Factors that Influence Learners' Listening Comprehension of Standard English Accents

92 Pages·2014·1.23 MB·English

Factors that Influence Learners’ Listening
Comprehension of Standard English Accents
(SE & GA)

Samuel Antonio Gonzalez Gervacio

Bachelor of Arts in English Language

University of Veracruz
The English Department at the School of Languages

Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
1st July, 2013
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Factors that Influence Learners’ Listening
Comprehension of Standard English Accents
(SE & GA)

A dissertation submitted to the English Department at the School of
Languages by

SAMUEL ANTONIO GONZALEZ GERVACIO

In conformity with the Requirements for the Degree Bachelor of Arts in
English Language at

UNIVERSIDAD VERACRUZANA

Xalapa-Enríquez, Veracruz, Mexico
1st July, 2013

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Factors that Influence Learners’ Listening Comprehension of Standard
English Accents (SE & GA)

by

Samuel Antonio Gonzalez Gervacio

Approved for submittal to the English Department at the School of Languages for
consideration of granting graduation within this BA:

María del Pilar Balbuena Ortega, MA.
Dissertation Advisor

Lorena Amelia Mercado Lara, BA.
First Reader

José Fernando Alarcón González, MA.
Second Reader

1ST JULY, 2013
DATE
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© 2013
Samuel Antonio Gonzalez Gervacio
ALL RIGHT RESERVED

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ABSTRACT
The aim of this research is to find out which Standard English accent advanced learners at
the School of Languages from the University of Veracruz understand more. Although there
is a wide range of accents in English, it was opted for Standard British English
Pronunciation, SE, and Standard American English Pronunciation –or General American–,
GA, which are also the main accents taught in this school. The pertinence of this research
lay in the fact it examined the factors that may affect learners’ listening comprehension in
regard to accents as the specialist have suggested: familiarity, exposure, learners’ attitude,
preference and perception as well as comprehension and intelligibility. Three instruments
were designed for this research: a survey, a focus group and listening comprehension tests,
which were answered by 12 learners (25% of the population). The results show that
advanced learners are more familiar with and exposed to GA inside the classroom despite
utilising a text book which is meant to target SE. Learners also have positive attitudes and
strong perceptions towards both accents, which incline them to desire to heard and practise
GA rather than SE (preference). Furthermore, it proves, firstly, that advanced learners are
not able to understand standard accents at the same rate as it is set out on the curriculum of
this BA and, secondly, accent is a relevant linguistic feature EFL teachers should take into
consideration because it affects learners’ listening comprehension.

Keywords: advanced learners (students), accent, standard accent, Standard British English
Pronunciation, SE, Standard American English Pronunciation, GA, familiarity, exposure,
comprehension, intelligibility, attitude, perception, preference...

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
There are a number of people without whom this dissertation might not have been
completed, and to whom I am greatly indebted. For this, I do not find it hard to express my
sincere gratitude to them. The order in which I acknowledge and mention names is based
on a cultural perspective rather than their contributions. All those I mention here played
such a decisive role not only on conducting this research, but my life as an undergraduate
student.

First of all, I want to thank my family who taught me how to deal with tasks in favourable
as well as unfavourable conditions. I am really thankful to my mother who showed her
support when I stood myself up studying the English BA. I am also grateful to my father
who has showed me the face of life outside a school as well as supported me morally and
financially in any goal I have set out. Thanks to both of them for providing me with an
everlasting education. I also appreciate my siblings’ supporting attitude towards my
endeavours.

I express my deepest appreciation to my advisor, Professor Pilar Balbuena, for guiding me
throughout the whole research process. Miss Pilly continually and convincingly conveys a
spirit of commitment to research and excitement over teaching. Without her guidance,
experience and persistent help, this dissertation would not have been completed. I want also
to thank her for mentoring and inspiring me in regard to teaching English as a foreign
language during these years of training at the School of Languages.

I would also like to thank Teacher Lorena Mercado whose commitment and attitude
towards this project lead me to complete it. Her feedback on my writing and suggestions
about the process of researching allowed me to reach out some parameters for a humanistic
research in the international scene. In addition, I acknowledge Professor Fernando Alarcón
for advising me in regard to researching and allowing me to carry out it despite the adverse
conditions, letting me know that when there’s a will, there’s a way.

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Had I not made the acquaintance of Professor Adriana Evelin Garrido Hernández, I would
not have pursued any goal I have set out so far. Her kindness, commitment and
professionalism make her one of the greatest teachers I look up to the most. Although I do
not think I can thank her enough for her recommendations, suggestions, support, trust and
affection, I express my sincere gratitude to her for orientating my interest in improving my
linguistic skills in English and living different experiences at home and overseas.

