An Analysis of ESL Learner Preferences for Native Accent Retention and Reduction

Abstract

Though most ESL learners desire a “native-like” pronunciation, researchers have observed that some may want to retain features of their L1accents as a means of maintaining identity. This raises important questions about the best ways to teach L2 pronunciation. Therefore, the aims of this study were to discover how pervasive a preference for accent retention may be and to identify possible reasons learners exhibit this preference. To accomplish this, a scale was designed to assess a preference for accent retention, and potential explanatory variables were identified. Analyses of 350 ESL learners identified varying levels of a preference for accent retention, and revealed three significant predictors of this tendency. This article explores possible reasons for the observed results, including an effort to unify the findings through what is referred to as a propensity for proximal linguistic status. Some considerations for ESL pronunciation pedagogy are also discussed.

Keywords

• Pronunciation pedagogy, accent retention, accent reduction

References

1. Anderson, L. W. & Bourke, S. F.(2000). Assessing Affective Characteristics in the Schools (2nd ed.). London: Lawrence Erlbaum.
2. Bailey, B. (2000). Language and negotiation of ethnic/racial identity among Dominican Americans. Language in Society, 29, 555–582.
3. Block, D. (2003). The social turn in SLA. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
4. Cerullo, K. (1997). Identity construction: New issues, new directions. Annual Review of Sociology, 23, 385–409.
5. Chiswick, B. R. & Miller, P. W.(2005). Linguistic distance: A quantitative measure of the distance between English and other languages. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 26(1), 1-11.
6. Corder, S. P. (1981). Error analysis and interlanguage. London: Oxford University Press.
7. Crystal, D. (1997). English as a global language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
8. Crystal, D. (1987)The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

9. Dauer, R. M. (2005). The lingua franca core: A new model for pronunciation instruction? TESOL Quarterly, 39, 543-550.
10. Derwing,T.M.(2003).What do ESL students say about their accents? Canadian Modern Language Review, 59,547–566.
11. Derwing, T. M.& Munro, M. J. (2005). Second language accent and pronunciation teaching: A research-based approach. TESOL Quarterly, 39, 379-397.
12. Derwing, T. M., & Munro, M. J. (2009). Putting accent in its place: Rethinking obstacles to communication. Language Teaching, 42, 476-490.
13. DeVellis, R. F. (2003). Scale development: Theory and applications (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
14. Fabrigar, L. R., Wegener, D. T., Mac Callum, R. C., & Strahan, E. J. (1999). Evaluating the use of exploratory factor analysis in psychological research. Psychological Methods, 4, 272-299.
15. Flege, J. E. (1988). The production and perception of foreign language speech sounds. In H. Winitz (Ed.), Human communication and its disorders, (pp. 224-401). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
16. Flege, J. E., Munro, M. J., & MacKay, I. R. A. (1995). Factors affecting strength of perceived foreign accent in a second language. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 97, 3125-3134.
17. Gatbonton, E., Trofimovich, P. & Magid, M. (2005). Learners' ethnic group affiliation and L2 pronunciation accuracy: A sociolinguistic investigation. TESOL Quarterly, 39, 489-511.
18. Giles, H. (1970). Evaluational reactions to accents. Educational Review, 22, 211-227.
19. Golombek, P. &Rehn Jordan, S. (2005). Becoming ‘blacklambs’ not ‘parrots’: A poststructuralist orientation to intelligibility and identity. TESOL Quarterly 39, 513–533.
20. Hair, J.F. Jr, Anderson, R.E., Tatham, R.L., Black, W.C. (1998), Multivariate data analysis (5th ed.), Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
21. Jenkins, J. (2000).The phonology of English as an international language: New models, new norms, new goals. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
22. Jenkins, J. (2002). A sociolinguistically based, empirically researched pronunciation syllabus for English as an international language. Applied Linguistics, 23, 83–103.
23. Jenkins, J. (2005). Implementing an international approach to English pronunciation: The role of teacher attitudes and identity. TESOL Quarterly, 39, 535-543.
24. Jenkins, J. (2006). Current perspectives on teaching world English and English as a lingua franca. TESOL Journal, 40, 157–81.
25. Kachru, B. B. (1997). World Englishes in 2000: Resources for research and teaching. In L. E Smith &M. L. Forman (Eds.), World Englishes 2000(pp. 209–251). Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.
26. Lambert, W., Hodgson, R., Gardner, R., & Fillenbaum, S. (1960). Evaluational reactions to spoken languages. Journal of Abnormal Social Psychology, 60, 44-51.
27. Lippi-Green, R. (1997). English with an accent: Language, ideology, and discrimination in the United States. New York: Routledge.
28. Lybeck, K. (2002). Cultural identification and second language pronunciation of Americans in Norway. The Modern Language Journal, 86, 174-191.
29. Marx, N. (2002). Never quite a ‘native speaker’: Accent and identity in the L2 - and the L1(FN1). Canadian Modern Language Review, 59, 264-281.
30. Morley, J. (1998, January/February). Trippingly on the tongue: Putting serious speech/pronunciation instruction back in the TESOL equation. ESL Magazine, 20-23.
31. Munro, M. J. (2003). American accent discrimination in the Canadian context. TESL Canada Journal, 20,38–51.
32. Munro, M. J., Derwing, T. M., & Sato, K. (2006). Salient accents, covert attitudes: Consciousness-raising for pre-service second language teachers. Prospect: An Australian Journal of TESOL, 21, 65-77.
33. Norton, B. (2000).Identity and language learning: Gender, ethnicity and educational change. Esgender, UK: Pearson Education.
34. Odlin, T. (1989). Language transfer: Cross-linguistic influence in language learning. New York: Cambridge University Press.
35. Pavlenko, A., & Blackledge, A. (Eds.) (2004). Negotiation of identities in multilingual contexts. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
36. Pennington, M., & Richards, J. (1986). Pronunciation revisited. TESOL Quarterly, 20, 207-225.
37. Piske, T., MacKay, I.R.A., & Flege, J. E. (2001). Factors affecting degree of foreign accent in an L2: a review. Journal of Phonetics, 29, 191-215.
38. Porter,D. &Garvin, S. (1989). Attitudes to pronunciation in EFL. Speak Out!, 5,8–15.
39. Purcell, E., & Suter, R. (1980). Predictors of pronunciation accuracy: A reexamination. Language Learning, 30 (2), 271-287.
40. Rajadurai, J. (2007). Intelligibility studies: A consideration of empirical and ideological issues. World Englishes, 26, 87-98.
41. Rokeach M. (1973). The nature of human values. New York: Free Press.
42. Scovel, T. (2000). A critical review of the critical period research. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 20, 213-223.
43. Scovel, T. (1988). A time to speak: A psycholinguistic inquiry into the critical period for human speech. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
44. Simon, E. (2005). How native-like do you want to sound? A study of the pronunciation target of advanced learners of English in Flanders. Moderna Sprak, 99, 12-21.
45. Timmis, I. (2002).Native speaker norms and International English: A classroom view.ELT Journal, 56,240–249.
46. Tokuhama-Espinosa, T. (2008). Living languages: Multilingualism across the lifespan. Praeger Publishing.