more steady focus on the use
of English Language and there is a general acceptance of code switching where necessary. Yet,
there are some Jamaicans who are of the view that Jamaicas first language is actually the
Jamaican Standard English. Generally this group is usually comprised of individuals who were
born into the upper class (minority) and thus availed to more prestige lifestyle, language and
status other than the lower class (the mass). These concepts are reflective of the social class
stratification will origins from the historical and cultural background of Jamaica. Thus to
determine what is the first language of Jamaica, is reflective of a social group.
However, the majority of students received by most schools in Jamaica, from various
levels of education, frequently speak Creole. Therefore it can be said that the L1 for the majority
of Jamaicans; who are usually from the lower class or middle class, is the Jamaican Creole.
Therefore, a Jamaican ESL is a student who, though exposed listening to English through several
mediums; news reports, radio, talk shows and though has the ability to understand and speak

English, are being taught the skills and structures that make up the English Language; thereby
will seek to refine or correct what they have learnt in relation to English, in a formal instructional
setting. Thus, they will acquire another language other than the Jamaican Creole.

What is the Problem that the ESL learner has?

This case study has identified several English words that are
pronounced as Jamaican words because of omission or addition of letters.
However, the focus will be on one of these pronunciation issues; the
omission or insertion of the sound of the letter H. In an article entitled
Linguistic Features of Jamaican Creole published CAPE- Communication
Studies (2011):
Jamaican Creole does not pronounce the 'h' sound at the beginning of English words.
Therefore English 'hour' becomes 'our'. Similarly there is the tendency to hyper-correct and
pronounce the 'h' sound at the beginning of words that do not require it, therefore English 'egg'
becomes 'hegg' and 'exam' becomes 'hexam' and so on.
Here we can recognize this is a sensitive problem in Jamaican speech since it may send
wrong messages to others; a true barrier to communication.

What are the appropriate strategies/ approaches/theories that can be used to overcome this
challenge?
Of the language and learning strategies and approaches, the comparative analysis and the audio
lingual approach were the most appropriate in relation to the selected ESL learner.

The Contrastive Analysis

Frie (1945) asserts that in teaching a second language: the most efficient materials are
those that are based upon a scientific description of the language to be learned, carefully
compared with a parallel description of the native language of the learner. (p. 9) More
recently, in a book edited by Valdman, entitled Trends in Language Teaching (1966),
Banathy, Trager and Waddle state the strong version of the contrastive analysis hypothesis as
follows:
. . . the change that has to take place in the language behavior of a foreign language
student can be equated with differences between the structure of the student's native
language and culture and that of the target language and culture. The task of the linguist, the
cultural anthropologist, and the sociologist is to identify these differences. The task of the
writer of a foreign language teaching program is- (4) to develop materials which will be
based on a statement of these differences; the task of the foreign language teacher is to be
aware of these differences and to be prepared to teach them; the task of the student is to
learn them. (p13 37)
All three statements clearly pinpoints the concept of comparing the system of one
language in terms of phonological structure and lexicon as well as grammar to that of a second
language in order to be better able to understand the difficulties that may be experienced during
the learning of that Language. As it relates to this case study, this language approach is
significant and appropriate as one of the methods of helping the students in overcoming his

pronunciation of English words that begin with the letter H by understanding the differences in
the h phonological structures of both Jamaican Creole and English Language.
According to Pollard (1993) We have words in Jamaican Creole pronunciation causes
them to sound exactly like words whose English meaning is quite different from theirs. You may
read about these as false homophones [like] words affected by the addition or the omission of
the sound of the letter H. She went even further to acknowledge that this is a big problem in
Jamaican speech. Part of the reason is that unlike the English language, the Jamaican Creole
does not include an H pronunciation. Thus, this is the root of the A list of the most commonly
confused English words that were pronounced through the depletion of the letter H sound was
created with a comparison to the English equivalent.
Jamaican Creole

English Language

add

Had

Air

Hair

and

Hand

as

Has

at

Hat

Ear

Hear

Eat
is
It
Itch
old

Heat
his
Hit
Hitch
Hold/whole

Audio Lingual Approach

Based on Skinner's Behaviorism theory, the audio lingual assumed that a human being can be
trained using a system of reinforcement. Correct behaviour receives positive feedback, while
errors receive negative feedback. This approach to learning is similar to the Direct Method, in
that the lesson takes place entirely in the target language.
Some characteristics of this method are:

