Chinese Undergraduate Students’ Attitudes Towards English Accents in an English-Medium Instruction Context

Abstract

In response to the criticisms of the standardization of English caused by globalization, notions of World English and English as a lingua franca have been developed, emphasizing the co-existence of different English varieties. This has caused changes in non-native speakers' attitudes towards English accents, especially in the English-medium instruction (EMI) context where the two notions are widely introduced. Therefore, the current study aims to investigate Chinese EMI learners' attitudes towards English accents. Questionnaires and interviews were utilized to examine 50 Chinese EMI undergraduates' preferences of different English accents and their attitudes towards their own accents. The results showed that when intelligibility was considered, most students perceived native English accents more positively and showed relatively negative attitudes towards nonnative ones, which were more likely to hinder intelligibility. Although nearly half of the participants were satisfied with their accents, more than half still aspired to native-like accents. However, some students reported an attitude change caused by EMI and believed that attaining a native-like accent was unnecessary as long as the accent was intelligible. Accordingly, some implications can be provided for English as a second language (ESL) teaching, such as promoting EMI application and emphasizing intelligibility when teaching speaking.