ESL Students’ Attitudes Toward Native- and Nonnative-Speaking Instructors’ Accents

Abstract

In teaching English as a Second Language (ESL), different treatment may be given to native-speaking and nonnative-speaking instructors by administrators and students. This article explores the attitudes of ESL students toward native English teachers and nonnative English teachers. After listening to audiotaped passages read by three native English speakers and three nonnative English speakers, participants completed an attitude survey on each variety. The results indicate that student attitudes toward teachers with different varieties of English is not correlated with whether a speaker’s accent is native or nonnative, but instead is correlated with the perception of whether the speaker is native or not. The results also suggest that student familiarity with an accent may be a primary factor in its perception as native or nonnative. Implications for administrators, nonnative-speaking English language educators, and students are discussed.