Purpose: Phonetic training has been found to be an effective way on second language (L2) learning, but the evidence is not conclusive regarding the effectiveness of different instructional approaches and possible interactions between language learners, training features, and outcome measures. This study aims to meta-analyze existing studies to…

Stress is an integral part of conveying meaning in English at not only the level of the word but also the phrase and rhetoric where it is exploited in English in literature, humor, advertising, and more. Simultaneously, stress marks language variation in regional, generational, and ethnic dialects. Thus, stress bears a great functional load and…

English language usage has increased in all areas of the world over the past few decades, and goals for learning English as a second language have changed from 'obtaining native-like proficiency' to 'gaining proficiency in dealing with English varieties' (Graddol, 2006). English as a foreign language (EFL) Thai students should be provided with…

Soon after Kachru (1992) promoted the notion of the World of English(es) through his 'inner-outer-expanding circle' principle, academic audiences started to recognize that the number of English nonnative speakers had noticeably surpassed that of native speakers. Such a phenomenon has encouraged English learners of diverse lingua-cultural…

Pronunciation teaching is an important stage in language learning activities. This article tackles the pronunciation scoring problem where research has demonstrated relatively low human-human and low human-machine agreement rates, which makes teachers skeptical about their relevance. To overcome these limitations, a fuzzy combination of two…

This dissertation investigates a typologically rare linguistic phenomenon found in Irish from three different perspectives: how it challenges phonological theory, how it is used by contemporary speakers, and how its written representation affects its acquisition. Initial consonant mutation (ICM), as it appears in the Celtic languages, is known to…

English as an international language (EIL) deals with the use of English in wider communication, both global and local contexts. In an EIL context, people with different mother tongue (L1) use English to share ideas and culture. That is why intelligible English which should be no longer normbound is needed. Teaching pronunciation for EIL,…

As the third largest nation of English speakers, the Philippines has become a popular destination for English language learning, especially for people in South East Asia. Yet, however you dress up popularity, we have to look beyond the headlines and see what kind of narrative is being constructed. A closer examination of detailed empirical…

While taking foreign language classes or interacting in the target language community, language learners will be exposed to dialectal differences. This paper addresses how adult learners of Spanish in beginning, intermediate, and advanced Spanish courses at a large US university perceived a common sociolinguistic feature of Spanish, /s/-weakening,…

While most research in applied linguistics has focused on second language (L2) speakers and their language capabilities, the success of interaction between such speakers and first language (L1) speakers also relies on the positive attitudes and communication skills of the L1 speakers. However, some research has suggested that many L1 speakers lack…

The teaching of native-like accents has been the aim of many EFL educationists long ago; however, this concept is heading towards a major change. Hence, the idea of this paper is based on Jenkins' (2000 & 2002) theory of English as an International Language (EIL). Jenkins' theory analyses the use of English by non-natives speakers (NNS) where…

Given the rising prominence of nonstandard varieties of English around the world (Jenkins 2007), learners of English as a second language are increasingly called on to communicate with speakers of both native and non-native nonstandard English varieties. In many classrooms around the world, however, learners continue to be exposed only to…

This article describes the use of African American English (AAE) in the written and oral language of African American adolescents who struggle with writing. Written and oral language samples of 22 African American 10th-grade students were transcribed, analyzed, and coded for AAE, grammatical errors, spelling errors, and punctuation errors. Four…

An attempt is made in this book to state some of the features of and dispel some of the myths about nonstandard English, particularly the dialects of English spoken by many black Americans, and to consider alternative policies that might be adopted regarding varied forms of English. The chapters of the book include "What Is the Problem?""Is…

RP" is Received Pronunciation." (DS)