English is an essential language for L2 learners to communicate in this era of internationalization. Accordingly, L2 learners have had a better chance of communicating with non-native speakers rather than native speakers of English. In line with the c...
English is an essential language for L2 learners to communicate in this era of internationalization. Accordingly, L2 learners have had a better chance of communicating with non-native speakers rather than native speakers of English. In line with the changes of the English-language environment, it is thus necessary for L2 learners to be exposed and learn different varieties of English pronunciation for good communication with non-native speakers who have different linguistic cultures.
The purpose of this study is to investigate how various English accents in a regular English class of a Korea high school affect students’English listening ability and their perception of English as an International Language(EIL) including affective domains and language attitudes.
The researcher selected 8 different English accents such as British, Australian, South African, Irish, Hong Kong and Filipino English to incorporate EIL into the English class as well as the teaching materials. The speakers of each English accent were asked to rerecord the scripts taken from EBS workbooks. Over 3 weeks and 8 class periods, the rerecorded English listening materials were provided to 2 experimental groups of 42 Korean high school students as input. One group was exposed to British, South African and Hong Kong English accents, and the other group was to Australian, Irish and Filipino English. Meanwhile, another 42 students serving the control group were presented with an American accent only which they were familiar with.
During the first and last class, both experimental and control groups were involved in pre- and post listening comprehension tests, which consisted of 18 questions each, recorded by the 8 different English accents chosen by the researcher. After the pre- and post listening comprehension tests were conducted, pre- and post questionnaires were employed to both groups; the former aimed to collect information related to students’ English learning experiences, general understanding of EIL including affective domains and language attitudes towards various English accents. The latter aimed to examine any changes in general perception of EIL including affective domains and language attitudes. A semantic differential scale, which included 8 statements, was provided to evaluate their language attitudes toward unfamiliar English accents and its users.
By conducting this study, the researcher posited 2 questions: first, how would various English accents affect the Korean high school students' listening comprehension? How would the effect vary according to the level of students' listening ability? Second, how would various English accents affect the affective domains and language attitudes of the students? To answer these questions, the data from the listening comprehension tests, questionnaires, and semantic differential scales were all analyzed by using SPSS 20.0 program.
The results of this study are as follows: First, there was a significant improvement in the post listening test compared with the pre-listening test in every group. However, there was no significant difference between the groups, despite the fact that the experimental groups were exposed to various English accents for 3 weeks and 8 class periods. Also, there was a significant increase in the post listening test of both the high and low level of students in every group. Lastly, as for American accent, there was no significant difference in the control group exposed to the American accent during the classes, but there was a significant improvement in the experimental group exposed to British, South African and Hong Kong accents. This suggests that listening to various accents can lead to the improvement of listening to an American accent. As for British, South Africa and Hong Kong accents, there was meaningful improvement only in the experimental group 1 exposed to these accents. Likewise, as for Australian, Irish and Filipino accents, there was a significant improvement only in the other experimental group exposed to Australian, Irish and Filipino accents. Finally, as for Chinese and Japanese accents, which weren't exposed to any groups, there was significant improvement in the experimental groups that listened to various accents. This implies that learners exposed to various accents can understand unfamiliar English accents better.
Second, in both experimental groups, there was a significant and positive improvement in the perception of EIL of the participants in the post questionnaire compared with the pre-questionnaire. In the control group, there was a meaningful increase in only 2 items: the relation between English pronunciation and education level, confidence in their own pronunciation. There was no increase in the perception level of EIL, the interest and need of various English accents. In addition, there was a considerable difference in the perception of EIL among the groups. As a result of a post hoc test, there was a significant difference between the experimental group 1 and the control group in every item except for the 3rd item, the interest of various English accents, but the experimental group 2 had higher results in every item than the control group. In other words, both experimental groups indicated a significant increase compared to the control group in every item except for the 3rd item. Therefore, the two experimental groups, which had been exposed to diverse English accents, showed there were positive changes in their understanding of EIL as well positive changes to their affective domains.
Finally, in both experimental groups, there was a positive improvement in language attitudes in every item in post questionnaire. This means that using different English accents in listening class positively affected the language attitudes towards these accents. In addition to this, the Hong Kong pronunciation of experimental group 1 and Filipino pronunciation of experimental group 2, produced negative effects on the items such as preference and motivation for studying. This indicates that Korean language learners tend to be hesitant towards foreign-accented pronunciation of English.
Several pedagogical implications can be derived from the results of this study. First, it is necessary for Korean high school students to be prepared for a variety of English accents since listening competence is a fundamental skill for better communication. There was not a marked effect on the understanding of various English accents due to the short term of this study. However, it would be expected that there will be a greater improvement in students' listening ability if students are given enough time to study varieties of English pronunciations in further empirical research.
Second, in view of EIL, students could begin to be aware of English as an international language and eventually communicate with people around the world in their Korean-accented English with confidence if the current listening materials including monolingual language input are converted into more varieties of English.
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