Native Speaker Norms Research Articles

Variation in Non-native Speech: How Far Do Non-native Speakers Replicate Target Constraints on Variation? A Novel Approach

This paper introduces a new framework to analyze how non-native speakers adhere to native-speaker norms of variation in contact settings. The author focuses on a well-established phonological variable in both native and contact-induced varieties of English: consonant cluster reduction. This process involves either dropping or maintaining a final coronal stop (t,d) in a consonant cluster in words such as "mind" and "west." The paper uses standard variationist methodologies to establish the constraints on consonant cluster reduction in a native-speaker group (Wellingtonian English) and a non-native speaker sample (Arab migrants to Wellington). The study then compares these constraints, identifying any changes introduced by non-native speakers. The results show that the non-native group is highly attuned to dialect-specific aspects of variation and demonstrates a deletion rate close to native speakers. Additionally, they exhibit a strong transfer of target articulatory constraints related to consonant cluster reduction and acquire the social cues associated with this variation. Interestingly, these patterns of variation in non-native speech are consistent across similar non-native groups, irrespective of first language, proficiency in English, and the complexity of the target constraints on variation.

Our gateway is your gatekeeper: benefits and constraints of EMI for different participants in Japanese ELF contexts

Abstract This paper explores the interconnectedness of gatekeeper and gateway roles the same English-medium instruction (EMI) policy plays for different student populations at different times. The research site is located in an EMI programme at a Japanese university, where, for international students, EMI opens a gateway to the university, Japanese ability not being required at the entry point, whereas the same policy plays a gatekeeping role for Japanese students, a high English proficiency level based on native English speaker (NES) norms being required. However, for international students with plans to work for Japanese companies after graduation, their low Japanese ability starts playing a gatekeeping role for their future career, contrary to the situation at the outset. In contrast, Japanese students, who initially struggle to get used to EMI, after a few years, become empowered by their ability to use English as a lingua franca (ELF), which becomes a gateway to new career opportunities. Thus, the same EMI policy could play opposing roles for different student populations at different times, a gateway turning gatekeeper for one group, while for another, the initial gatekeeper turning gateway after some time. The exploration is mostly based on our interview data with EMI graduates at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Implications for language policy will also be discussed.

Prospective English language teachers' understandings of global English language teaching

AbstractDespite various calls for a thorough re‐conceptualization of current English language teaching (ELT) practices, incorporating courses for critical perspectives on linguistic and cultural diversity is still a major challenge in most teacher education programmes in many English as a foreign language (EFL) countries. Therefore, we explored the evolving perspectives of English as a global language among Turkish pre‐service English teachers (PELTs) in response to a global Englishes‐focused curriculum. Using self‐report data, the study reveals participants' complex and diverse views on language varieties in English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) communication, driven by various reasons. After a GE‐oriented course, most participants shifted to plurilithic orientations as they softened their beliefs in native‐speaker English superiority and developed a more sophisticated understanding of English. Seven participants with monolithic orientation appeared to reduce the complex and dynamic nature of language to racialized stereotypes associated with native speaker norms. Based on the findings, how language orientations and ideologies may inform teacher preparation in language teaching was discussed. Several recommendations for further research and preparation of PELTs were made.

Inappropriate Identities: Racialized Language Ideologies and Sociolinguistic Competence in a Study Abroad Context

Abstract This article examines cases where two study abroad students—Rita and Jack—problematized the normative use of specific dialectal variants by local native speakers at the end of their Spanish immersion program in Peru. Specifically, it explores what these cases reveal about second language learners’ sociolinguistic competence in a study abroad context involving their knowledge of native speaker norms and the contextual appropriateness of target language variation. An analysis of ethnographic data suggests that Rita and Jack interpreted the appropriate use of sociolinguistic variation from the local variety of Andean Spanish by drawing on prevalent racialized language ideologies in the host community that link non-standard variants to an indigenous identity imagined as incompetent in Spanish. These findings validate a need for alternative analytic frameworks that conceptualize second language learners’ development of sociolinguistic competence in terms of language ideologies rather than objective sets of normative native speaker practices. This study advances calls to develop L2 learners’ critical language awareness through curricular innovation and critical pedagogies in study abroad programs.

