Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

Lexical stress in Ghanaian English.

A Thesis Submitted In Partial Fulfillment Of Degree Of Master Of Philosophy In English.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Adubofour, Isaac Kwabena
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: KNUST 2025
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1869483585785823232
access_status_str Open Access
author Adubofour, Isaac Kwabena
author_browse Adubofour, Isaac Kwabena
author_facet Adubofour, Isaac Kwabena
author_sort Adubofour, Isaac Kwabena
collection Thesis
description A Thesis Submitted In Partial Fulfillment Of Degree Of Master Of Philosophy In English.
format Thesis
id oai:ir.knust.edu.gh:123456789/17149
institution KNUST (Ghana)
language English
last_indexed 2026-07-01T04:01:20.706Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from KNUSTSpace — Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (Ghana)
publishDate 2025
publishDateRange 2025
publishDateSort 2025
publisher KNUST
publisherStr KNUST
record_format dspace
source_str KNUSTSpace — Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (Ghana)
spelling oai:ir.knust.edu.gh:123456789/17149 Lexical stress in Ghanaian English. Adubofour, Isaac Kwabena A Thesis Submitted In Partial Fulfillment Of Degree Of Master Of Philosophy In English. This study sought to conduct a suprasegmental description of Ghanaian English (GhE) by looking at lexical stress in the variety. The study concerned itself with showing how GhE compares with native pronunciation of English as regards lexical stress. Other objectives included providing reasons for the differences between the two and determining what stress cue is significant for studies of this nature in non-native contexts. The study relied on the mixed method design. Eight participants were sampled for the study via a mixture of purposive and random sampling methods to represent the four major indigenous languages in Ghana – Twi, Fante, Ewe, and Ga. They were picked with the help of a questionnaire which was designed to identify participants who are genuine speakers of the indigenous languages considered for the study. The participants pronounced lists of monosyllabic, disyllabic, and polysyllabic words in isolation and in sentences five times each. The data was coded and analyzed with PRAAT, a speech analysis software. First, the syllables of the words were extracted and their intensity and pitch values were taken for the multiple times they were called. These values were recorded unto MS Excel software where the mean values and standard deviation values were calculated. The study revealed that the participants correctly stressed common words in isolation and in context; they stressed words better in isolation than in context; difficulties in pronouncing words affected stressed placement; and intensity may be the ideal cue for measuring prominence in non-native setting. Findings from this study have shown that the teaching of English in Ghana could be improved by emphasizing the suprasegmental aspect as well as the segmental aspect. Considering the limited size of the sample for this study, it is recommended that future researches can still look into lexical stress in Ghanaian English as well as other descriptions of the variety. KNUST 2025-06-02T12:11:34Z 2025-06-02T12:11:34Z 2019-06 Thesis https://ir.knust.edu.gh/handle/123456789/17149 en application/pdf KNUST
spellingShingle Adubofour, Isaac Kwabena
Lexical stress in Ghanaian English.
title Lexical stress in Ghanaian English.
title_full Lexical stress in Ghanaian English.
title_fullStr Lexical stress in Ghanaian English.
title_full_unstemmed Lexical stress in Ghanaian English.
title_short Lexical stress in Ghanaian English.
title_sort lexical stress in ghanaian english
url https://ir.knust.edu.gh/handle/123456789/17149
work_keys_str_mv AT adubofourisaackwabena lexicalstressinghanaianenglish