Chinese English Learners’ Perceptions of Accent from the Perspective of English

【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>3>2>4

speaks fluently 3.82 3.31 3.73 2.26 1>3>2>4

is easy to understand 3.84 2.42 3.35 3.21 1>3>4>2

has bad pronunciation 1.29 2.97 1.47 2.47 2>4>3>1

speaks too fast 1.81 2.03 2.02 1.68 2>3>1>4

has a foreign accent 2.13 3.26 2.26 2.44 2>4>3>1

is nice to listen to 3.76 1.79 3.23 2.26 1>3>4>2

has an annoying/irritating accent 1.13 2.79 1.36 2.21 2>4>3>1

would be a good English teacher 3.47 1.52 3.0 1.94 1>3>4>2

sounds educated 3.76 2.76 3.5 2.62 1>3>2>4

When asked about which speaker was easiest to understand， 26 participants chose the first speaker. And 25 participants liked the first speaker’ accent most. 33 of them believed that practice would help them speak like one of these speakers. As for the hardest accent， 33 students chose the Indian accent.

3.2 Ability to identify different accent：

Table 2 shows the students' accuracy in the identification of the 4 accents.

Table 2

Speaker Nationality Students' accuracy

1 American 81.6%

2 Indian 68.4%

3 British 52.6%

4. Chinese 97.4%

3.3 Accent Goals

According to the background information section， among the 38 participants， 32 students attached importance to acquiring native-like accents. 46.9% of them would like to acquire British accents; 43.8% hoped to speak with an American accent; 9.4% of them indicated they were interested in both of them.

4. Discussion

First of all， Table 1 reveals participants’ certainty when distinguishing native accents from non-native accents. Both of the British and American speaker’s scores （3.44 and 3.74 respectively） were comparatively higher than those of Indian and Chinese speakers （1.5 and 1.28 respectively）. Participants achieved relatively high accuracy in the identification of Chinese and American accents.

Secondly， accent stereotypes could be observed in participants’ ratings. Although the texts read by 4 speakers were identical， but speakers with American and British accents received much more positive feedback from participants than the Chinese and Indian speakers did. The American and British speaker received the highest and second highest ratings respectively in positive descriptors including speaks fluently， easy to understand， nice to listen to， a good English teacher and sounds educated. In terms of descriptors such as bad pronunciation， speaks too fast， foreign accent， annoying/irritating accent， the Indian speakers received the highest ratings.

Thirdly， there is an correlation between the understandability of accent to participants and their accent preference. The majority （68.4%） of participants found American accent easiest to understand while nearly the same number （65.8%） of participants reported their favourite accent was American accent. What's more， the responses given by participants to explain their preference for American accent reveal that most of them considered American English as the standard English. However， 81.6% of participants expressed more difficulties in understanding Indian accent and no participant rated it as their favourite accent.

Fourthly， participants’ responses to accent goals and attitudes towards their own pronunciation revealed that the majority of participants held strong beliefs in models of correct English while 73.7% of them were not satisfied with their own accents. Accents they preferred to intimate were exclusively two varieties of English in the Inner Circle： American and British. However， it might be an unrealistic target for English learners to achieve. Previous research such as the one conducted by Larsen-Freemen and Long （1991： 158） has shown that it would be extremely difficult for an EFL learner to speak with a “native-like accent” if he/she has not been brought into contact with English early， “probably around the age six.” More importantly， Pishghadam and Sabouri （2011） points out that perfectionism of this kind could have negative psychological impact on learners’ English learning and it might cause learners’ frustration， dissatisfaction with themselves hindering their English learning.

5. Conclusion and Implications

This study reveals Chinese English learners’ accent stereotypes and the prevalence of deeply held beliefs in the authoritative position of native speaker accent. Judging from participants’ attitudes towards native and non-native accents， it is safe to conclude that most learners believe in “World English” instead of “World Englishes.” Speakers with native accents （American and British accents） received much more positive feedback from participants than Chinese and Indian speakers did. The majority of students expressed their desire to achieve a native-like accent and preference for two native speaker accents.

Viewed from the perspective of English as an International Language， this study also has some implications for English teaching in China. First of all， as Scales， Wennerstrom， Richard， and Wu’s （2006： 735） suggests， “an integrated and analytical approach to the teaching of pronunciation” should be adopted. It is of significance to raise students’ awareness of the fact that English as an international language consists of different varieties. Inside and outside the classroom， students should gain more exposure to different varieties of accents instead of merely concentrating on one particular model. It is also necessary to consider the context in which English learners will use English in the future.

References：

[1]Cook，G.（1998）.The uses of reality：a reply to Ronald Carter.ELT Journal 52（1），57C63.

[2]Jenkins，J.（2003）.World Englishes：A resource book for students.New York：Routledge.

[3]Kachru，B.B.（1985）.Standards，codification and sociolinguistic realism：The English language in the outer circle.In R.Quirk and H.Widdowson（Eds.）English in the world：Teaching and learning the language and literatures.Cambridge：Cambridge University Press，pp.11-36.

[4]Kirkpatrick，A.（2007）.World Englishes：Implications for international communication and English language teaching.Cambridge：Cambridge University Press.

[5]Larsen-Freeman，D.，& Long，M.H.（1991）.An introduction to second language acquisition research.London：Longman.

[6]Pishghadam，R.，& Sabouri，F.（2011）.A Quantitative Survey on Iranian English Learners' Attitudes toward Varieties of English：World English or World Englishes？ English Language and Literature Studies 1（1），86-95.

[7]Scales，J.，Wennerstrom，A.，Richard，D.，& Wu，S.H.（2006）.Language learners' perceptions of accent.TESOL Quarterly 40（4），715-738.