An Investigation of Attitudes towards Varieties of Spoken English in a Multi-lingual Environment

Abstract

The objective of this research is to investigate the attitude of Saudi students with regard to varieties of spoken English in a multi-lingual environment. For this objective, twenty-five students who are enrolled in the College of Languages & Translation / KKU were selected. The methods used is that they are made in EFL program to listen to two short texts read by a Standard South African native English speaker (SSAE) and a Standard Indian English (SIE) speaker. The participants rated each speaker's perceived accents and comprehensibility. The results show that each speaker’s accent influences the listeners perceptions. However, the SIE speaker is more highly rated than the SSAE speaker on measures of perceived accent, comprehensibility, and education. As far as ratings of perceived accent, comprehensibility and actual comprehension are concerned, they are not significantly different; this suggests that a strongly perceived accent and reduced perceived comprehensibility do not affect actual listener comprehension. In conclusion, this study suggests a need for more research on the relationship between perceived accent, comprehensibility and actual comprehension. As EFL students harbor traditional views of English, this study also suggests the need for the further development of programs focusing on linguistic diversity of English to combat linguistic stereotypes and standard language ideologies.