The Sound of Identity: An Investigation of Attitudes towards English Accents of Chinese Students Who Study in U.S. Colleges

Abstract

How Chinese students perceive their English accents and what kind of English accents they want have been topics of academic interest, particularly as English language has gained popularity in China and many Chinese students study abroad. The English accent that a speaker has can reflect the speaker's sense of personal and social identity. Despite the prior research on the attitudes towards English accents of Chinese students studying in Chinese universities, as more and more Chinese students choose to study abroad for colleges, little is known about the attitudes towards English accents of Chinese students studying in U.S. colleges. Using a questionnaire, this study investigates the extent to which Chinese undergraduate students in U.S. colleges are satisfied with their English accents and what kind of English accents they aspire to have. These findings are then compared to findings from a previous case study conducted among Chinese students in a Chinese college. This study also examines whether the experience in K-12 education and the English-use setting correlate with the attitudes of Chinese undergraduates in U.S. colleges towards English accents. Drawing upon the findings and the World Englishes (WE) framework, this study proposes that standardizing Chinese accents of English on the basis of intelligibility may make communications more comprehensible and at the same time retain the Chinese identity.