scholarly journals Varieties of English Accents: A Study of the Degree of Preference and Intelligibility Among Second-Year English Major Students at Maejo University

MANUSYA ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-169
Author(s):  
Daranee Choomthong ◽  
Supaporn Manowong
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Structure Interview ◽  
Depth Information ◽  
Sound System ◽  
Expanding Circle ◽  
Thai Students ◽  
English Major ◽  
Semi Structure Interview ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Second Year

Thailand is regarded as a country of the expanding circle (EC). The fact that English has become a working language in the asean community makes it vital that Thai students are aware of the varieties of English. The study examined the perception of English majors towards varieties of English pronunciation. Listening tasks spoken by speakers in the expanding circle (EC), the inner circle (IC) and outer circle (OC), were presented to students enrolled in a course on Sound and English Sound System. The students rated accent preference and intelligibility. A semi-structure interview was included for more in-depth information. The results revealed that the variety of English that was perceived as the most favorable accent by the participants was English spoken by speakers from IC. The participants were more aware of varieties of English, especially those spoken by non-native speakers of English. However, English spoken by speakers from the EC was perceived as the most intelligible.

scholarly journals Promoting English Speaking Confidence through Online Expanding Circle Communication

2021 ◽  
Vol 102 ◽  
pp. 01010
Author(s):  
Arifumi Saito ◽  
Younghyon Heo
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
International Language ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Expanding Circle ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Speaking Confidence ◽  
Reading Activities

This study explores how expanding circle communication (i.e., intercultural communication between “non-native” speakers of English) boosts the confidence of Japanese EFL learners by developing a positive attitude toward their own English. Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese university students participated in four sessions of online discussion. Since the idea of “English as an International Language” (EIL) is considered as a key to promote the learners’ positive mindset for what had been considered “non-native” English varieties and boost the confidence in their own English, it was introduced in the reading activities in each session. After the completion of four intercultural communication sessions, reflective writings on two questions asking 1) their self-confidence in speaking English and 2) their attitude about EIL were collected. The result shows that the expanding circle communication brought the Japanese participants to raise their confidence in speaking English in relatively high percentage (73%) of all cases. Regarding the attitude on EIL, on the other hand, students were divided into two groups with the negative (43%) and positive (57%) attitude. In this study, therefore, the gap in the percentage between the participants’ confidence in speaking English and attitude on EIL was examined and discussed.

scholarly journals The Effects of L2 Experience and Vowel Context on the Perceptual Assimilation of English Fricatives by L2 Thai Learners

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patchanok Kitikanan
Keyword(s):  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Perceived Similarity ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Sound System ◽  
Vowel Context ◽  
Thai Students ◽  
English Major ◽  
Back Vowel ◽  
Shed Light

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of vowel context and language experience in the perceived similarity between L2 English fricatives and Thai sounds. The target English sounds being investigated were the sounds /v, f, w, θ, tʰ, s, ð, d, z, ʃ, t͡ʃ/. These sounds were elicited from four native English speakers in words in onset position and followed by three vowel contexts: high, low and back. Subjects were 54 Thai students divided into two groups: English-major and non-English-major. These Thai learners were asked to identify the sounds they heard with the Thai sounds that were closest in their perception. The findings showed that 1) all shared sounds were matched with the same L1 categories, suggesting that the existence of L2 sounds in the L1 sound system supports the perception; 2) most non-shared sounds, except English /θ/ were matched to Thai sounds that were suggested in previous literature; 3) the perceived similarity of English /θ/ and the L1 Thai sounds showed the effect of the vowel context in that this sound was mostly matched with Thai /f/ in the high and low vowel contexts whereas in the back vowel context, it was matched with Thai /s/; 4) the perceived similarities of both shared and non-shared sounds were affected by vowel context and language experience. The findings of this study shed light on the importance exploring perceived similarities and differences in the phonetic level rather than the phonological one.

A Computer Corpus-Based Study of Chinese EFL Learners’ Use of Adverbial Connectors and Its Implications for Building a Language-Based Learning Environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Fei Deng ◽  
Timothy V. Rasinski
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
General Tendency ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
English Major ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

This research adopts the methodology of corpus-based analysis and contrastive interlanguage analysis (CIA), using three corpora as the data source to analyze the adverbial connectors used by Chinese EFL (English as a foreign language) learners (i.e., university students in Guangzhou, China) in their written English. Major findings show that Chinese EFL learners have displayed a general tendency to overuse English adverbial connectors in terms of total tokens when compared with native speakers of English, and Chinese EFL learners deviate notably from the native speakers of English in the use of some individual English adverbial connectors. The research explores that Chinese EFL learners’ use of English adverbial connectors might be influenced by L1 transfer, writing handbooks’ and teachers’ instruction, learners’ lack of audience awareness, and lack of stylistic awareness. The research has some implications for language learning: a large collection of learner corpora, a target language's native speakers corpus, a learner's mother language corpus, and corpus software AntConc can complement textbooks in language learners’ deep learning process, constituting a language-based learning environment for human languages with reduced perplexity and increased accuracy.

