This study presents a contrastive analysis of adjective use in English and Esan noun phrases, examining its implications for Esan learners of English as a second language in both urban and rural areas of Edo State, Nigeria. Guided by two research questions and two null hypotheses, the study emphasises key concepts in contrastive analysis, second language acquisition, noun phrases, and adjectives. Drawing on Lado’s theory of contrastive analysis (1957), the analysis yields observable predictions that underpin the proposed test items. A descriptive survey design was adopted, drawing on a population of 80 public senior secondary schools and 4,435 SS2 students in Esan land, Edo State. A sample of 24 public senior secondary schools and 351 SS2 students was selected through a multistage sampling technique. The five local government areas in Esan land, along with a sample of 351 SS2 students, were selected using the purposive sampling technique. Data were collected using the “Test of Use of Adjectives in the Noun Phrases of English (TUANPE)”, developed for this study. Reliability was assessed using the t-test method and Pearson product-moment correlation, yielding a reliability index of 0.68. The research questions were addressed using mean percentage scores and standard deviation, while an independent t-test was used to test the null hypotheses at a 0.05 alpha level. The findings revealed a significant difference in the performance of Esan learners in using adjectives in English noun phrases between urban and rural areas. Structural differences in the noun phrases of both languages posed substantial learning difficulties, which were evident in students’ performance. It is recommended that teachers enhance instructional strategies to address these differences.

Keywords: Contrastive analysis, Noun phrases, Second language acquisition, Relationship Between L1 and L2 Acquisition, Use of Adjectives in English and Esan, mother tongue interference, modifiers, Noun Phrase, Esan Learners of English, Rural and Urban Areas.