This paper tests claims concerning the English as Lingua Franca (ELF) movement's position within the world Englishes paradigm. To do so, it considers the writings of Jennifer Jenkins, a leader in this movement, on what she calls "phonological intelligibility", and the writings of Larry Smith, an established scholar on intelligibility in…

This article discusses the potential value of developing pupils' intercomprehension skills at elementary school. This development construes Europe as a plurilingual and intercultural space in which the linguistic and cultural identity of each community finds its place. However, the construction of Europe also faces the challenges of assuring…

When understanding or evaluating foreign-accented speech, listeners are affected not only by properties of the speech itself but by their own linguistic backgrounds and their experience with different speech varieties. Given the latter influence, it is not known to what degree a diverse group of listeners might share a response to second language…

Reviews the construct of speech intelligibility as expounded by Cathford half a century ago in a landmark treatise and in the collaborative efforts of Smith, Nelson, and Rafiqzad to examine its relevance to intercultural communication in a new millennium beset by the contradictory global tensions of homogeneity and fragmentation. (Author/VWL)

This book presents a range of views on the concept of the native speaker, considering psycholinguistic, linguistic, and sociolinguistic aspects. It examines the Critical Period Hypothesis; the role of the standard language; the kinds of knowledge (metalinguistic, discriminating, communicational, and skills) that the native speaker possesses; and…

Describes a project that aimed to find a more contextualized method of testing the comprehensibility of spoken language and then to use this method to test the comprehensibility of five native and nonnative varieties of South African English with as international an audience as time and resources would allow. (Author/VWL)

Ninety-eight children whose first language is Hawaii Creole English (HCE) acquired English without a formal language program while maintaining their first language. Learning the dominant variety of the language in a bicultural/bidialectal environment did not adversely affect performance in HCE. (PMJ)

This article presents a survey of Greek EFL teachers' (N = 421) attitudes regarding their pronunciation beliefs and practices. It touches on two sets of questions. First, it refers to teachers' viewpoints regarding pronunciation-specific issues and the possible links between pronunciation teaching, English as an international language (EIL), and…

Discusses research on secondary school students' language communication strategies. Shows that despite grammatical errors and limited vocabulary, even second year students can understand each other and are able to use paraphrases and circumlocutions. (EKN)

A language teacher urges the use of authentic listening materials that do not conform to the strictest standards of spoken usage, as a way of getting to know the language's norms and variations. (MSE)

Empirical studies are essential to improving our understanding of the relationship between accent and pronunciation teaching. However, the study of pronunciation has been marginalized within the field of applied linguistics. As a result, teachers are often left to rely on their own intuitions with little direction. Although some instructors can…

This books examines the interrelation between language and society in contemporary Italy and provides an up-to-date account of linguistic diversity, social variation, special codes, and language varieties within Italian society, and in situations of language contact both within and outside Italy. Part 1 covers the evolution and variations of…

Investigates the role of dialect variation in the acquisition of American English by adult second language learners. The study revealed that dialect differences present problems for learners and cause variable intelligibility and negative learner attitude toward some varieties of English and its speakers. This attitude could negatively affect a…

This experiment continues the GUME experiments investigating methods for teaching English to Swedish school pupils. The aims of this particular study are twofold: (1) to analyze and classify the errors made by Swedish pupils in an oral English test in an effort to establish error patterns; and (2) to describe how the twelve most frequent errors in…

The purpose of this booklet is to describe the major differences between the Levantine (Palestinian and Lebanese) and Egyptian (Cairene) dialects of Arabic, with some references to other geographical varieties of these dialects. It is designed to provide help to persons who have learned either one dialect or the other and need to transfer to the…