Pronunciation standards for the teacher of English: Near-Nativeness or Intelligibility?

Abstract

This article presents an experiment which was aimed at determining the English Language Teaching (ELT) majors’ views on the pronunciation of a competent English teacher. The relationship among intelligibility, comprehensibility and competence was explored in order to evaluate the necessity and possibility of updating the recommendations for teaching practical phonetics as a consequence of the spread of English as a lingua franca. A questionnaire and a semi-structured interview were used in order to collect quantitative and qualitative data respectively. The results revealed that English teachers who followed the Lingua Franca Core (LFC) were judged as significantly more intelligible and comprehensible to Russian ELT majors. This result proves the efficiency of LFC-based instruction if the goal is intelligibility. Native-sounding English teachers were rated as significantly more professionally competent despite their low intelligibility and comprehensibility, which supports the native-speaker bias previously described in scientific literature. The authors conclude that it is necessary to develop a new pronunciation model for the purposes of teaching phonetics to ELT majors, which would satisfy both their needs and desires by combining the LFC basis indispensable for intelligibility, with the features of native-speaker pronunciation, linked to the image of a competent professional.

References

1. Kolesnikova А.N., Korenev А.А. 2015. Teaching Tolerance to Foreign Accents at Phonetics Lessons in Language Colleges. Moscow State University Bulletin. Series 19: Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, no. 4, pp. 138–147. (In Russ.)

2. Proshina Z.G. 2018. Conceptions of the English Language Globalisation. Human Being: Image and Essence. Humanitarian Aspects, no. 1–2, pp. 32–33. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/kontseptsii-globalizatsii-angliyskogo-yazyka (accessed: 20.03.2020) (In Russ., abstract in Eng.)

3. Safonova V.V. 2015. Useful Lessons in Pan-European International Integration and Professional Intercultural Communication in the Context of Research Cooperation. Moscow State University Bulletin. Series 19: Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, no. 4, pp. 9–22. (In Russ.)

4. Blau E. 1990. The effect of syntax, speed, and pauses on listening comprehension. TESOL Quarterly, vol. 24. no. 4, pp. 746–753.

5. Brown A. 2008. Pronunciation and good language learners. In C. Griffiths (Ed.), Lessons from good language learners (pp. 197–207). Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

6. Cohen L., Manion L., Morrison K. 2018. Research Methods in Education (Eighth ed.). L., England; N.Y.

7. Derwing T.M., Munro M.J. 2005. Second Language Accent and Pronunciation Teaching: A Research-based Approach. TESOL Quarterly, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 379–398.

8. Guest G., Bunce A., Johnson L. 2006. How Many Interviews Are Enough? An Experiment with Data Saturation and Variability. Field Method, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 59–82.

9. Jenkins J. 2000. The Phonology of English as an International Language: New models, new norms, new goals. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

10. Matsuda A. 2012. Principles and Practices of Teaching English as an International Language. Bristol; Buffalo, Multilingual Matters.

11. Munro M., Derwing T. 1995. Foreign Accent, Comprehensibility, and Intelligibility in the Speech of Second Language Learners. Language Learning, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 73–97.

12. Nation I., Macalister J. 2010. Language Curriculum Design (ESL and Applied Linguistics Professional Series). N.Y.; L.

13. Osimk R. 2009. Decoding Sounds: An Experimental Approach to Intelligibility in ELF. Vienna English Working Papers, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 64–89.

14. Rahimi M., Ruzrokh S. 2018. The Impact of Teaching Lingua Franca Core on English as a Foreign Language Learners’ Intelligibility and Attitudes towards English Pronunciation. Asian Englishes, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 141–156.

15. Schwarz N., Knauper B., Hippler H., Noelle-Neumann E., Clark L. 1991. Rating Scales: Numeric Values May Change the Meaning of Scale Labels. Public Opinion Quarterly, vol. 55, no. 4, p. 570.

16. Seidlhofer B. 2011. Understanding English as a Lingua Franca. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

17. Wach A. 2001. Native-Speaker and English as a Lingua Franca Pronunciation Norms: English Majors’ Views. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 247–266.

18. Walkinshaw I., Oanh D.H. 2014. Native and Non-Native English Language Teachers: Student Perceptions in Vietnam and Japan. SAGE Open.

19. Zoghbor W. 2018. Teaching English Pronunciation to Multi-Dialect First Language Learners: The Revival of the Lingua Franca Core (LFC). System, vol. 78, pp. 1–14.