In the discussion of English as Lingua Franca the question how a "good" or "bad" accent can influence the perception of the speaker as competent or incompetent is missing.
Kuo (2006:218) argues that English "is the language of which they [NNS, ed.] have to demonstrate a degree of mastery so as to win a place in education and employment in their own contexts and abroad".
So learning English is in most settings not just a matter of being intelligible and successful in communication, but also to demonstrate competence. This paper will discuss how accents influence the perception of NNS as competent.
Given the argument for an ELF syllabus to aid international communication between NNS especially in business settings, this is a relevant issue.
6. Krachru:
three-circle model of World Englishes
(1992)
Inner Circle:
English as a Native Language (ENL)
(GB, USA etc.)
Inner
Circle
Outer Circle
Expanding Circle
7. Krachru:
three-circle model of World Englishes
(1992)
Inner Circle:
English as a Native Language (ENL)
(GB, USA etc.)
Outer Circle: Inner
English as a Second Language (ESL) Circle
official or unofficial
(mostly former colonies)
Outer Circle
Expanding Circle
8. Krachru:
three-circle model of World Englishes
(1992)
Inner Circle:
English as a Native Language (ENL)
(GB, USA etc.)
Outer Circle: Inner
English as a Second Language (ESL) Circle
official or unofficial
(mostly former colonies)
Outer Circle
Expanding Circle:
English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Expanding Circle
(English learners worlwide)
9. English spoken today:
(Estimated numbers)
ENL: 330 million speakers
Inner
ESL: 430 million speakers Circle
EFL: 580 million speakers
...likely more Outer Circle
Expanding Circle
Source: Jenkins (2009), Wikipedia.org
10. English spoken today:
(Estimated numbers)
ENL: 330 million speakers
Inner
ESL: 430 million speakers Circle
EFL: 580 million speakers
...likely more Outer Circle
up to 1.8 billion Expanding Circle
speakers of English
Source: Jenkins (2009), Wikipedia.org
11. English spoken today:
(Estimated numbers)
Ratio
Native Speakers (NS) to NS
Non-Native Speaker (NNS):
NNS
NNS
Source: Jenkins (2009), Wikipedia.org
12. English spoken today:
(Estimated numbers)
Ratio
Native Speakers (NS) to NS
Non-Native Speaker (NNS):
1 to 3 NNS
NNS
Source: Jenkins (2009), Wikipedia.org
13. English spoken today:
(Estimated numbers)
Ratio
Native Speakers (NS) to NS
Non-Native Speaker (NNS):
1 to 3 NNS
NNS
Spanish: 4,7 to 1
Mandarin: 2 to 1
Source: Jenkins (2009), Wikipedia.org
15. English spoken today:
L1 German
English
L1 Chinese
English as a Lingua (ELF) or
English as an International Language (EIL)
16. ELF Discussion
Supporters of EIL, ELF:
Jenkins, Seidlhofer et. al.
• Accept ELF as variety of English
• Linguistic description of ELF (corpora)
• Consideration of implications for
teaching and learning of English
17. ELF Discussion
Shifts:
• Pronunciation Target:
NS-like → not NS-like
• Communication Target:
NS → NNS
→ international Intelligibility
• Errors → ELF Variants
18. ELF Discussion
Findings: (examples)
Jenkins (2000):
„th“-sounds: /Ɵ/ and /ð/
not necessary for international intelligibility
not included in Lingua Franca Core
Seidlhofer (2005):
third person singular present tense „-s“
often not used in ELF
not necessary for international intelligibility
20. Criticism
Kuo (2006):
„...a degree of phonological and
grammatical inaccuracy can be tolerated
in real world communication but a
description of such language exchange
does not constitute an appropriate
model for learning purposes.“
Kuo suggests Native-speaker models as
a point of reference.
22. How do different strong
accents of NNS influence the
listener‘s perception of a
speaker?
Since most English is spoken in professional
environments, it is an important question for
teaching which (NS or ELF) should be the
learning target.
32. Text Sample
„There are any number of sayings about the power of the
smile. Peace begins with a smile. A smile is the universal
welcome. Life is short but a smile only takes a second. All
good advice. But it may not be as simple as that. According
to new research, if you want to make a good impression
when you meet people, it's not just that you smile. It's how
you smile.“
BBC Learning English
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2010/06/100602_witn_smile.shtml
33. Text Sample
„There are any number of sayings about the power of the
smile. Peace begins with a smile. A smile is the universal
welcome. Life is short but a smile only takes a second. All
good advice. But it may not be as simple as that. According
to new research, if you want to make a good impression
when you meet people, it's not just that you smile. It's how
you smile.“
BBC Learning English
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2010/06/100602_witn_smile.shtml
34. Speakers
Chosen to give a range of differently accented EFL,
but with comparable background (to avoid distortions):
• German as L1
• male
• age 30-60
• postgraduates (exception: Speaker S)
• successful ELF-users
35. Speakers
Speaker N
LT German, University
Speaker O
Management, Pharma
Speaker U
CEO, Consultant, Research & Innovation
Speaker B
Management, Insurance
Speaker S
Graphic Designer
A speaker in Lingua Franca Core was considered,
but dropped because it would create useful results.
36. Speakers
Speaker N
LT German, University
Speaker O
Management, Pharma
Speaker U
CEO, Consultant, Research & Innovation
Speaker B
Management, Insurance
Speaker S
Graphic Designer
A speaker in Lingua Franca Core was considered,
but dropped because it would create useful results.
