A STUDY by the University of Leicester highlights the need for a new approach to the teaching of English pronunciation given that English is now a lingua franca, with more non-native speakers in the world than native speakers, according to Science Daily.
It suggests that the emphasis on “correct” pronunciation of English should be discontinued in favor of mutual intelligibility among non-native speakers. Therefore a Chinese or Indian speaker of English need not try to “disguise” his or her origin in seeking to speak English “properly” — instead they should feel free to speak with their dialects and accents so long as what they say is clear and intelligible. The goal of pronunciation teaching needs to be switched from achieving native-like pronunciation to aiming for intelligibility during communication, whilst at the same time preserving an individual’s identity.
Wafa Zoghbor, who handled the research, said, “I was taught English as a foreign language, and after years of learning standard English pronunciation, I found a wide gap between what I had been trying to achieve and the level of intelligibility required to communicate effectively. Very few users of English today will claim that aiming at native-like pronunciation is necessary or even desirable.”
According to the study, in 2008, there were three times as many non-native English language speakers as native speakers. Therefore, no one can say that everyone in the world is using the language incorrectly apart from the inner core of native speakers.
“It is difficult at this stage to confirm the findings of the quantitative data that has been collected as it is being processed. But through interviewing individuals who have been using English as a second language, the responses reveal that intelligibility is influenced by attitudinal more than phonological factors,” Zoghbor added.
