Accent Attitudes: Reactions to English as a Lingua Franca

AbstractThe emergence of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) and English as an International Language (EIL) has implored us to re-examine the relevance and necessity of the ideology of the native speaker as a model in English language teaching. ELF celebrates the diversity of the various varieties of Englishes that are used in non-native as well as native speaker environments. One obvious manifestation of the diversity of English spoken in the various parts of the world is the accent that is often ascribed to the various diverse speakers of English, wherever it is spoken and used. Generally, the aim of this paper is to examine how non-native speakers (NNS) of English view NNS accents in relation to NS accents. Specifically, the study will discuss the findings of a study that explored the attitudes and beliefs regarding ELF accents in relation to NS accents. The data for this study was collected using a questionnaire adapted from Jenkins (2007). The respondents were a group of trainee teachers of English in a Malaysian public institution of higher learning. The findings show that the respondents perceived the NS accents as being better and described them in more positive categories than the non NNS accents. The NS accents are preferred by the respondents. The findings here reveal biasness towards NS accents as being more correct and proper as opposed to NNS accents. Although there is a shift in the number of users and uses of English in recent times, these teachers still think and believe that ‘proper’ English remains the preserve of inner circle countries