{"id":2345,"date":"2026-01-04T17:08:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T17:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/particip-action.com\/?p=2345"},"modified":"2026-01-04T17:08:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T17:08:17","slug":"an-investigation-into-the-use-of-english-silent-sounds-in-the-speech-of-chadian-learners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/particip-action.com\/?p=2345","title":{"rendered":"AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF ENGLISH SILENT SOUNDS IN THE SPEECH OF CHADIAN LEARNERS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; font-size: 10pt;\"><strong>Abstract<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">This study investigates the use of silent sounds in the English of Chadian learners, focusing on their pronunciation patterns, awareness, and the factors contributing to errors. English, as a foreign language in Chad, poses particular challenges for learners, especially regarding silent sounds, which are often mispronounced due to interference from French and local languages, relying on spelling, and limited exposure to spoken English. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, combining quantitative analysis of pronunciation errors from a word list and reading passage with qualitative insights from semi-structured interviews. A purposive sample of 60 learners across beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels participated in the study. Findings indicate that learners frequently pronounce sounds that should remain silent, apply silent sound rules inconsistently, and sometimes hypercorrect in formal contexts. Advanced learners demonstrated greater awareness, particularly when exposed to spoken English through media or language laboratories, yet difficulties persisted with less common or academic vocabulary. The study concludes that silent sounds represent a significant obstacle to effective English pronunciation for Chadian learners and recommends explicit instruction, phonetic training, and increased exposure to authentic English speech. The findings have implications for teaching strategies, curriculum design, and pronunciation-focused interventions in the Chadian context.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Keywords: Silent sounds, pronunciation, Chadian learners, English as a foreign language, phonological awareness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; font-size: 10pt;\"><strong>R\u00e9sum\u00e9<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">La pr\u00e9sente \u00e9tude analyse l\u2019emploi des lettres muettes dans l\u2019Anglais des apprenants tchadiens, en s\u2019int\u00e9ressant \u00e0 leurs caract\u00e9ristiques de prononciation, \u00e0 leurs degr\u00e9s de conscience phonologique ainsi qu\u2019aux facteurs explicatifs des erreurs observ\u00e9es. L\u2019Anglais, langue \u00e9trang\u00e8re au Tchad, constitue un domaine d\u2019apprentissage complexe, notamment en ce qui concerne les lettres muettes qui sont fr\u00e9quemment mal rendues en raison de l\u2019interf\u00e9rence du fran\u00e7ais et des langues nationales, de la tendance \u00e0 se fier \u00e0 l\u2019orthographe et d\u2019une exposition limit\u00e9e \u00e0 l\u2019Anglais oral. Une m\u00e9thodologie mixte a \u00e9t\u00e9 mobilis\u00e9e, associant une analyse quantitative des erreurs de prononciation relev\u00e9es \u00e0 partir d\u2019une liste de mots et d\u2019un texte de lecture, \u00e0 une analyse qualitative issue d\u2019entretiens semi-directifs. Un \u00e9chantillon raisonn\u00e9 de soixante apprenants r\u00e9partis entre les niveaux d\u00e9butant, interm\u00e9diaire et avanc\u00e9 a \u00e9t\u00e9 retenu. Les r\u00e9sultats montrent que les apprenants prononcent fr\u00e9quemment des segments devant rester muets, appliquent les r\u00e8gles relatives aux lettres muettes de mani\u00e8re irr\u00e9guli\u00e8re et manifestent parfois des ph\u00e9nom\u00e8nes d\u2019hypercorrection en contexte formel. Les apprenants avanc\u00e9s pr\u00e9sentent un niveau de conscience phonologique plus \u00e9lev\u00e9, particuli\u00e8rement lorsqu\u2019ils b\u00e9n\u00e9ficient d\u2019une exposition accrue \u00e0 l\u2019Anglais oral par les m\u00e9dias ou les laboratoires de langues ; n\u00e9anmoins, des difficult\u00e9s persistent, notamment face au lexique moins courant ou \u00e0 caract\u00e8re acad\u00e9mique. L\u2019\u00e9tude conclut que les lettres muettes constituent un obstacle majeur \u00e0 une prononciation performante de l\u2019Anglais chez les apprenants tchadiens et pr\u00e9conise un enseignement explicite, un entra\u00eenement phon\u00e9tique ainsi qu\u2019une exposition renforc\u00e9e \u00e0 des mod\u00e8les authentiques de langue. Les r\u00e9sultats apportent des \u00e9clairages utiles pour l\u2019am\u00e9lioration des pratiques p\u00e9dagogiques, la conception des curricula et la mise en place d\u2019interventions centr\u00e9es sur la prononciation dans le contexte tchadien.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Mots-cl\u00e9s : lettres muettes, prononciation, apprenants tchadiens, anglais langue \u00e9trang\u00e8re, conscience phonologique.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Abstract This study investigates the use of silent sounds in the English of Chadian learners, focusing on their pronunciation patterns, awareness, and the factors contributing to errors. English, as a foreign language in Chad, poses particular challenges for learners, especially regarding silent sounds, which are often mispronounced due to interference from French and local languages, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-r"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/particip-action.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/particip-action.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/particip-action.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/particip-action.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/particip-action.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2345"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/particip-action.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2346,"href":"https:\/\/particip-action.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2345\/revisions\/2346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/particip-action.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/particip-action.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/particip-action.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/particip-action.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}