Drills are used to teach structural patterns

Set phrases are memorised with a focus on intonation

Grammatical explanations are kept to a minimum

Vocabulary is taught in context

Audio-visual aids are used

Focus is on native like- pronunciation

Correct responses are positively reinforced immediately

How then is this approach significant to the context of this case study? Certainly, one

of the things that Pollard (1993) mentioned in her book is that [we should] listen to [our]
friends speak; listen to the television and you will not how widespread this problem is. The
problem she was referring to is the English words whose pronunciation has been affected by the
addition or the omission of the sound of the letter H. This is not coincidence as often times we
repeat what we hear being spoken on a regular basis is what we assimilate and reenact. As it
relates to ESL learners who lack an environmentally rich English Language background or
exposure, whatever English is spoken is usually accepted to be as with the case of the depletion
of the letter H. Therefore, this is possibly one of the causes for the reoccurrence of the
depletion of the letter H. However the audio lingual approach is one of the methods that can be
used to assist in addressing this pronunciation difficulty. Through the audio lingual approach, the

students will be provided with authentically rich and accurate pronunciation of English words
which will allow the learner to identify the pronunciation patterns and be presented with a true
model of the pronunciation of English words. Through drills and dialogues in the targeted
language, a greater level of the phonological awareness of English words should be achieved.

Practice
This principle does not simply refer to repetition. Practice must be sufficient so that the task can
be performed without hesitation, because the learner understands what they are required to do
(Bryan, 2004, p.92). Professor Bryan noted that the teacher might want to consider the
opportunities offered for authentic practice of different kinds and in varying contexts that are
distributed in time and executed with increasing complexity (Beverley Bryan, January 12,
2012).

Method
Creswell (2009) defines qualitative research as a means for exploring and understanding
the meaning individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem. The process of research
involves emerging questions and procedures, data typically collected in the participants setting,
data analysis inductively, building from particulars to general themes, and the researcher making
interpretations of the meaning of the data (p.4). This research aims to examine the challenges
faced by a selected Jamaican student who is experiencing difficulty acquiring English as a
second language. Thus, the qualitative method should provide a better approach to collect the is
research as it will inquire and generate meaning from the experienced respondents.

Methodologies
The methodologies used include a structured interview and observation. Both are qualitative in
nature since they focus on the participants account of their personal interactions and experiences
of the problem.
Structured Interview
According to Mohammed (2007), in structured interviews the researcher does not deviate from
the main stream list of questions, or the order, but it is more flexible than a questionnaire as the
respondent can give some added information. The interview is so structured because of the ease
of data analysis. Although the respondents are allowed some freedom in responding they are not

allowed to speak at length- just enough for the interviewer to understand the point they are
making. Thus, in the data analysis the researcher does not have a great volume of data to
analyze. This instrument will be appropriate for the qualitative nature of this research by
eliciting the personal perception or feeling towards English and background information
necessary to guide the research.

Non Participant Observation

According to Liu and Maitlis (2010) :
Nonparticipant observation is a data collection method used extensively in case study research
in which the researcher enters a social system to observe events, activities, and interactions with
the aim of gaining a direct understanding of a phenomenon in its natural context. As a
nonparticipant, the observer does not participate directly in the activities being observed.
Therefore, a non participant observation requires the researcher to observer the
individual in his/ her natural setting without participating directly in activities. This form of data
collection instrument is important because it allows for an opportunity to observe the natural
manner in which an individual reacts and thus the researcher is able to note the real challenges
faced by the student. Through the non participant observation, the researcher was able to assess
the participants reading of an English Passage and made note of English words that were
pronounced using the phonological structure of the Jamaican Creole.

data necessary for th

Sample
This case study assignment was given during a teaching practicum exercise and based on its
nature I was to find an ESL student who has challenges with acquiring the language because if
the interference of the L1; the Jamaican Creole. I therefore selected a class that I would base the
research on. From the class, I asked for some volunteers who would like to participate in an
English language improvement programme. Of all the students only two volunteered and they
were later interviewed and asked to read a passage as I overtly observed them for the
pronunciation of specific words within a passage. The student who exhibited the most difficulty
with the pronunciation of English words as a result of the Creole ( L1) interference was selected
for the case study.
Procedure
There were several typically mispronounced words as a result of depletion or additional
insertion but due to the timeframe of the research I decided to help the student with only the h
sound depletion.
After the student was identified, a letter of consent was sent to his parents to inform them
about the nature and purpose of the case study and for permission for the son to be involved as
well as the scheduled dates and that the student would be required to attend. This was returned
after a three day period. Since the permission was granted, the researcher began the process of
addressing the issue through a series of strategic activities which including: allowing the student

