Trang 1 BANKING ACADEMY OF VIETNAM FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES GRADUATION THESIS AN INVESTIGATION INTO ATTITUDES OF ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS AT BANKING ACADEMY TOWARDS ENGLISH ACCENTS I
BANKING ACADEMY OF VIETNAM FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES GRADUATION THESIS AN INVESTIGATION INTO ATTITUDES OF ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS AT BANKING ACADEMY TOWARDS ENGLISH ACCENTS IN ELF CONTEXT Student: Nguyen Thi Loan Student ID: 22A7510006 Class: K22ATCB Supervior: Dr Bui Thi Minh Thu Ha Noi, May 2023 BANKING ACADEMY OF VIETNAM FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES GRADUATION THESIS AN INVESTIGATION INTO ATTITUDES OF ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS AT BANKING ACADEMY TOWARDS ENGLISH ACCENTS IN ELF CONTEXT Student: Nguyen Thi Loan Student ID: 22A7510006 Class: K22ATCB Supervior: Dr Bui Thi Minh Thu Ha Noi, May 2023 DECLARATION I hereby declare that this research is completely my own and this study has not been previously submitted and approved for a degree at Banking Academy of Vietnam or any other higher educational institutions This dissertation is copyright material, from which no quotation may be published without appropriate acknowledgement Hanoi, May 2023 Signature Nguyen Thi Loan i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in making this dissertation possible Without their love, support, and guidance, this achievement would not have been possible This section is used to show my gratitude and appreciation to all that assisted me in this research First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr Bui Thi Minh Thu, lecturer of Foreign Language Department at Banking Academy, for her perceptive guidance and insightful feedback throughout this progress She provided me with invaluable feedback and corrected my mistakes meticulously Her motivation and inspiration were critical in helping me complete my dissertation on time I would also like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to my two best friends, Ngo Ba Khoa and Tran Thi Van Anh, for their unwavering support and encouragement They stood by me through thick and thin, providing me with invaluable advice and feedback that helped me overcome many challenges along the way Many thanks are due to all the participants who took part in this research.Their contribution was of importance in shaping findings of this dissertation Finally, I would like to thank my family for their constant love and support My parents and sister have always been there for me, motivating me to keep going even during the most challenging times Thank you all from the bottom of my heart ii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi LIST OF TABLES vii TABLES OF FIGURES ix LIST OF APPENDICES x ABSTRACTS xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the Study 1.2 Research Aim 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Scope of the Study 1.6 Structure of the Study .2 1.7 Conclusion CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW .4 2.1 Definition of accent 2.2 English as a Lingua Franca .4 2.3 Classification of English accent varieties 2.3.1 Native English accents .6 2.3.2 Non-native English accents iii 2.4 English as Vietnamese English 2.4.1 English in Vietnam: An Overview .8 2.4.2 The Vietnamese Variety of English 2.5 Language attitude 10 2.6 Factors affecting learners’attitudes towards English accents 12 2.7 Previous studies on attitudes towards accents of English .13 2.7.1 Previous studies on accent attitudes in the world 13 2.7.2 Previous studies on accent attitudes in Vietnam 16 2.8 Proposed theoretical framework .17 18 2.9 Conclusion 19 CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .20 3.1 Methodological Approach - Mixed method 20 3.2 Rationale for choosing mixed methods 20 3.3 Participants 21 3.4 Data Collection, Instruments, and Procedure 22 3.4.1 The Questionnaire 22 3.4.2 The Interviews 25 3.5 Data Analysis 25 3.5.1 Quantitative Data Analysis 25 3.5.2 Qualitative Data Analysis 28 3.6 Conclusion 28 CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 30 4.1 Demographic results .30 4.2 Reliability of the Measurement 34 iv 4.3 Findings 39 4.3.1 English majored students’ attitudes towards their own English accent .39 4.3.2 English majored students’ attitudes towards other English accents 49 4.3.3 English majored students’s attitudes towards improving pronunciation to achieve native-like accents 55 4.4 Discussion .61 4.4.1 English-majored students’ attitudes towards their own English accent .61 4.4.2 English-majored students’ towards their other English accents .63 4.4.3 English-majored students’ attitudes towards improving pronunciation 65 4.5 Conclusion 67 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATION AND LIMITATIONS 68 5.1 Summary of the Findings 68 5.2 