Repositioning Corrective Feedback to a Meaning-Orientated Approach in the English Language Classroom

The practice of Corrective Feedback (CF), which is situated within a Second Language Acquisition (SLA) Paradigm, is currently positioned towards an accuracy-orientated delivery based on native speaker norms. This is despite the recognition in different areas of linguistic research that there is considerable variation in the way that English is spoken around the world. This paper argues that the epistemological assumptions and methodological approaches to investigate CF within an SLA paradigm have various underlying weaknesses that undermine research findings. These findings purport to provide support for an accuracy-orientated CF in the English classroom. However, it is suggested in this paper that a meaning-orientated CF would be more reflective and beneficial for students given the transformative changes that have occurred to English over the past 30 years. This perspective is discussed in relation to one teacher’s approach to CF who participated in a larger project which examined CF conducted in a British-Sino University.

The learning potential of English as a lingua franca contexts in the eyes of study abroad students

This paper presents insights from two interview studies with the aim of shedding light on the learning potential of studying abroad in an area where English is used as a lingua franca. The majority of previous research on study abroad focuses on students’ experiences of studying abroad in target-language regions, for example learners of English studying abroad in English-speaking countries. To date, the learning potential of spending time in English as a lingua franca (ELF) contexts remains an under-researched area. The present paper draws on two separate interview studies that have been conducted with five Turkish and five Swiss study abroad students that stayed in different European ELF contexts as part of their studies at higher education institutions. The data suggests that even though the participants still partially adhere to native speaker norms, they also discuss a number of characteristics of English as a lingua franca study abroad (ELFSA) contexts that they deem conducive to learning English and enhancing their plurilingual competences.

Production of Acoustic Correlates of Stress by L2 Spanish-Speaking Immigrants to Spain

Little work has examined the L2 acquisition of Spanish stress, and especially the production of its acoustic correlates, and the work that has is largely limited to inexperienced learners. This study examines the production of stress by L1 English/L2 Spanish speakers who are highly experienced with their L2, having lived much of their adult lives as immigrants in Spain. Data were collected from the reading of a short story, an extended reading with a plot was provided so that participants would not be focused on their pronunciation, thus producing speech closer to spontaneous speech while still allowing for control over what they produced. Intensity, duration, pitch and deaccenting were examined and the results from the L2 learners were compared to a control group of native speakers from Spain who performed the same task. While only one L2 learner’s stress production could be classified as completely native-like, as a group, their stress production approximated native speaker norms to a greater degree than has been found for most other aspects of L2 Spanish pronunciation in previous research. Nonetheless, L2 learners seemed to transfer duration patterns from their L1 into their L2 Spanish and also deaccented stressed syllables nearly twice as often as native speakers.

WRITTEN AND SPOKEN DISCOURSE MARKERS: ATTITUDES OF KURDISH EFL UNIVERSITY INSTRUCTORS

Taking written and spoken discourse into considerations, Discourse Markers are regarded as crucial elements of written and spoken discourse by native speakers of English. In addition, their pivotal role and use are also inevitable in EFL Language classrooms. Thus, the current study aims to investigate the attitudes of Kurdish EFL University instructors concerning the role and use of Discourse Markers with regard to Pedagogic value, Identification with the native speaker norm, Pragmatic value, Dispensable value, Acceptance of the local usage, how Discourse Markers are represented in EFL classrooms, and how they should be highlighted in EFL classrooms. A questionnaire was distributed to 106 Kurdish EFL instructors at various universities in Kurdistan Region. The quantitative findings revealed that the instructors had positive attitudes towards the role and use of written and spoken Discourse Markers in EFL classrooms. Discourse Markers were found to have both pragmatic and pedagogic values but they were underrepresented in written and spoken materials in Kurdish EFL classrooms and were not highlighted by the instructors in their writing and speaking classes. The study requires the integration of Discourse Markers in the curriculum for both language productive skills. The implications that were drawn from this study for further studies were to investigate role and use of Discourse Markers in the receptive skills of language and the learners’ perceptions concerning this role or use.

