We examined the naturalistic pronunciation development of two groups of L2 speakers over 10 years. Initially, 50 beginner ESL students participated in production tasks; despite attrition, the tasks were administered eight more times. Here we report listener judgements of accentedness, comprehensibility and fluency for the remaining six Mandarin…

This article examines language classrooms as communicative settings for learners' development of sociolinguistic competence involving target language variation in a study abroad context. Specifically, it investigates how two Spanish teachers in Peru imparted knowledge of the social and contextual appropriateness of local linguistic variants that…

This mixed-methods study investigated Chinese tertiary-level students' perceptions of different English accents existing in mainland China. Also examined were their perception changes and factors that contributed to their perception changes. An electronic questionnaire survey was employed to investigate the general trend and the possible…

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the effects of sentence context, accent strength, and second language (L2) listening proficiency on word recognition accuracy and transcription time among Chinese learners of English for Pakistani-accented English. Method: Speech stimuli included 48 isolated words and 48 highly constraining sentences, each…

This study adopts Goffman's Frame Analysis theory to examine the discursive identity construction of Chinese Hui Muslims. Excerpts from a conversation within a Chinese Muslim family were qualitatively analyzed, and two examples were presented to represent the ways that the participants use linguistic and discursive resources to construct a unique…

To examine speaker role models (SRMs) in second language acquisition (SLA), this study explored the sociolinguistic "English as a lingua franca" (ELF) perspective targeting international intelligibility. Thus, it examined the way ELF learners align with self-selected English speakers and anonymous (audio-recorded) English speakers as…

This study explores ESL learners' perceptions of using high-variability phonetic training (HVPT) through YouGlish to improve pronunciation skills. Data were collected through an online questionnaire completed by 70 upper-intermediate level ESL learners and semistructured interviews with 20 learners. The collected data were analyzed statistically…

Bringing to the field of third language (L3) research a new population of speakers, namely heritage speaker (HS) L3 learners, this study investigates the accents of 19 German-Italian HSs in L3 English. In an accent rating experiment, the speech samples of the HSs and three control groups (monolingual speakers of English, Italian, and German) were…

The many permutations of spoken English have called for an interrogation into the notions of 'standard English' and 'native accents'. Despite their problematic nature, these terms remain commonly used, and familiarity with 'standard', inner-circle varieties of English is typical among L2 English speakers, differences in education and language…

This study reports on the development of "Parlure Games" and explores its pedagogical affordances. "Parlure Games" is a multi-dialectal listening and decolonial conversation tool created to address the absence of variable speech (including speech markers associated with native speaker status, regional dialect, age, and race)…

Explicit pronunciation instruction has been shown to be effective in improving language learners' pronunciation, yet it is not clear whether the same can be said about implicit pronunciation instruction. In addition, the role of orthography in improving language learners' pronunciation is yet to be fully understood. Thus, this research examined…

This paper examines university students' perceptions towards different English accent varieties and their non-unitary and conflicting identity (re)construction responding the changing configuration of English in China. Findings from interviews and diaries indicate that the participants' perceptions appear to be under the substantial influence of…

This cross-sectional study addresses for the first time the non/linear association between individual learner differences of social, proficiency-related, and socioaffective nature (length of residence [LoR], varietal proficiency, exposure, and socioaffect) and differential outcomes in L2 sociolinguistic repertoires against the backdrop of the…

As part of a larger project that investigates the issue of identities in Hong Kong, this study anchored on the sociocognitive paradigm in second language acquisition (SLA) explores the potential relationship between one's identity and perceived language accentedness. Our study set in Hong Kong (HK) aims to extend Gatbonton and colleagues' works…

Despite scholars' advocacy of intelligibility over nativelikeness in the EFL education context, many learners still seem to favour standard British and American accents. However, comparisons across studies have shown some changes in learners' perceptions, suggesting a move away from standard accent orientation. This article reports part of a…