Recommendations 69 5.2.1 Recommendations for Students 69 5.2.2 Recommendations for Lecturers .70 5.2.3 Recommendations for the Banking Academy of Vietnam 72 5.3 Limitations 72 REFERENCES 74 APPENDICES 80 v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviations Meaning ELF English as a lingua franca NNs Native English speakers NNSs Non-native English speakers ELT English language teaching L1 First Language L2 Second Language BA Banking Academy of Vietnam RP Received Pronunciation GA General American SPSS Statistical Package for Social Sciences vi LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Background information of five interviewees 22 Table 3.2 Classification of Questionare items 24 Table 3.3 Digitallized values of levels of Agreement and Disagreement 26 Table 3.4 Interpretation of Mean values 27 Table 4.1 Demographic results 30 Table 4.2 Summary statistics of the Cronbach’s Alpha 35 Table 4.3 The corrected item – total correlation of section 36 Table 4.4 The corrected item – total correlaton of section 37 Table 4.5 The corrected item – total correlation of section 4.1 .38 Table 4.6 The corrected item – total correlation of section 4.2 .38 Table 4.7 Descriptive statistics about Englih-majored students’ attitudes towards their own accent 40 Table 4.8 ANOVA statistics about the correlation between the primary living place and attitudes towards 44 Table 4.9 Descriptive statistics about correlation between the primary living place and attitudes towards their own English accent 45 Table 4.10 ANOVA statistics about the correlation between level of English proiciency and attitudes towards their own accent 46 Table 4.11 Descriptive statistics about correlation between level of English proficiency and attitudes towards their own accent 47 Table 4.12 Descriptive statistics about English-majored students’ attitudes towards other English accents .49 Table 4.13 ANOVA statistics about the correlation between the primary living place and attitudes towards other English accents 53 vii Table 4.14 ANOVA statistics about the correlation between level of English proficiency and attitudes towards other English accents 54 Table 4.15 Descriptive statistics about motivations for selection YES 56 Table 4.16 Motivations statistics for selection NO 59 viii https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299465683_An_investigation_of_a ttitudes_towards_English_accents_at_a_Chinese_university Fang, F (2016) Investigating Attitudes towards English Accents from an ELF Framework ResearchGate https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299418679_Investigating_Attitude s_towards_English_Accents_from_an_ELF_Framework Garrett, P., N Coupland, & A Williams (2003) Investigating Language Attitudes: Social Meanings of Dialect, Ethnicity and Performance Cardiff: University of Wales Press Garrett, P (2010) Attitudes to language Cambridge University Press Goforth, C (2015) November 16) Using and Interpreting Cronbach’s Alpha University of Virginia Library Retrieved on May 9, 2021, from https://data.library.virginia.edu/using-and-interpreting-cronbachs-alpha/# Huang, Y., & Hashim, A (2020) An quantitative study of Chinese Learners’ Identities as reflected in their attittudes toward English accents Journal of Language studies http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/gema-2020-2001-10 Iskra, M (2016) EFL Learners Attitudes Towards Various English Accents https://zir.nsk.hr/islandora/object/ffos%3A734/datastream/PDF/view Jenkins, J (2009a) World Englishes: A Resource Book for Students, (2nd edn) London: Routledge Jenkins, J (2009b) English as a lingua franca: interpretations and attitudes World Englishes, 28(2), 200–207 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467 971x.2009.01582.x Jenkins, J (2014) Global Englishes Routledge https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315761596 Kachru, B (1982) Models for non-native Englishes Urbana: University of Illinois Press Kachru,Y., & Nelson, C.L (2006) World Englishes in Asian context Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong 76 Kim, S (2021) English as a lingua franca in Japan: multilingual postgraduate students’ attitudes towards English accents Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2021.1909053 Lambert & Wallace, E (1967) A social psychology of bilingualism Journal of Social Issues, 23, 91-109 Le, T H., Chuc, A T., & Taghizadeh-Hesary, F (2019) Financial inclusion and its impact on financial efficiency and sustainability: Empirical evidence from Asia Borsa Istanbul Review, 19(4) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bir.2019.07.002 Lord, F M., & Novick, M R (1968) Statistical theories of mental test scores Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley Ly Q P (2011) Does Vietnamese English or Viettlish really exist in Vietnam? Ho Chi Minh City Open University Journal of Science