Orchestrating multimodal resources in English language teaching: a critical study of an online English teaching video

ABSTRACT This study develops a framework that integrates multimodality and translanguaging to analyze meaning-making in an online English teaching video. We consider pedagogy as more than teaching approaches and methods, but as a process of design that is realized by the orchestration of multimodal semiotic resources. In terms of multimodal analysis, we systematically transcribed the configuration of resources used in different stages and moves of an online English teaching video on YouTube, and how they work together to achieve the objectives of the lesson. From a translanguaging perspective, we employ the notion of “orchestration” to understand how resources in the teacher’s repertoire work together. The analysis demonstrates how multimodal resources are intertwined to construct meaning that cannot be captured by studying them in isolation. A critical analysis of the video was conducted to determine the extent to which translanguaging pedagogy and raciolinguistic ideologies are found in the video. The study concludes that not only is it important to consider multimodal design of online videos; the social justice agenda of a translanguaging pedagogy that eschews native-speaker norms and raciolinguistic ideologies is equally important, especially for learners from diverse linguacultural backgrounds.

A STUDY OF VIETNAMESE TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICE IN TEACHING ENGLISH LITERATURE IN THE CONTEXT OF ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA

At the tertiary level, English literature, as a theoretical subject, is an obligatory course in most English departments teaching students majoring in English due to the inextricable link between literature and language. The incorporation of literature into teaching language becomes intriguing when English adopts its role as a lingua franca (ELF), a means of communication among people of different mother tongues and cultural backgrounds. The study aims at exploring the perceptions of six Vietnamese teachers of English literature from five major universities in Hochiminh City by using unstructured interview, which focuses on two main aspects namely, (1) their perception of ELF, i.e. awareness as well as evaluation of its status in Vietnam, and (2) its influence on their teaching philosophy and practice in English Literature courses. Results show that despite their appreciation of ELF, English is considered a foreign language (EFL) rather than a lingua franca in the Vietnamese context. However, a number of concepts associated with ELF, which the participants value influence their teaching in terms of material selection, and class activities but not assessment where the native speaker norms concerning language use are respected.

English as a lingua franca and linguistic justice: insights from exchange students’ experiences

Abstract This paper focuses on English as a lingua franca, an area of research that has gone through several phases of reconceptualization over recent years. What has not changed despite the reframing is the insistence that ELF, with its focus on intelligibility rather than formal accuracy, is not to be judged on the basis of standard English norms. In response to these claims, researchers have argued from linguo-political and philosophical perspectives that re-labelling English ‘ELF’ does not remove native-speaker privileges and linguistic injustice. This paper addresses the topic by presenting some results of an investigation into students’ language choices and practises during study abroad. Drawing on data gained by means of a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews, it will show that, despite their use of English in lingua franca situations, a considerable number of students adhere to standard English as an appropriate model and measure their own proficiency in English and progress in language learning against native-speaker norms.

Politeness in a Moroccan EFL Classroom: How Students of High School Using Apologizing Strategies in English?

This qualitative/quantitative study investigates Moroccan high school EFL learners’ apologizing strategies based upon a theoretical framework of politeness strategies and the Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realization Patterns (CCSARP) model. It investigates whether they approach native speakers’ apology norms or their own cultural way of apologizing. To achieve this goal, four first-year baccalaureate classes (Science Experimental Physics major) were observed and then a sample of 64 subjects was randomly selected to fill in a written discourse completion test which had 6 apology situations. All the responses are classified according to both politeness strategies and CCSARP model used by Blum-kulka et al. (1989). The observed classes during the training showed that Moroccan first-year baccalaureate students used an off-record super strategy while apologizing (the use of hints) to the teacher, whereas the teacher used positive politeness while addressing his pupils. The results of the discourse completion test (DCT) revealed that Illocutionary indicating devices (IFIDs) plus an explanation of account (IFIDs + Account) is the most frequently used apology strategy by the subjects. More than 60% employed this semantic formula in all six situations. The use of IFIDs and explanation of account were significantly linked to the effect of subjects’ L1 and due to the impact of their own collective-agency culture. Hence, choosing to use that strategy by the subjects was pragmatically unsuccessful and would be inappropriate by the apologizer since it does not meet the apology norms of native speakers of English, and it indicates and follows the Moroccan culture norms and rules. The paper concludes with some practical suggestions for improving the teaching of apologies.

