Abstract
This study deals with the attitudes of EFL learners towards accent of Standard English and Pakistani English at public sector University Jamshoro. There are not much studies have done in Pakistani context, in order to investigate the attitudes of EFL learners towards accent of Pakistani English and Standard English. University of Sindh was selected as site of the study. Quantitative research method was used for this study and the close ended questionnaire was adopted from Parveen and Mehmood (2013) was used as a tool of the study. The random selection of the participants was done. They participants were 200 in number and they were the students of Institute of English Language and Literature, University of Sindh, Jamshoro. The data was collected online through google form. The data was analyzed using statistical methods. SPSS version 22 was employed to carry out the statistical operations. Quantitative data was analyzed through SPSS to draw mean, median mode and percentages for each item in the questionnaire. It was found that EFL learners’ attitude towards the accent of Standard English and Pakistani English was positive. If one is acquiring a standard accent of English as an additional ingredient to one's linguistic knowledge that would be okay in multiple concerns. On the other hand if it is being given exaggerated significance and is learned discriminatively, that would be matter of great debate around the globe to cease language crisis. Keywords: Attitudes, Quantitative, EFL learners, Standard English, Pakistani English, Accent DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/83-04 Publication date: November 30 th 2021
Highlights
English language is official language of Pakistan, it is the main reason that many of the institutes, in Pakistan, demand the fluency in English language
Research Methodology The present study aimed to conduct a quantitative survey with the EFL learners at a University of Sindh, Jamshoro in order to investigate their attitudes towards the accent of Pakistani English (PE) and Standard English (SE)
Findings and Discussion The results declared that, 96% of respondents said that they prefer to communicate in English and they enjoy speaking in English. 89% respondents agreed with it that Pakistani English is a different variety and believed that it is distinct from Standard English. 73% of participants agreed with it that English refers to Standard English accent. 85% respondents understand the notion of Standard English and can tell the difference between Pakistani English and Standard English. 67% respondents wanted to sound like Native speakers
Summary
English language is official language of Pakistan, it is the main reason that many of the institutes, in Pakistan, demand the fluency in English language. As a foreign language (ESL), is considered as a Second Language (ESL). While an attitude is a psychological hypothetical construct, it touches the truth of the existence of language. In the discussion of bilingualism, Baker (1988) emphasizes the value of attitudes. Attitudes range from being positive to being unfavorable. Attitudes are dynamic constructs; for example, positive and negative emotions, such as a language situation, can be attached to it The attitude of language depends on its tone, pronunciations, accent, speech style and dictionary or vocabulary. There are different variables used to either improve or to impair the attitudes of language. The verbal directions used for language, suggest the context of the language attitude and its comprehensive approach and outlook to design it (Garrett, 2007)
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