Undergraduate University Students’ Views regarding Intelligibility and Comprehensibility of the Pronunciation of Native English Teachers’ (NETs) versus Non-native English Teachers’ (NNETs’) Pronunciation-A Case-Study at Assumption University of Thailand (AU)

Abstract

This research study investigates students’ views with regards to perceived levels of both intelligibility and comprehensibility of various English pronunciation models. The findings suggest that from students’ perspectives, the pronunciation models of native English teachers (NETs) were both more intelligible and comprehensible than those of non-native English teachers (NNETs). In addition, this study established that intelligibility and comprehensibility could be indeed analysed as a single entity rather than two separate entities as they largely complement each other. Furthermore, the findings suggest that most of the participants exhibited more positive views towards native speaker (NS) norms than non-native speaker (NNS) norms as their desired future pronunciation models in terms of linguistic output too. In light of this, their answers revealed that their existing high levels of familiarity precisely with those particular norms highly influenced their choices for those models of pronunciation, again both in terms of input and production. In this regard, this study suggests that students might hold a certain bias towards NS norms and their in-built perceptions, therefore, might be largely socially-constructed. Lastly, this study reveals that students need to be taught and exposed to a larger variety of pronunciation models, both various NS models and various NNS models. In light of this, the area of pronunciation should be perhaps viewed through a more pluri-centric and pluri-cultural prism since students’ future communicative activities in the era of globalisation would involve a large number of both.