EAP corrective feedback in an EMI setting: Student and teacher beliefs

This study examines the oral corrective feedback (CF) beliefs of Chinese students and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) tutors in an English Medium Instruction (EMI) setting in China. Despite considerable variation in spoken English around the world many EAP tutors tend to correct students' spoken language in relation to native speaker norms, while for students the native model is constructed as the ideal model. This exploratory study looks at listening and speaking classes on an EMI undergraduate preparatory course at a Sino-British University in China. This paper focuses on classes delivered by three different EAP teachers and draws on the beliefs of these teachers and their students, as expressed through interviews. The study revealed variation in students' opinions about CF, with some asserting the limited importance of CF and an acceptance of language variability, with others stressing the importance of accurate language. For their part, the EAP teachers feel it is important to correct students because of language policy, assessment, and student expectations, while also being open to language variation. This paper proposes that CF needs to be reorientated to reflect the changing social environments in which English is spoken, from the current ‘form focused correction’ to ‘meaning focused correction’.

Agency and feedback-seeking: academic English socialization of L2 students in Hong Kong

This paper extends our understanding of agency in second language (L2) students’ academic English socialization by reporting on an investigation into how two mainland Chinese doctoral students enacted their agency in feedback-seeking for improving academic English writing during their studies in an English-medium university in Hong Kong. The findings show that the ways in which they exercised their agency to seek language feedback from socializing agents varied between individuals and in different feedback-seeking contexts. In particular, their enactments of feedback-seeking agency are found to be differentially shaped not only by their academic writing goals, but also by the habitus derived from their past experiences and the forms of social and cultural capital they accumulated prior to and during their doctoral studies. The findings also reveal that their language ideologies regarding the role of native-speaker norms in academic English writing mediated their feedback-seeking agency by exerting influence on their academic writing goals and their perceptions of different socializing agents as affordances for their language socialization. Overall, this paper offers more nuanced understandings of agency in L2 students’ academic English socialization and illustrates the complex and dynamic interplay between agency, goal, habitus, capital and language ideology in shaping their feedback-seeking behaviour.

Global Englishes as a complement to traditional instruction: students’ conceptualizations and pedagogical strategies

ABSTRACT The spread of English as a global language has sparked debate over how language should be taught and learned and the optimal connection between traditional and Global Englishes (GE) approaches to teaching English as a second/foreign language. According to the GE approach, teaching and learning English might focus more on different contexts than rules of Standard English based on native speaker norms, particularly in Asia, where varieties of English occur, and English is mainly taught as a foreign language. Data were collected using a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews before being subjected to descriptive statistics and content analysis. The results indicate that students had three core beliefs: 1) native speakers are better teachers, 2) native speakers model the norm, and 3) native speaker cultures represent an ideal. Simultaneously, some students dissented from those beliefs, and others indicated a preference for pedagogy that included aspects of GE. This study argues for employing the traditional approach as a foundation with units that engage with English, as practised in India, East Africa, Southeast Asia, and other countries. The study also suggests specific techniques for incorporating GE learning modules into regular instruction so that students comprehend English as a language of both continuity and change.

The Assessment of Chinese Children's English Vocabulary-A Culturally Appropriate Receptive Vocabulary Test for Young Chinese Learners of English.

Millions of Chinese children learn English at increasingly younger ages. Yet when it comes to measuring proficiency, educators, and researchers rely on assessments that have been developed for L1 learners and/or for different cultural contexts, or on non-validated, individually designed tests. We developed the Assessment of Chinese Children’s English Vocabulary test (ACCE-V) to address the need for a validated, culturally appropriate receptive vocabulary test, designed specifically for young Chinese learners. The items are drawn from current teaching materials used in China, and the depictions of people and objects are culturally appropriate. We evaluated the instrument’s reliability and validity in two field tests with a combined sample size of 1,092 children (181 children for the first field test and 911 children for the second field test, age range from 3.1 to 7.7, mean age: 5.2. Item Response Theory (IRT) analyses show that the ACCE-V is sufficiently sensitive to capture different proficiency levels and that it has good psychometric properties. ACCE-V scores were correlated with Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test scores, indicating concurrent validity. We found that children’s age and English learning experience can significantly predict the scores of ACCE-V, but the effect of English learning experience is greater. The ACCE-V thus offers an alternative to existing vocabulary tests. We argue that culturally appropriate assessments like the ACCE-V are fairer to learners and help promote an English learning and teaching environment that is less dominated by Western cultures and native speaker norms.

