Hearing Pre-Service Teachers’ Voices and Accents: World Englishes in EFL Teacher Training

• Autores: Cristina Huertas Abril, Francisco J. Palacios Hidalgo
• Localización: Transformando la educación a través del conocimiento / coord. por José María Esteve Faubel, Aitana Fernández Sogorb, Rosabel Martínez Roig, Juan Francisco Álvarez Herrero, 2022, ISBN 978-84-19506-73-3, págs. 614-623
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Recently, the preference for Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GA) as standard models in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching has been called into question. In this sense, numerous scholars today advocate using a wider variety of accents (i.e., Scottish, Australian or Irish) for EFL learning based on the idea of World Englishes, emphasizing the importance of communication over similarity to English ‘native’ pronunciation. Using a mixed-methods approach and replicating two previous internationalstudies, this research explores the perceptions and opinions of pre-service teachers (n = 33) in their final year of the Degree in Primary Education (specialization in EFL) at the University of Córdoba (Spain) on the use ofnon-standard accents in EFL teaching and learning. For this purpose, participants’ exposure to different English accents and their reflection on the role of RP and GA in their future work as teachers are analyzed. The results show that the participants consider that non-native speakers of English should use neither RP nor GA, but an ‘international’ variety of English. As for the incorporation of accents other than RP or GA in listening comprehension exercises for EFL lessons, the participants are positive about the inclusion of different accents. The chapter ends with a discussion of the results and a reflection on the implications for EFL teacher education.