THE PHONOLOGICAL BASIS OF MISSPELLINGS IN THE WRITTEN ENGLISH OF KIKUYU SPEAKERS

Abstract

This study examines the influence of a first language (L1) phonology on second language orthography. Misspellings have been a common error in the written English of non-native speakers. Though even native speakers of English mis-spell words in English, this study focused only on the misspellings made by learners whose first language is Kikuyu. The study was done with a view to investigating whether the phonology of Kikuyu as a learner’s first language and pronunciation of words in English as the second language, based on the influence of the phonology of Kikuyu affects orthography in English. The study concludes that certain misspelt English words are a fully inflected form with aspects of the phonology of Kikuyu language and has phonological segments that are influenced by the phonological structure of Kikuyu.

Key words: Error Analysis, Phonology, Orthography