scholarly journals Do you Like My English? Thai Students’ Attitudes towards Five Different Asian Accents

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rusma Kalra ◽  
Chayada Thanavisuth
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Indian English ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Thai Students ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Accented English ◽  
Japanese English

This research aims to explore how Thai speakers of English perceive their Asian peers’ accented English and evaluate the acceptability of their accents namely Burmese English, Chinese English, Indian English, Japanese English, and Vietnamese English. The participants were eighty undergraduate students at an International University in Thailand where English is used as a medium of instruction. They were asked to listen to five recorded speech extracts taken from five different intermediate-level reading passages. A triangulated study is used to examine the data from different angle including a questionnaire survey in a Likert-type scale and a follow-up semi-structured interview. The Index of Item Objective Congruence (IOC) and Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient were also applied to assure the content validity of the research methodology. The results in this study indicated that Thai student participants were easily able to identify that five speakers were all non-native speakers of English. The majority preferred Indian accented English to other accented Englishes. Most participants showed negative attitudes towards Japanese and Burmese accented English. It is somewhat conclusive that the participants still believe that a native-like accent is overvalued their perceived English accents.

scholarly journals A Corpus-Based Comparative Study of Chinese EFL Learners’ Use of Temporal Metaphor in English

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Yi Guo
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
English Major ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

This paper adopted a corpus-based approach to compare the uses of the conceptual metaphor “TIME IS MONEY” between Chinese non-English major college students and native speakers of English. The results revealed no direct correspondence between frequency of metaphorical use and proficiency level of English. While EFL learners differed with native speakers in terms of the diversity of metaphorical uses, the patterns of high-frequency uses were similar between the two groups. Chinese EFL learners were prone to produce unidiomatic metaphorical expressions that literally make sense. These expressions could be the mixed results of negative L1 transfer and insufficient L2 proficiency, especially the lack of adequate semantic knowledge in English. To language learners, conceptual metaphor in L2 cannot be randomly created, but has to be acquired with the help of the cultural knowledge embedded in the metaphorical expressions.

scholarly journals Is Google Trends a reliable way to determine digital dental epidemiology?

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (Suppl. 1) ◽  
pp. 38-46
Author(s):  
Devrim Deniz Üner ◽  
Bozan Serhat İzol
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Google Trends ◽  
Depth Information ◽  
Search Query ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Search Data ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
New Phenomena

Aim: Google Trends, which allows Internet users to interact with and search data, can provide in-depth information about new phenomena regarding population and health-related behavior and is a tool that can be accessed free of charge. With the widespread use of dental implants in almost every country in the world today, an increase has also been reported in the prevalence of peri-implantitis (PP), which is a peri-implant disease. The aim of this study is to determine whether the rates of PP that were obtained from previous studies on this disease are in line with the data obtained using Google Trends. Methodology: Using observational, ecological research, we searched Google Trends for the following query terms: peri implantitis + periimplantitis, to obtain the volume of this Internet search query. The queries were searched within Spain (ES), Germany (DE), the Netherlands (NL), the United Kingdom (UK), and Turkey from January 2010 to December 2019. Results: An examination of the search results for “peri-implantitis + peri-implantitis” on Google Trends found that the largest numbers of searches for these words were made from the country of ES, and the smallest numbers were made from Turkey. It took two years to make forecasts based on the results, and the study determined that there has been a change in the trends in countries that were searched for these words. Also, the results obtained in previous studies for the prevalence of peri-implantitis were not similar to the data obtained from Google Trends. Conclusion: We concluded in this study that Google Trends is not a reliable tool for dental epidemiology.   How to cite this article: Üner DD, İzol BS. Is Google Trends a reliable way to determine digital dental epidemiology? Int Dent Res 2021;11(Suppl.1):38-46. https://doi.org/10.5577/intdentres.2021.vol11.suppl1.7   Linguistic Revision: The English in this manuscript has been checked by at least two professional editors, both native speakers of English.

scholarly journals Let's Move It Move It: Thais’ Attitude Toward English as a Lingua Franca

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 716-723
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Dawala Wilang ◽  
Piyathat Siripol
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
American English ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Multicultural Environment ◽  
Expanding Circle ◽  
Let's Move ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Concentric Circles

