CAUSES OF THE PROBLEMS OF ENGLISH INFLECTIONAL MORPHEMES ON THE WRITTEN LANGUAGE OF IGBO SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS

CAUSES OF THE PROBLEMS OF ENGLISH INFLECTIONAL MORPHEMES ON THE WRITTEN LANGUAGE OF IGBO SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS

ABSTRACT

Second language learners of English find it difficult to use the inflectional morphemes properly when writing. The difficulties in using the morphemes arise because of the structural differences between the English language and the mother tongue of the learners. This study explores and highlights the causes of the problems faced by Igbo learners of English as a second language in using the morphemes. The study reveals that the Igbo language lacks inflectional morphemes to show pluralization, genitive case, and third person singular present tense. The only inflectional morpheme the Igbo language possesses is past tense marking in verbs which is only marked following regular patterning. Therefore, the disparity between the English language and the Igbo language is found to be the cause of the problems in using the morphemes. Through the findings in this work, recommendations were given to curriculum planners, teachers and learners to help minimise the problems.