The role of accent and ethnicity in the professional and academic context

Language learning may be affected by a language instructor’s accent. Many studies have been carried out to investigate whether accent has an influence on learners’ perceptions toward their instructors or whether accent can affect employability. This overview links studies on accents through an empir...

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Main Authors: Chan, Swee Heng, Abdullah, Ain Nadzimah, Thamer Ahmed, Zainab
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Australian International Academic Centre 2013
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/27896/1/The%20Role%20of%20Accent%20and%20Ethnicity%20in%20the%20Professional%20and%20Academic%20Context.pdf
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author Chan, Swee Heng
Abdullah, Ain Nadzimah
Thamer Ahmed, Zainab
author_facet Chan, Swee Heng
Abdullah, Ain Nadzimah
Thamer Ahmed, Zainab
author_sort Chan, Swee Heng
collection UPM
description Language learning may be affected by a language instructor’s accent. Many studies have been carried out to investigate whether accent has an influence on learners’ perceptions toward their instructors or whether accent can affect employability. This overview links studies on accents through an empirical literature review on native and non-native accents, summarizing the most significant studies conducted to investigate learners’ attitude toward accents. The learners as participants are both non-native and native speakers of a language. The results of the review demonstrated that speakers who use the standard language are preferred for prestigious jobs, whereas the nonstandard accented speakers are preferred for low-status jobs. Moreover, British and American accents are the most preferred by learners of English. Thus, the learners tended to show positive attitudes toward American and British accents and also adopt these varieties as models of pronunciation for their learning of English. In this review, limitations of some studies are highlighted and some implications for future studies related to accents, language learning at tertiary level and employability are discussed.
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spelling upm.eprints-278962015-11-26T01:40:29Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/27896/ The role of accent and ethnicity in the professional and academic context Chan, Swee Heng Abdullah, Ain Nadzimah Thamer Ahmed, Zainab Language learning may be affected by a language instructor’s accent. Many studies have been carried out to investigate whether accent has an influence on learners’ perceptions toward their instructors or whether accent can affect employability. This overview links studies on accents through an empirical literature review on native and non-native accents, summarizing the most significant studies conducted to investigate learners’ attitude toward accents. The learners as participants are both non-native and native speakers of a language. The results of the review demonstrated that speakers who use the standard language are preferred for prestigious jobs, whereas the nonstandard accented speakers are preferred for low-status jobs. Moreover, British and American accents are the most preferred by learners of English. Thus, the learners tended to show positive attitudes toward American and British accents and also adopt these varieties as models of pronunciation for their learning of English. In this review, limitations of some studies are highlighted and some implications for future studies related to accents, language learning at tertiary level and employability are discussed. Australian International Academic Centre 2013 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/27896/1/The%20Role%20of%20Accent%20and%20Ethnicity%20in%20the%20Professional%20and%20Academic%20Context.pdf Chan, Swee Heng and Abdullah, Ain Nadzimah and Thamer Ahmed, Zainab (2013) The role of accent and ethnicity in the professional and academic context. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 2 (5). pp. 249-258. ISSN 2200-3592; ESSN: 2200-3452 http://www.journals.aiac.org.au/index.php/IJALEL/article/view/1020
spellingShingle Chan, Swee Heng
Abdullah, Ain Nadzimah
Thamer Ahmed, Zainab
The role of accent and ethnicity in the professional and academic context
title The role of accent and ethnicity in the professional and academic context
title_full The role of accent and ethnicity in the professional and academic context
title_fullStr The role of accent and ethnicity in the professional and academic context
title_full_unstemmed The role of accent and ethnicity in the professional and academic context
title_short The role of accent and ethnicity in the professional and academic context
title_sort role of accent and ethnicity in the professional and academic context
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/27896/1/The%20Role%20of%20Accent%20and%20Ethnicity%20in%20the%20Professional%20and%20Academic%20Context.pdf
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