to recognize the problem he has through an interactive comparative analysis/ discussion of both
languages, allowing the student to analyze how misunderstanding may develop through
mispronunciation and engaging the student the correct model of how the h words are
pronounced in English through an Audio Lingual Approach, practice through speaking and
reading exercises.
An interactive comparative analysis/ discussion of the h sound in both languages
Through the separate analysis of both languages, students are provided with an opportunity to
separate the two languages, to see them as distinct codes (Bryan 2004, p. 93). This requires the
teacher to ask the fundamental questions: Does the lesson planned help the learners to notice
differences, keep the languages separate and thus make sense of variable input? Does the lesson
planned draw on the students own language to do that, by maximizing their intuitions about
language? (Beverley Bryan, January 12, 2012). With such critical guidelines it mind and the
aim of the comparative analysis, I constructed a short passage which contained a series of H
words. This passage was projected on a board in the library. Jammie was asked to read the
passage aloud as I recorded her reading. As expected most of the H sounds were ignored.
After Jammie read, I replayed what she read while asking her to look at the words on the board
to see if she had pronounced each word correctly. Jammie was able to acknowledge that she did
not pronounce the h sound. Looking a bit disappointed, I reassured her that this is a common
mistake that most of us make in Jamaica because our language Creole does not carry a H
sound perhaps because we do not see the need for it. With that thought Jammie laughed.
I then explained to her further that the English language requires the H sound and
then showed her the possible impacts that would occur if she were to communicate to an English

person by dropping of the letter H from words. This was done through the use of sentences that
contained H words and the meanings that an English person would have gained if the H
letter was ignored. For example: I hear the music blowing. Jammie was asked to put her finger
over the letter h from the word hear and explain the meaning of the sentence. She was quick
to say that: Miss this sentence dont mek one sense if I were English. I ear. We explored
other English sentences and Jammie seem to have recognized how important the pronunciation
of the letter H is in English and understand the difference between Creole and English. After
this activity, I asked Jammie to write her thoughts in a journal for homework, about the treatment
of the letter H from Jamaican Creole and English and the experience she had while going
through the sentences. This was to assess what she learnt.
Audio Lingual Approach
For the next session, our focus was on the pronunciation of the letter h in English. In
order to make it a little bit authentic, I brought a recording of British natives conversing between
each other about a common event like going to shopping. Jammie was asked to pay close
attention to the way in which the letter h was clearly articulated. After this exposure, Jammie
and I practiced some of the H words that were said, by linguistics, to be troublesome for
Jamaicans to pronounce in English before of the unconscious depletion of the letter h itself.
We practiced pronouncing the words together. Jammie had to make a mental effort to pronounce
the words.
Practice
The next session dealt with other pronunciation practice through the use of poems that
focused on the alliteration of h sounds. This was authentic, challenging but fun for Jammie and

I really saw where she was making a mental effort to ensure that the letter h sound is
pronounced.
For the last session, I allowed Jammie to re read the passage that she was given from the
first class. While she read, I recorded her. After the reading, we both compared the first reading
of the passage with current one. Here we both we able to see some of the improvements made to
the reading. She was very impressed with her improvement and thanked me for my assistance.

Finding and Analysis

There were several finding obtained from this research as it relates to teaching English as a
Second Language to Jamaican students.
1. Why are some of the English words that are mispronounced as a result of the interference
with Creole?
Based on the activities done with Jammie, the main reason why most of the English
words are mispronounced as a result of the interference of the Jamaican Creole is the students
lack of awareness of the differences between both differences languages. This lack of awareness
gives the students an idea that they are actually pronouncing or speaking English when they are
only far from the correct pronunciation of the English words. Discussants agreed that in some
Jamaican classrooms there is little motivation to learn English because students believe they can
get by sufficiently using their first language (Novelette McLean Francis, January 11, 2012).
One member labeled this situation a learning comfort zone, which is fostered by
the view that English is already known by most if not everyone and that people simply need to