37. 54 Participants
Female 46%
Male 54%
9% 2% 13%
19%
under 18
18-24
25-34
35-54
over 55 57%
41. Quality of English
1. Speaker N
3,61
2. Speaker U
3,56
3. Speaker O
2,91
4. Speaker S
2,33
5. Speaker B
2,04
42. 1
2
3
4
5
Education
Job
Status
Class
Speaker S
Dominant
Authoritative
Controlling
Power
Powerful
Strong
Speaker U
Friendly
Pleasant
Attractive
Solidarity
Confident
Speaker B
Intelligent
Hardworking
Reliable
Ambitious
Speaker O
Competent
Competence
Educated
Clear
Understandable
Quality of English
English
Speaker N
43. Is there a relation between
accents and the perception of
Competence?
44. Competence
5
4
3
2
1
0,93 0,98 0,97 1,00 0,99 0,99
Hardworking
Educated
Intelligent
Reliable
Ambitious
Competent
Speaker S Speaker U Speaker B Speaker O Speaker N
45. Competence
5
4
3
2
1
0,93 0,98 0,97 1,00 0,99 0,99
Hardworking
Educated
Intelligent
Reliable
Ambitious
Competent
Speaker S Speaker U Speaker B Speaker O Speaker N
46. Power
5
4
3
2
1
0,96 0,97 0,99 0,99 0,99
Powerful
Strong
Dominant
Authoritative
Controlling
Confident
Speaker S Speaker U Speaker B Speaker O Speaker N
47. Status & Solidarity
5
4
3
2
1
0,98 0,90 0,94 0,58 0,91 0,92 0,97
Education
Job
Class
Friendly
Pleasant
Attractive
Confident
Speaker S Speaker U Speaker B Speaker O Speaker N
48. We can observe a correlation between
the speakers‘ accents and their
perception as competent and powerful.
Speakers closer to NS pronunciation
perceived more competent and powerful.
49. Is there a difference between
NS and NNS perception?
Do NNS judge harder or lighter?
50. 1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
Education
Job
Class
Dominant
Speaker N
Authoritative
Average
Controlling
Powerful
Strong
Friendly
Pleasant
NS
Attractive
Confident
Intelligent
Hardworking
Reliable
NNS
Ambitious
Competent
Educated
51. 1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
Education
Job
Class
Dominant
Speaker U
Authoritative
Average
Controlling
Powerful
Strong
Friendly
Pleasant
NS
Attractive
Confident
Intelligent
Hardworking
Reliable
NNS
Ambitious
Competent
Educated
52. 1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
Education
Job
Class
Dominant
Speaker O
Authoritative
Average
Controlling
Powerful
Strong
Friendly
Pleasant
NS
Attractive
Confident
Intelligent
Hardworking
Reliable
NNS
Ambitious
Competent
Educated
53. 1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
Education
Job
Class
Dominant
Speaker S
Authoritative
Average
Controlling
Powerful
Strong
Friendly
Pleasant
NS
Attractive
Confident
Intelligent
Hardworking
Reliable
NNS
Ambitious
Competent
Educated
54. 1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
Education
Job
Class
Dominant
Speaker B
Authoritative
Average
Controlling
Powerful
Strong
Friendly
Pleasant
NS
Attractive
Confident
Intelligent
Hardworking
Reliable
NNS
Ambitious
Competent
Educated
55. We can observe a tendency that NS
rated the accents‘ competence more
positive than NNS, meaning that
NNS would judge their peers tougher.
But the data is not consistent enough to
provide a clear answer.
56. Is there a difference related
different language skills?
Do better NNS judge harder?
57. 1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
Education
Job
Class
Dominant
Average
Speaker N
Authoritative
Controlling
Powerful
OK
Strong
Friendly
Pleasant
Attractive
Good
Confident
Intelligent
Hardworking
Reliable
Ambitious
Competent
Very Good
Educated
58. 1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
Education
Job
Class
Dominant
Average
Speaker B
Authoritative
Controlling
Powerful
OK
Strong
Friendly
Pleasant
Attractive
Good
Confident
Intelligent
Hardworking
Reliable
Ambitious
Competent
Very Good
Educated
59. 1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
Education
Job
Class
Dominant
Average
Speaker S
Authoritative
Controlling
Powerful
OK
Strong
Friendly
Pleasant
Attractive
Good
Confident
Intelligent
Hardworking
Reliable
Ambitious
Competent
Very Good
Educated
60. We cannot observe a clear relation
between language skills and their
perception of NNS.
62. Our results show:
1. Accents of NNS have strong influence
on the speaker‘s perception
2. NS-like pronunciation equals higher
competence
3. Results suggest that NNS are tougher
in their judgement of other NNS
63. These results support
NS-like pronunciation
as a learning target
for language teaching
and teaching
English as a Lingua Franca.
65. Data
http://appv3.sgizmo.com/reportsview/?key=88773-316586-
b2609de858d6b7305da3c125c046a93d
Password: guest
Bibliography
Jenkins, J. (2002), A Sociolinguistically Based, Empirically Researched
Pronunciation Syllabus for English as an International Language,
Applied Linguistics 23/I, 83–103.
Jenkins, J. (2009), World Englishes. Milton Park, New York: Routledge.
Kuo, I. (2006), Addressing the issue of teaching English as a lingua franca,
ELT Journal Volume 60/3 July 2006: 213–221.
Bayart, D. et.al. (2001), Pax Americana? Accent attitudinal evaluations in New
Zealand, Australia and America, Journal of Sociolinguistics 5/1, 2001: 22–49