Recently, a Facebook group under the name "โยกย้าย มาส่ายสะโพกโยกย้าย" (Let's move it move it) brought together Thais around the globe who share a similar goal of moving abroad. One of the most popular discussions was their concern over their English language skills and the “move-in” country of preference. Since this virtual community is an interesting context to explore, a survey questionnaire was distributed online to know their attitudes toward English as a lingua franca (ELF). To know if Thais' attitude on EFL differs based on their "move-in" country of preference, the participants were categorized based on Kachruvian three concentric circles – Inner, Outer, and Expanding as well as Any circle – a combination of two or more circle. Findings show the strongly favorable attitudes of Thais toward the following aspects - the focus on intelligibility, the use of English to communicate with both native and non-native speakers of English, learning materials for a multicultural environment, and exposure to varieties of English. Despite the favorable attitude, the Expanding circle and Any circle groups strongly agreed that Standard British or American English should be taught. All circles disagreed that "any linguistic use that does not conform to Standard English is incorrect." Discussions of results were provided in the study.

scholarly journals Native-speakerism revisited: Global Englishes, ELT and intercultural communication

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-129
Author(s):  
Fan (Gabriel) Fang
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Language Functions ◽  
Education Experience ◽  
Expanding Circle ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
English Speaking

The English language functions as a global lingua franca, and as the number of non-native speakers of English surpasses the number of native speakers of English, the ideology of native-speakerism is challenged. Viewing from the paradigm of Global Englishes (GE), English is no longer the sole property of its native speakers. This paper first discusses and presents a general picture regarding standard language ideology and the ideology of native-speakerism, and links the notion to how such ideas would exert an influence on teacher recruitment and intercultural communication in English language teaching (ELT). This paper then employs narrative inquiry from Chinese ELT professionals who have education experience abroad to reveal how they negotiate their professional identities in relation to privilege and marginalization when working with native English speaking colleagues. This paper argues for the importance of moving beyond the idealized native speaker model from the GE paradigm to challenge the ideology of native-speakerism in various aspects of ELT, in particular, in expanding circle contexts.

Identity and Accents: Do Students Really Want to Speak Like Native Speakers of English?

RELC Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 003368822093924
Author(s):  
Melinda L.F. KONG ◽  
Hye In KANG
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
School Students ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Expanding Circle ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Native English Speaking Teachers

There is a growing recognition of diverse settings and different varieties of English and accents. However, there seems to be a lack of research on the investments and views of Expanding Circle students who relocate to study in Asian Outer Circle countries, especially on the identities of proficient speakers and/or teachers of English. This study attempts to fill this gap by examining the perceptions of Korean secondary school students in Malaysia through online questions and face-to-face interviews. Among others, findings suggest that the students had investments not only in English but also in their own sociocultural identities which were connected to their own accents. The students also felt that proficient English speakers and/or teachers should have pronunciation and accents that they could understand and that they were familiar with. Since they could not understand some of their native English-speaking teachers (NESTs), they did not feel that a person needed to be a native speaker in order to be a proficient speaker of English. Neither did they have any desire to imitate native speakers’ accents in learning to be proficient speakers because their own accents could be understood. The findings of this study suggest that NESTs may not necessarily be ideal English speakers with accents that need to be imitated. Instead, teaching and learning English should focus on communication between interlocutors from various contexts.

scholarly journals THE PRODUCTION OF ENGLISH CONSONANTS /θ/ AND /ð/ BY ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-44
Author(s):  
Diah Merrita
Keyword(s):  
Formal Education ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Year ◽  
English Department ◽  
Word Position ◽  
Audio Recordings ◽  
English Major ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Interdental Fricatives ◽  
Consonant Sounds

Indonesians have been taking much concern in English since it has been applied in formal education curricula. Also, not all Indonesians are familiar with English pronunciation, especially its characteristics in phonemes. Some English consonants even do not exist in Indonesian consonants such as the sounds /θ/ and /ð/ categorized as voiceless and voiced interdental fricatives. Due to this concern, this study investigates the production of English voiced and voiceless interdental consonants uttered by English Department students as non-native speakers of English using the Praat application. There were eight undergraduate first-year English major students as the respondents. The researcher gave them eighteen words consisting of /θ/ and /ð/ sounds in initial, medial, and final word-position. The data are in audio recordings. The result revealed that most students changed the voiced interdental fricative into consonants such as /d/ and /t/. This inappropriate way also happened when they produced voiceless interdental fricatives. They changed /θ/ sound into consonant sounds such as /d/ and /t/.

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