'brush up their English when situations dictate (Novelette McLean Francis, January 11, 2012).
However, learning another language requires input. If there is no differentiation, then the
opportunities for noting and marking salient English input and for reinforcement are lost.
(Beverley Bryan, January 11, 2012). This lack of differentiation between the two languages
contributes to many Creole speaking students belief that they are speaking English and often
fail to perceive the structural differences between the two languages relying solely on vocabulary
for comprehension (Cecille Young, January 12, 2012). Thus, teachers of English should ensure
that they create an environment that seeks to foster a clear distinction between both languages
and appreciation of both. This will allow the students, like Jammie to recognize and monitor
their acquisition of English pronunciation of h which will allow them to make a cognitive
effort to meet an effective communication towards an English audience without creating
miscommunication or confusion.
2. What methods or strategies would help the ESL learner overcome the identified
challenge?
Based on the activities done which were based on theories and recommendations from
Jamaican linguists, this research can conclude that all the strategies used assisted Jammie
sufficiently in several different but connected and meaningful ways. The comparative analysis
with the audio-lingual approach and meaningful continuous practice has the potential of
enhancing ESL learners competence in pronunciation and understanding of both languages. It
can also be concluded that scaffolding and modeling is of great significance when dealing with
second language acquisition especially as it pertains pronunciation.

Recommendations
Based on this case study, I would recommend that:
1. Teachers of English should ensure that they make a clear distinction of the syntactic
2.
3.
4.
5.

differences between the students first language and the language of acquisition
Ensure that they make use of the theories and approaches to language acquisition
Allow students to evoke a sense of appreciation of languages
Use activities that are meaningful and practical for students
Ensure that effective modeling and scaffolding is done repeatedly and consistently

Reference

Creswell, J.W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, Quantative, and Mixed methods
approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Bryan, B. (2004a). Reconciling Contradictions and Moving for Change: Towards a Language
Education Policy for Jamaica. In M. Brown (Ed.), Transforming the Educational
Landscape through Curriculum Change (p. 163-187). Kingston: Institute of Education,
University of the West Indies, Mona.

McLean Francis,N. (Jan, 2012) USAID/Jamaica Basic Education Project. Jamaica Partners for
Educational Progress EduExchange E-Discussion Summary

Maitlis, S.& Feng, L. (2010). Nonparticipant Observation. Encyclopedia of Case Study

Research. Retrieved from http://srmo.sagepub.com/view/encyc-of-case-studyresearch/n229.xml

Mohammed, J. (2007). Caribbean Studies for CAPE Examinations; An Interdisciplinary

Approach. The University of the West Indies St Augustine, Macmillian.

Pollard, V. (1993). From Jamaican Creole to Standard English: A Handbook for Teachers.
University of the West Indies Press.

Young, C. (Jan, 2012). McAuley Primary School. Jamaica Partners for Educational Progress
EduExchange E-Discussion Summary.

Appendix
Letter of Participation
Chantilly District
Chantilly P.A.
Manchester
January 27, 2014

Dear Parents / Guardians of the Prospective Participant,

My name is Mickcole Powell a third Year Double Option English student of Church
Teachers College: Mandeville. In a partial fulfillment of my Bachelors Degree, I am asked to
conduct a Case study in order to assist a student who has trouble with mastering English because
of the interference of the Jamaican Creole. I have entitled my case study as; Addressing the
pronunciation difficulty experienced by a Jamaican ESL as a result of the interference of Creole
depletion of the letter H sound since I have observed your daughter; Jammie McIntosh to be
experiencing this difficulty and thus the case study will seek to help her overcome this difficulty
through teaching and learning activities. She will be recorded while reading given passages so
that I will be able to monitor her progress.
I hereby ask for your permission for her to participate in this study which will take place on
every Wednesday at 3: 30pm to 4: 15pm in the Schools Library starting February 5 th to
February 26.
Thanking You,
Yours Respectfully,
_________________________________
Miss Mickcole Powell

Permission hereby granted/ not granted for Jammie McIntonish

by_______________________________( Miss/Mrs/Mr) to participated in the above mentioned
case study.

Interview: Structured Questions

How are you feeling? ( Try to make the interviewee feel comfortable before getting into the
questions at hand)
1. What is your name?
2. How old are you?
3. Describe your family life?
4. Tell me about yourself (personality, interest, involvement in school)
5. What is your favourite subject?
6. Do you have many reading books or materials at home? Give some examples
7. How often do you read outside of class?
8. How often do you hear English spoken outside of class?
9. What are the challenges you have with speaking in English?
10. Does your teacher allow you to speak Creole in class? Explain the instances

Non participant observation

Observation Analysis and Checklist
During Class
1. How does he interact with his peers in the class?
2. Does he participate in English class?

3. How often is he given the chance to express himself orally in class?

4. Does he cod switch?
5. When writing English sentences does he include Creole? Record the instances

During reading
When asked to read:
6. What are some of the words that were missed pronounced because of Creole
Interference?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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