A SOCIOLINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF LAFA: A LOCALLY ACQUIRED FOREIGN (AMERICAN) ENGLISH ACCENT IN GHANA

ABSTRACT It has been observed that some Ghanaians try to speak English with a foreign accent which they have locally acquired. This phenomenon, a Locally Acquired Foreign Accent (LAFA), is acknowledged to be gradually penetrating the English repertoire of some educated Ghanaians. The phenomenon is youth related. This lately acquired accent is observed to be developing due to the influence of some media institutions, especially the electronic media. This comes about through their entertainment programmes, hosted informally by so-called Deejays’, programme hosts etc. Contact with some American popular musical genres such as hip-hop lyrics, the flavoured speech of some preachers of the neo-charismatic ‘international’ churches and the idiosyncratic influence of the speech style of former President Mr. Rawlings have all contributed to the emergence of this new phenomenon. The study examines the English users’ perception of their own accent, and how this accent is perceived generally by their audience. The variables of age, educational level, proficiency in English and gender are taken into consideration. The results of the data analyses project some of the following: The accent (LAFA) neither reflects the pure AmE accent nor the GhaE (uncoded) accent. However, the phonological features of each of these two accents are to some extent, present in LAFA. The conscious effort to ape the AmE accent serves as one of the engines that propel the wheels of this emerging phenomenon. The significance of the study has revealed negative and positive perceptions towards this emerging accent in Ghana. This bodes well for the emergence of an accent that can be described as Ghanaian, and this is thriving for prominence in the linguistic environment.