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【Abstract】This study attempts to investigate Chinese English learners’ perceptions of accent from the perspective of English as an International Language. The results reveal Chinese English learners’ accent stereotypes and their belief in the authoritative position of the native speakers’ accents. The pedagogical implications are then discussed.
【Key words】English learners’ perceptions of accent; English as an international language; accent stereotypes
1. Introduction
Accent is one of the most frequently mentioned and discussed issues among English learners. Research into English learners’ attitudes towards different accents and their preference could provide a window into their perceptions of different varieties of English.
The theories of World Englishes and views about English as International Language raised the issue about the ownership of English， challenging the authoritative role of English in the Inner Circle. Among different theories of World Englishes， the most acknowledged one is proposed by Kachru （1985）. In his Concentric Circles Model， countries all over the world are divided into three types： the Inner circle， the Outer Circle and the Expanding Circle. As Jenkins （2003） points out， views of this kind are against the traditional opinions about advantages of native speakers who are considered to be better English teachers. From the perspective of pedagogy， a number of scholars have addressed the implications of World Englishes theory for English teaching. Cook （1998） doubts the superiority of native speaker norms in the English language learning and questions its necessity for students who are more likely to use English as an international language to conform to such norms. Kirkpatrick （2007： 37） discussed drawbacks of Inner Circle orientation in English teaching and argues that accent is closely related to English learners’ “personal and group identity”. He further explains that if English learners strive for a native accent viewing it as a ‘correct’ model， their local and cultural identities are likely to be at stake.
This study attempts to answer the following research questions：
（1） What are Chinese English majors’ attitudes towards native and non-native speaker accents？
（2） How is their ability to identify different accents？
（3） What are their accent goals？
2. Methodology：
2.1 Participants：
Participants in this study were 38 third-year Chinese English majors in the same course. There were 16 males and 22 females. They all passed the TEM 4 and had achieved intermediate or higher levels of language proficiency. 2.2 Listening materials：
Male speakers with 4 different accents all agreed to participate in the recording of a one-minute listening materials. These speakers who came from Britain， the United State， India and China respectively were required to read the same text. The impacts of confounding factors such as ages of speakers， speed of speech， neutrality and content of text， length of the recordings are considered and minimized.
2.3 Instrument：
The instrument in this study was the same questionnaire adopted in Scales， Wennerstrom， Richard， and Wu’s （2006） research. There were altogether 4 identical sections which contained 10 statements about each speaker. Participants were required to indicate whether they agreed with these statements by marking their responses to a 4-point semantic differential scale. Besides they needed to give their overall opinions about each speaker’ accent as well as their own background information.
2.4 Procedure
The questionnaires were distributed to participants during a class. Explicit instructions were given to participants about how to fill out the questionnaire. Then， listening materials of each speaker were played to participants in random order.
3. Results
3.1 Participants’ ratings of 4 speakers
When analysing participants’ responses to a 4-point semantic differential scale， each segment was assigned a number （1=disagree; 2=slightly disagree; 3=slightly agree; 4=agree） and then the researcher calculated the average scores of each statement. Table 1 shows the means of participants’ ratings of 4 speakers.
Table 1
Participants’ Accent Ratings
1.American 2.Indian 3. British 4. Chinese Ranking
is a native speaker 3.74 1.5 3.44 1.28 1
【Key words】English learners’ perceptions of accent; English as an international language; accent stereotypes
1. Introduction
Accent is one of the most frequently mentioned and discussed issues among English learners. Research into English learners’ attitudes towards different accents and their preference could provide a window into their perceptions of different varieties of English.
The theories of World Englishes and views about English as International Language raised the issue about the ownership of English， challenging the authoritative role of English in the Inner Circle. Among different theories of World Englishes， the most acknowledged one is proposed by Kachru （1985）. In his Concentric Circles Model， countries all over the world are divided into three types： the Inner circle， the Outer Circle and the Expanding Circle. As Jenkins （2003） points out， views of this kind are against the traditional opinions about advantages of native speakers who are considered to be better English teachers. From the perspective of pedagogy， a number of scholars have addressed the implications of World Englishes theory for English teaching. Cook （1998） doubts the superiority of native speaker norms in the English language learning and questions its necessity for students who are more likely to use English as an international language to conform to such norms. Kirkpatrick （2007： 37） discussed drawbacks of Inner Circle orientation in English teaching and argues that accent is closely related to English learners’ “personal and group identity”. He further explains that if English learners strive for a native accent viewing it as a ‘correct’ model， their local and cultural identities are likely to be at stake.
This study attempts to answer the following research questions：
（1） What are Chinese English majors’ attitudes towards native and non-native speaker accents？
（2） How is their ability to identify different accents？
（3） What are their accent goals？
2. Methodology：
2.1 Participants：
Participants in this study were 38 third-year Chinese English majors in the same course. There were 16 males and 22 females. They all passed the TEM 4 and had achieved intermediate or higher levels of language proficiency. 2.2 Listening materials：
Male speakers with 4 different accents all agreed to participate in the recording of a one-minute listening materials. These speakers who came from Britain， the United State， India and China respectively were required to read the same text. The impacts of confounding factors such as ages of speakers， speed of speech， neutrality and content of text， length of the recordings are considered and minimized.
2.3 Instrument：
The instrument in this study was the same questionnaire adopted in Scales， Wennerstrom， Richard， and Wu’s （2006） research. There were altogether 4 identical sections which contained 10 statements about each speaker. Participants were required to indicate whether they agreed with these statements by marking their responses to a 4-point semantic differential scale. Besides they needed to give their overall opinions about each speaker’ accent as well as their own background information.
2.4 Procedure
The questionnaires were distributed to participants during a class. Explicit instructions were given to participants about how to fill out the questionnaire. Then， listening materials of each speaker were played to participants in random order.
3. Results
3.1 Participants’ ratings of 4 speakers
When analysing participants’ responses to a 4-point semantic differential scale， each segment was assigned a number （1=disagree; 2=slightly disagree; 3=slightly agree; 4=agree） and then the researcher calculated the average scores of each statement. Table 1 shows the means of participants’ ratings of 4 speakers.
Table 1
Participants’ Accent Ratings
1.American 2.Indian 3. British 4. Chinese Ranking
is a native speaker 3.74 1.5 3.44 1.28 1