A native-speaker or localised English pronunciation goal? Different views, experiences and concerns by students, teachers and the professionals in Hong Kong

Abstract

The emergence of new English varieties in the era of globalisation has focused scholarly attention on the choice of pronunciation targets in English language teaching (ELT). While this target is traditionally based on inner circle English varieties, World Englishes scholars have advocated the adoption of localised models in local classrooms because of their high attainability and greater relevance to local multilingual societies (Kirkpatrick 2007). This study used a mix-methods approach (including a questionnaire survey and interviews) to examine Hong Kong secondary school students’, teachers’ and professionals’ attitudes towards English varieties and, more importantly, their choice of pronunciation learning goals. The first stage of the research, namely a large-scale questionnaire survey (n=1893), is reported in Chan (2016), who provides a broad-bush picture about the participants’ differing experiences of real-life language use, knowledge of English globalisation, preferences of English varieties, perceptions of pronunciation teaching/learning and local cultural identity. Building upon these findings, this paper reports the results of 56 individual/focus group interviews with a specific focus on their choices among three goals for English pronunciation: (1) the NS standard, (2) an educated localised target and (3) an intelligibility-oriented goal. Although the findings indicate an overall Anglophone-centric attitude among the participants, they also reveal differences in factors affecting their choices (e.g. social status, cultural identity, learnability/teachability, intelligibility, language use experience, practical needs) depending on their education level, age and occupational background. Furthermore, the findings also reveal that the participants’ greater awareness of English use in international communication do not necessarily lead to a greater acceptance of the localised English learning target. By comparing the responses of various participant groups, the paper discusses the implications of these findings for contemporary ELT and the directions for future attitudinal research.