The Effects of Prestige Model Familiarity on Students’ Perceptions of and Interactions with Diverse English Accents

Abstract

For decades, English language students worldwide have been exposed to prestige L1 accent models, such as Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GA), often to the exclusion of all other varieties. However, the dominance of these models is questionable today with L2-L2 English communication considered the most common interaction pattern globally. This study was undertaken to understand the extent to which the exposure of L2 students to these models can affect their perception of diverse Englishes, such as those encountered while attending an international university. Thirty international students completed a pre-test questionnaire about their accent beliefs, followed by a Verbal Guise test. Although the questionnaire affirmed broadly positive opinions of prestige models, L2 accents were believed to be easier to understand, while the local model, Scottish Standard English (SSE), was believed to be extremely difficult. Results from the Verbal Guise test indicated most positive associations with the RP accent. However, participants selected the L2 Chinese accent as that which they liked the most, just surpassing the prestige models, potentially due to its native-like speech rate. Interestingly, though the local accent, SSE, was perceived poorly in the pre-test questionnaire, the Verbal Guise test results revealed far less severe views.