The Ideology of English-as-the-global-language in Taiwan’s Private English Language Schools

English is regarded as a key to globalization or internationalization and future success for Taiwan and its people. One of the most extraordinary results of English-as-the-global-language of English teaching and learning in Taiwan is private English language schools are ubiquitous. Research into how private English language schools weld together English-as-the-global-language and English teaching and learning has yet received much attention. This study aims to investigate how Taiwan’s private English language schools’ television commercials market English-as-the-global-language and what the underlying ideologies of English-as-the-global-language are. Exploring the ideology of English-as-the-global-language, Critical Discourse Analysis was employed herein to analyze 106 private English language school television commercials produced from 2000 to 2020 in Taiwan. The results indicate that English as the key to internationalization and future success is an ideology. Moreover, the ideological concept of English-as-the-global-language is central to English teaching and learning ideologies in Taiwan, such as an early start in English learning, English-only as the ideal English teaching method, and native-speaker norms in English teaching and learning.

Language education from a post-native-speakerist perspective: The case of English as an international language

Language education has traditionally been based on native-speakerism, which is defined in the present article, by simplifying Hollidays original definition, as a belief in the authority or superiority of native speakers. With the prevalence of native-speakerism, it tends to be taken for granted that non-native speakers should strive to accommodate themselves to native speaker models. However, in todays globalized world, such a conventional attitude is quickly becoming outdated. Above all, a most serious problem with native-speakerism is that it suppresses the freedom of thought and expression as fundamental human rights. Drawing on the case of English as an international language, this study aims to analyze the need for post-native-speakerism (a term attributed to Houghton and Hashimoto) in language teaching, or the need for relativizing native speaker norms for language learners. After illustrating major issues of native-speakerism, three theoretical paradigms for post-native-speakerism in global Englishes are presented, namely EIL (English as an International Language), WE (World Englishes), and ELF (English as a Lingua Franca), along with a prospect for integrating those different frameworks especially for pedagogical purposes. Then, educational objectives are summarized in terms of language skills, followed by the authors own examples of teaching methodologies and actual classroom practices in higher education. Several key concepts for EIL education emerge from these pedagogical efforts, including authenticity and critical literacy. In view of the urge to embrace diversity in the world today, this paper argues that post-native-speakerism is of vital importance as it allows language users to express their true selves in global communication. While many of the discussions in the present article stem from linguacultural and educational situations in Japan, it is assumed that the insights should often be applicable also to other Expanding Circle, or EFL (English as a Foreign Language), countries such as Russia and China.

ELF-sensitive teaching from the perspective of Polish trainee teachers

The advance of English as a lingua franca (ELF) is believed to carry implications for English language teaching and language assessment. The present contribution is an attitudinal study carried out among trainee teachers of English in a Polish university setting. The study sets out to investigate whether trainee teachers have a positive attitude towards ELF-sensitive teaching and whether their receptiveness (or lack thereof) to the concept in question is reflected in how they approach correcting language forms regarded as regular features of ELF. The findings show that there are elements of ELF pedagogy that respondents seem to be enthusiastic about – they readily acknowledge the importance of accommodation skills and they want students in the classroom to be exposed to many different non-standard English varieties. As regards the correction of non-standard English, respondents display a norm-driven approach, especially when teaching a student who they need to help pass an examination in the near future. In the conclusion of the paper, it is stated that respondents react positively to some aspects of ELF-sensitive teaching, but they show strong attachment to native-speaker norms, accuracy and the traditional notion of error, which is reflected in their approach to correcting nonstandard language items.

Investigating the Awareness of Elf among College of Education Tutors in the Ashanti Region of Ghana

The study sought to investigate ELF awareness among CoE tutors of English in Ashanti Region of Ghana. This study employed the descriptive survey design. A total 48 participants were selected from 8 Colleges of Education for the study using the purposive sampling. Data were collected using a six-point Likert-type scale questionnaire. Data analysis and presentation of results were done using Mean and Standard Deviation. The study revealed that ELF awareness can help improve practice in terms of assessment, and designing test items around attainable non- native speaker norms. The study further indicated that ELF awareness is beneficial and therefore the need for it. It was recommended that Tutors should seek ways of acquiring attitudes that can help them create congenial atmosphere for teaching and learning as/ this is needed by students to understand what their teachers teach them.