Phonological Processes of the Non-Native Speakers of Akan

This paper seeks to investigate the phonological processes embedded in the phonology ofnative Ewe speakers of Akan. This study has become necessary because Akan is a linguafranca in Ghana where most people have some level of speaking and comprehensioncompetence. However, at the early production or pre-advanced phase of L2 acquisition,the Ewe speakers of Akan encounter numerous segmental and prosodic challenges whichtrigger various phonological processes as resolution strategies. Therefore, this studybridges this gap in language acquisition by examining the phonological processesentrenched in the phonology of Ewe speakers acquiring Akan as their L2. The challengesusually arise from phonological dissimilarities between the L1 source phonology and theL2 target. The paper argues that the inadequacies in L2 acquisition at the pre-advancedphase trigger some phonological processes such as vowel raising and lowering,anteriorization, and de-stridentization among others as phonological simplificationstrategies to resolve challenging native Akan forms. The study employs focus groupdiscussion as a data collection approach and it is formalized within the PerceptualAssimilation Model of second language learning (PAM- L2) (cf. Best 1993; Best & Tyler2007).