Thanks to all my friends who made this journey enjoyable, all my teachers and professors
who contributed towards my learning, the students who participated in this project as
subjects as well as my alma mater, the University of Veracruz, for training me a
professional.

Last but not least, Thank you, Lord, for your blessings throughout all these years.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 10
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................... 15
2.1 DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS ........................................................................................... 15
2.1.1 LISTENING .............................................................................................................. 15
2.1.2 ACCENT ................................................................................................................... 16
2.2 THE EFFECT OF ACCENT ON LISTENING COMPREHENSION ............................... 16
2.3 THE IMPORTANCE OF AN ACCENT AS A MODEL IN LEARNING LANGUAGE . 18
2.3.1 STANDARD BRITISH ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION ........................................ 19
2.3.2 STANDARD AMERICAN ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION ................................... 19
3.4 FACTORS WHEREBY EFL LEARNERS MAY UNDERSTAND ONE STANDARD
ACCENT MORE THAN THE OTHER ................................................................................... 20
3.4.1 FAMILIARITY AND INTELLIGIBILITY ............................................................. 20
3.4.2 PERCEPTIONS, ATTITUDES AND PREFERENCES .......................................... 22
3.4.3 THE ROLE OF STANDARD ACCENTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL SCENE .. 24
3.4.4 THE MASS MEDIA ................................................................................................. 25
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................... 27
3.1 METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................................. 27
3.2 GENERAL CONTEXT OF THE EXPLANATORY CASE STUDY ................................ 27
3.3 PARTICIPANTS................................................................................................................. 29
3.4 DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS AND PROCESS ............................................... 29
3.4.1 Survey ....................................................................................................................... 30
3.4.2 Focus Group .............................................................................................................. 30
3.4.3. Listening Comprehension Test ................................................................................ 31
3.5 ANALYSIS PROCESS ....................................................................................................... 32
3.5.1 Survey ....................................................................................................................... 32
3.5.2. Focus Group ............................................................................................................. 32
3.5.3 Listening Comprehension Test ................................................................................. 32
3.5.4 Data Triangulation .................................................................................................... 32
3.6 CATEGORIZATION OF RESEARCH DATA .................................................................. 33
CHAPTER IV FINDINGS ............................................................................................................ 34
4.1 Accent as a Linguistic Feature in Listening Comprehension .......................................... 36
4.2 Familiarity with and Exposure to Standard English Accents .............................................. 39
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4.3 Intelligibility and Comprehension of Standard English Accents ........................................ 42
4.4 Learners’ Perceptions towards and Preferences for Standard English Accents .................. 44
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH ..................... 47
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................. 51
APPENDICES .................................................................................................................................. 59
APPENDIX 1 – THE DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS ................................................. 59
APPENDIX 2 – TRANSCRIPTIONS .......................................................................................... 63
APPENDIX 3 – EMAILS ............................................................................................................. 83
APPENDIX 4 – COLLECTED DATA ......................................................................................... 85

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, English is spoken by a large number of people all around the world. English
makes it possible to establish international trade and political agreements, not to mention
communication with people from almost every country, having become a global language.
These seem to be the main reasons or purposes why people are interested in learning this
language. This English of a worldwide domain is called International Language (EIL),
which is also referred to as lingua franca. Nonetheless, in Mexico, English is taught as a
Foreign Language (EFL, hereafter). Tioukalias (2010) points out that EFL teachers tend to
teach Standard English, specially the American and British dialects as they are considered
to be all-important to keep as teaching as well as learning models (Tioukalias, 2010;
Thörnstrad, 2008). In this situation, learning a foreign language embraces, among others,
the study of its grammar, lexis, phonetics, phonology, and semantics, which lead learners to
develop the four language skills to communicate effectively: writing, reading, speaking,
and listening. However, there is a linguistic feature which teachers do not pay attention to
when teaching, but it has been proved to affect learners’ pronunciation and listening
comprehension: Accent.

According to the Oxford Dictionary (2008), accent is “a distinctive mode of pronunciation
of a language, especially one associated with a particular nation, locality, or social class.”
Thus, it is inferred that every English-speaking country has its own types of pronunciation
so that learners have to deal with them when studying English. For this, accent is a factor of
great significance that should be taken into account when learning or teaching English: if
listeners do not understand speakers’ accent and vice versa, communication cannot take
place in an effective way. Bird (2005) emphasises the existence of native and non-native
English accents so that native speakers can be associated with a specific region, socio-
economic status, social class, gender, age and ethnicity –also the context can be set up–, but
for non-native speakers, their mother tongue can be identified (learners’ first language can
influence the way they speak or write the target language) and their accent can be ranked as
strong, slight or soft. On this matter, many EFL learners may have difficulty in
understanding other accents when they are used to their teachers’ that, surprisingly, they
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