Understanding Pre-service EFL Teachers’ Attitudes towards Pronunciation and Awareness of World Englishes

Abstract

The global spread of English has resulted in a vast plurality of accents and dialects, challenging the dominance of native-speaker norms in language pedagogy. Given the importance of linguistic diversity in effective English instruction, this study investigates the attitudes of Turkish pre-service EFL teachers toward English pronunciation and accents, as well as their awareness of World Englishes. A total of 84 participants from a state university in Türkiye took part in the study. The data were collected through an English pronunciation questionnaire and an awareness test. Findings indicate that most pre-service teachers hold an idealized view of native speaker norms, favoring American and British accents. However, a significant discrepancy exists between their self-reported accent awareness and their actual performance on the awareness test, as many participants demonstrated difficulty in distinguishing among various accents, even their own accents (Turkish-accented English). This gap highlights the urgent need for greater emphasis on linguistic diversity in teacher education programs to enhance candidates' awareness of World Englishes.

Keywords

• English as a foreign Language (EFL)
• World Englishes (WE)
• pronunciation
• attitudes
• awareness

İngilizce Öğretmen Adaylarının Telaffuza Yönelik Tutumları ve Dünya İngilizceleri Farkındalığı

Abstract

İngilizcenin küresel yayılımı, çok sayıda aksan ve lehçenin ortaya çıkmasına neden olarak dil pedagojisinde anadili İngilizce olan konuşurların normlarının hakimiyetini sorgulanır hale getirmiştir. Dil çeşitliliğinin etkili İngilizce öğretimi için taşıdığı önem göz önünde bulundurularak, bu çalışma, Türkiye'deki İngilizce öğretmeni adaylarının İngilizce telaffuz ve aksanlara yönelik tutumlarını ve Dünya İngilizceleri farkındalıklarını araştırmaktadır. Çalışmaya Türkiye'deki bir devlet üniversitesinden toplam 84 katılımcı dahil olmuştur. Veriler, bir İngilizce telaffuz anketi ve bir farkındalık testi aracılığıyla toplanmıştır. Bulgular, çoğu öğretmen adayının Amerikan ve İngiliz aksanlarını tercih ettiğini ve ana dili konuşuru normlarına ilişkin idealize edilmiş bir görüşe sahip olduğunu göstermektedir. Ancak, katılımcıların öz-bildirim yoluyla ifade ettikleri aksan farkındalığı ile aksan farkındalık testindeki gerçek performansları arasında kayda değer bir uyumsuzluk bulunmaktadır; birçok katılımcı çeşitli aksanları, hatta kendi aksanlarını (Türk aksanlı İngilizce) ayırt etmekte zorlanmıştır. Bu bulgu, öğretmen eğitimi programlarında dilsel çeşitliliğe daha fazla önem verilerek adayların Dünya İngilizceleri farkındalıklarının artırılması gerekliliğine işaret etmektedir.

Keywords

• Yabancı dil olarak İngilizce
• Dünya İngilizceleri
• telaffuz
• tutumlar
• farkındalık

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