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Chapter 5. Cause for optimism

Non-native pre-service teachers' attitudes towards and beliefs about accent
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Abstract

The current chapter explores the beliefs and attitudes of Czech pre-service teachers towards native and non-native accents. Specifically, we were interested in how accent attitudes contribute to the process of forming non-native teacher identities, viewed from both real and imagined L2 user/teacher perspectives. On the one hand, the results indicate a growing acceptance of one’s accentedness and, simultaneously, a highly motivational character of native-like aspirations. On the other hand, English teachers are perceived as role models and, consequently, a high standard of performance is expected in terms of nativeness. We argue that more emphasis should be placed on excellence in pedagogical skills in teacher training in order to counterbalance the unattainability of the imagined native selves.

Abstract

The current chapter explores the beliefs and attitudes of Czech pre-service teachers towards native and non-native accents. Specifically, we were interested in how accent attitudes contribute to the process of forming non-native teacher identities, viewed from both real and imagined L2 user/teacher perspectives. On the one hand, the results indicate a growing acceptance of one’s accentedness and, simultaneously, a highly motivational character of native-like aspirations. On the other hand, English teachers are perceived as role models and, consequently, a high standard of performance is expected in terms of nativeness. We argue that more emphasis should be placed on excellence in pedagogical skills in teacher training in order to counterbalance the unattainability of the imagined native selves.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. List of tables vii
  4. List of figures ix
  5. Acknowledgements xi
  6. Contributors xiii
  7. Chapter 1. Advancing towards research-informed pronunciation pedagogy 1
  8. Part I. Linking research and practice
  9. Chapter 2. Connecting the dots between pronunciation research and practice 17
  10. Chapter 3. When a psycholinguist enters the multilingual classroom 39
  11. Part II. Surveying beliefs, attitudes and classroom practices
  12. Chapter 4. Teaching English pronunciation in Croatian elementary schools 63
  13. Chapter 5. Cause for optimism 91
  14. Chapter 6. Summative and formative pronunciation assessment in Polish secondary schools 119
  15. Chapter 7. Pronunciation learning strategies 147
  16. Part III. Using corpora to inform instruction
  17. Chapter 8. The intonation contour of non-finality revisited 175
  18. Chapter 9. Rationale and design of a study of foreign-accented academic English 197
  19. Chapter 10. Corrective feedback and unintelligibility 223
  20. Part IV. Investigating learners’ output
  21. Chapter 11. Acquisition of English onset consonant clusters by L1 Chinese speakers 255
  22. Chapter 12. Vowel reduction in English grammatical words by Macedonian EFL learners 279
  23. Part V. Exploring tools and techniques
  24. Chapter 13. Integrating prosodic features in a children’s English course 305
  25. Chapter 14. Differential effects of lexical and non-lexical high-variability phonetic training on the production of L2 vowels 327
  26. Chapter 15. Mobile apps for pronunciation training 357
  27. Index 385
English Pronunciation Instruction
This chapter is in the book English Pronunciation Instruction
https://doi.org/10.1075/aals.19.05cer

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. List of tables vii
  4. List of figures ix
  5. Acknowledgements xi
  6. Contributors xiii
  7. Chapter 1. Advancing towards research-informed pronunciation pedagogy 1
  8. Part I. Linking research and practice
  9. Chapter 2. Connecting the dots between pronunciation research and practice 17
  10. Chapter 3. When a psycholinguist enters the multilingual classroom 39
  11. Part II. Surveying beliefs, attitudes and classroom practices
  12. Chapter 4. Teaching English pronunciation in Croatian elementary schools 63
  13. Chapter 5. Cause for optimism 91
  14. Chapter 6. Summative and formative pronunciation assessment in Polish secondary schools 119
  15. Chapter 7. Pronunciation learning strategies 147
  16. Part III. Using corpora to inform instruction
  17. Chapter 8. The intonation contour of non-finality revisited 175
  18. Chapter 9. Rationale and design of a study of foreign-accented academic English 197
  19. Chapter 10. Corrective feedback and unintelligibility 223
  20. Part IV. Investigating learners’ output
  21. Chapter 11. Acquisition of English onset consonant clusters by L1 Chinese speakers 255
  22. Chapter 12. Vowel reduction in English grammatical words by Macedonian EFL learners 279
  23. Part V. Exploring tools and techniques
  24. Chapter 13. Integrating prosodic features in a children’s English course 305
  25. Chapter 14. Differential effects of lexical and non-lexical high-variability phonetic training on the production of L2 vowels 327
  26. Chapter 15. Mobile apps for pronunciation training 357
  27. Index 385
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