Exploring EFL Learners’ Accent Preferences for Effective ELF Communication

Kung, Fan Wei; Wang, Xue

doi:10.1177/0033688218765306

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The first factor, American English exposure, expressed the greater use of the facilities associated with American English accent and revealed that those who prefer the American English accent over British are exposed more to the American facilities. This confirms both Kung and Wang (2018) and Ahn's (2011) study considering the fact that the proponents of this accent have been exposed to American English accents more than the other varieties and that they rarely experience listening to other varieties. Students` lack of exposure toward other varieties of English is also confirmed by Billiris (2011).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

British or American? Iranian EFL learners’ Perceptions toward English Accents: Exploring possible relationships

Weisi

Raygan

Bakhtiari³

2019

IJET

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Native English accents (British and American) are known as highly favored and accepted varieties compared to other existing accents in English as foreign language (EFL) context. Notwithstanding the research accomplished on EFL learners’ attitudes toward either of the accents (British or American), studies are still scant regarding the investigation of their perspectives in detail toward one of the accents specifically within the context of Iran. The aim of this study is to examine the Iranian EFL learners’ attitudes toward the two major known English accents (British and American. Additionally, the study highlights the major factors contributing to the learners’ preferences toward either of the accents (British or American). To that aim, a developed and validated questionnaire was distributed among 108 EFL learners selected from two of the major EFL contexts (universities and private institutes). The results indicated that the majority of the learners preferred American over British English accent. Besides, factor analysis revealed that American English exposure, lack of guidance, and lack of reinforcement toward British accent were among the mentioned factors accepted by learners for their preference of American. Finally, the study concludes with interpretations regarding the learners’ decision making issues in either of the two major accents, and recommendations are provided for revisiting the EFL learners’ attitudes and insights toward native English accents.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

British or American? Iranian EFL learners’ Perceptions toward English Accents: Exploring possible relationships

Weisi

Raygan

Bakhtiari³

2019

IJET

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“…Regarding language attitudes, Chinese EFL learners generally still prefer the exonormative NS model (e.g. Fang and Ren, 2018; Kung and Wang, 2019). While it is important for English language teaching (ELT) practitioners to inform students of the growing trend of ELF, teachers should support those who aspire to follow the exonormative NS model and inhibit non-target-like pronunciation features.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Segmental versus Suprasegmental: Which One is More Important to Teach?

Wang

2020

RELC Journal

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This article considers the continuing debate in pronunciation instruction (PI) about whether segmental or suprasegmental features are more important in teaching English to speakers of other languages. While evidence has accumulated on both sides of the debate, the emergence of the notion of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) further complicates the issue. This article provides a review of current research supporting the different views in the segmental/suprasegmental debate. The review highlights research evidence that examines either the impact of segmental and suprasegmental features on intelligibility or the effectiveness of teaching these features to improve intelligibility. A review of this line of research underlines the context-specific nature of the debate and a third view that blurs the boundary between segmentals and suprasegmentals.

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“…If such ideologies are allowed to persist, the newly introduced WE and ELF pedagogies, which aim to address realistic communication, would most likely be too far-flung to produce any proactive results (Buripakdi, 2012; Fang and Widodo, 2019; Jenkins, 2007; Jindapitak, 2019). We realize that previous literature on this topic examined the attitudes of particular cultural groups (Jindapitak, 2019; Kung and Wang, 2019; Lim, 2016), including some studies conducted by this article’s researchers (Boonsuk and Ambele, 2019; Fang, 2020). Furthermore, previous studies on accent attitudes towards international students’ own English accents and those of others in the Thai context are limited.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Based on previous studies, it can be concluded that English learners have entrenched attitudes towards English accents, as most of them prefer native Englishes in which the Anglophone varieties of English are viewed as the more authentic models of ELT (Fang, 2020; Jenkins, 2007; Kung and Wang, 2019; Tokumoto and Shibata, 2011). These biases are placed upon NNSE with severe pragmatic negligence on the communicative advantages of accents.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perennial Language Learners or Competent Language Users: An Investigation of International Students’ Attitudes towards Their Own and Native English Accents

Boonsuk

Fang

2020

RELC Journal

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English is widely used as a global language. The traditional monolithic model of English has been challenged as the development of World Englishes (WE) and English as a lingua franca (ELF) paradigms challenge the ownership of English. With this newly emerging status quo, English language teaching (ELT) should also recognize the diversity and dynamism of English. This article discusses students’ attitudes towards their own and native English accents, and describes the influence of English accents in ELT. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with nine international students from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka who were studying at a university in Southern Thailand. The derived data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The findings revealed that most students still perceived their accents as being deficient, and they believed that native speakers’ English accents were the norm of English use and the ultimate learning goal. Thus, entrenched native ideology was still persistent among these students. The article also provides some implications for pronunciation teaching from a WE and ELF framework with the Teaching of Pronunciation for Intercultural Communication (ToPIC). It is hoped that an awareness of English as a global language could be recognized, and ToPIC could be applied to ELT in more contexts to reflect the global status of English.

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Exploring EFL Learners’ Accent Preferences for Effective ELF Communication

Cited by 15 publications

References 18 publications

British or American? Iranian EFL learners’ Perceptions toward English Accents: Exploring possible relationships

British or American? Iranian EFL learners’ Perceptions toward English Accents: Exploring possible relationships

Segmental versus Suprasegmental: Which One is More Important to Teach?

Perennial Language Learners or Competent Language Users: An Investigation of International Students’ Attitudes towards Their Own and Native English Accents

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