A Contrastive Analysis Of Conjugation Of English And Igbo Verbs

1.3    The Purpose of the Study
The main purposes of this study are:
(1)    To carry out a contrastive analysis of the word formation of English and Igbo Verbs. The research seeks to find out the grass root cause of the problems of word- formation with a view to recommending possible solutions to them.
(2)    To identify the verb formation processes in the English language.
(3)    To identify the verb formation processes in the Igbo language.
(4)    To  find  out    whether  there    is    existing differences between English and Igbo verb formation processes.
(5)    To find out whether there are seminaries between English and Igbo verb formation processes.
1.4    Research Questions
In this research, the following research questions will guide the study:
1.    What are the verb formation processes in English language?
2.    What are the verb formation processes in Igbo language?
3.    To what extent are  the  verb  formation  processes in the two languages similar and different?
1.5    Research Hypothesis
1.    There are significant differences that exist between English and Igbo verb formation processes.
2.    There are no significant similarities between English and Igbo verb formation processes.
1.6    Definition of terms
A.    Contrastive Analysis:
Contrastive analysis is a juxtaposition of what a learner knows about a language he has mastered and the other language he is trying to master.
B.    Word-formation
Word-formation is the act of forming new words or word class through the technical means of inflectional morphology, derivational morphology and the compositioning. It is the addition of  letters  to  the  root word (base). This addition may be at the front  of  it  or  at the end of the base word. The former is called the prefix while the later is called the suffix.
C.    Conjugation
Conjugation is the inflection of verbs, a class of verb having similar sets of inflected forms, the act of joining, the state of being joined together. (Hanks 353).
D.    Derivatives
Derivative is a means of  attaching  morphs  or  affixes to the root word (base), thus producing new word or word class.
1.7    Basic Assumptions
In this study, it is assumed that
(a)    different languages have different verb formation processes.
(b)    Individuals    transfer    the    forms    of    their    native language to the learning of the second language.
(c)    Similarities of the languages, make the learning of the second language easier.
(d)    Differences in the language create problems  for the second language learners.
1.8    The Scope of the Study
This study is limited to the formation of the English and Igbo verb. The aim of this research is to  discover  if there are similarities and differences in the processes of word-formation of the verbs of these two languages. Concentrating areas for consideration are: affixation, derivation inflection of the Igbo language, and verbal ablaut of the English language.
1.9    Research Method and Procedure
This chapter is primarily meant to present the procedures, which would be used by the researcher in carrying out the study. It includes the instrument for data collection, and method of data  analysis.  In  conducting this research, the target population or respondents comprise fifty Igbo speaking teachers, teaching the English language in five secondary schools in  Nnewi South L.G.A. These schools are:
1.    Fidelity Secondary School, Unubi.
2.    Trinity Secondary School, Amichi.
3.    Community Secondary School, Ekwulumili
4.    Girls Secondary School, Ukpor and
5.    Boy’s Secondary School, Osumenyi.
The method used was “contrastive analysis” of verbs in the two languages, Igbo and English, applying the rules guiding their “word formation”. Therefore, for the researcher to ensure proper understanding of the subject matter, he collects data from a sample of population and contrasts the system languages. The reason for choosing this population is that, these teachers use the Igbo language as their mother tongue (MT), while they teach the English language to the Igbo students studying the English language as a second language (ESL).
1.10    Instrument for Data Collection
In this study, the instrument used for data collection would be subjective questionnaire and direct oral interview. This method  would  be  used  to  augment  much of the data collected from library. Thus, the population selected randomly would be interviewed on the spot.
1.11    Method of Data Analysis
A total of fifteen teachers of English language as a second language would be interviewed. In analyzing the result of the interview, the researcher would explain the response of the respondents to the oral interview and findings from library research. Thus, the overall  result would be collected to determine the competence of the teachers.