A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF LEBLANGO AND FRENCH VOWEL SOUNDS: IMPLICATIONS FOR LEBLANGO SPEAKERS OF FRENCH AS A THIRD LANGUAGE
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2026-10-08
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This study, titled “A Comparative Study of Leblango and French Vowel Sounds: Implications for Leblango Speakers of French as a Third Language (L3)”, compared the vowel systems of Leblango and French and examined their impact on French vowel pronunciation by L1 Leblango speakers. The analysis was conducted using the parameters of vowel height, backness, rounding, nasality, and distribution. The study employed a descriptive survey and comparative research design within a framework combining the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis and Autosegmental Phonology. Data were collected from 20 advanced French speakers from the Lango sub-region, selected via purposive sampling. The study used audio-recorded conversational modules and reading activities. French reference data were sourced from the Corpus de Français Parlé Parisien des années 2000 (CFPP2000). The findings reveal that Leblango and French share the oral vowels /a, e, ɛ, i, ɔ, o, u, ə/ and the nasal vowels /ɔ̃/ and /ɛ̃/. The primary differences are the presence in French of front rounded vowels /y/, /ø/, /œ/ and the distinct nasal vowels /œ̃/ and /ɑ̃/, which are absent in Leblango. These similarities could be said to have facilitated the accurate pronunciation of shared French vowels, such as /i/ in si and /ɔ̃/ in bon. Conversely, the differences could be said to have led to systematic challenges, resulting in substitutions like the realization of /y/ as [u] in tu and /œ̃/ as [ɛ̃] in un. The study recommends that French language teachers in the Lango sub-region familiarize themselves with both vowel systems and adopt pedagogical methods that explicitly address these phonological contrasts, and utilize targeted listening, pronunciation exercise, and contrastive drills to enhance learners' proficiency.