Nguyen, T Q T (2015) Non English major students attitudes towards English native speakers and non native speakers accents https://www.academia.edu/31252891/Quynh_Trang_Non_English_major_st udents_attitudes_towards_English_native_speakers_and_non_native_speake rs_accents Nguyen, T T A., & John C L (2016) Vietnamese accented English: Foreign accent and Intelligibility judgement by listeners of different language backgrounds English as International Language Journal, Vol 11, Issue 1, 19-38 Oxford Learner’s Dictionary (n.d.) https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/ Patton, M Q (2002) Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Punch, K.F (2014) Introduction to Social Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches, (3rd edn.) London: Sage Sasayama, S (2013) Japanese college students’ attitudes towards Japan English and American English Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural 77 Development, 34(3), 264–278 https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2013.767341 Selvi, A F (2011) The non-native speaker teacher ELT Journal, 65(2), 187–189 https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccq092 Shibata, M (2021) L2 English Speakers’ Perception of Their English Accent: An Investigation of European and Asian Attitudes English Language Teaching, 14(12), 126 https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v14n12p126 Smith, L., & Nelson, C (1985) International Intelligibility of English: Directions and Resources World Englishes 4(3): 333–342 Sung, C C M (2014) Accent and Identity: Exploring the Perceptions Among Bilingual Speakers of English as a Lingua Franca in Hong Kong International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 17 (5): 544– 557 Teddlie, C., & Tashakkori, A (2009) Foundations of Mixed Methods Research: Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches in the Social and Behavioral Sciences Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Tokumoto, M., & Shibata, M (2011) Asian varieties of English: Attitudes towards pronunciation World Englishes, 30(3), 392–408 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971x.2011.01710.x Ton, N N H., & Pham, H H (2010) Vietnamese Teachersʼ and Studentsʼ Perceptions of Global English Language Education in Asia, 1(1), 48–61 https://doi.org/10.5746/leia/10/v1/a05/ton_pham Trizano - Hermosilla, I., & Alvarado, J M (2016, May 26) Best Alternatives to Cronbach's Alpha Reliability in Realistic Conditions: Congeneric and Asymmetrical Measurements Frontiers in Psychology Retrieved on May 9, 2021, from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00769/full Truong K M (2020) A study into the attitude of fourth year English-majored students of university of Foreign Languages, Hue university towards accents 78 in English language Tạp Chí Khoa Học Ngơn Ngữ Văn Hóa, 4(1) https://vjol.info.vn/index.php/nnvh/article/view/54235 Ursachi, G., Horodnic, I A., & Zait, A (2015) How reliable are measurement scales? External factors with indirect influence on reliability estimators Procedia Economics and Finance, 20, 679 – 686 DOI: 10.1016/S22125671(15)00123-9 Le, Hoa, Nguyen, & Barnard, R (2019) Building Teacher Capacity in English Language Teaching in Vietnam Wakelin, M F (1977) English dialects: An introduction London: Athlone Press Xu, W., Y Wang, and R E Case 2010 “Chinese Attitudes Towards Varieties of English: A Pre-Olympic Examination.” Language Awareness 19 (4): 249– 260 Huang, Y., & Hashim, A (2020) A quantitative study of Chinese learners’s Identities as reflected in their attitudes towards English accents Journal of Language studies Yang, L (2011) Non-native attitudes toward varieties of English A language attitude survey on Chinese postgraduate students in the University of Edinburgh https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/6042/Yang%202011%20MSc.pdf ?sequence=1 Zeng, Y., Wallace, M P., Fan, C.-W., & Guo, Y (2022) University Students’ Attitudes towards English as a Lingua Franca in a Multilingual Sustainable Society Sustainability, 14(8), 4435 https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084435 79 APPENDICES Appendix Questionnaire My name is Nguyen Thi Loan I am K22 student at Faculty of Foreign Language, Banking Academy I am doing this survey for my dissertation Your participant is highly appreciated The following questionnaire aims to collect data in order to explore ATC students' attitudes towards English accents The collected information will be very helpful to my research.You are kindly requested to fill in this questionnaire by ticking the appropriate box Your answers shall be confidential and served for research-use only! Thank you and regards!! Xin chào, tên Nguyễn Thị Loan - sinh viên K22 khoa Ngôn ngữ Anh Học Viện Ngân Hàng Mình thực khảo sát nhằm phục vụ cho viết khóa luận tốt nghiệp Các câu hỏi sau thiết kế nhằm nghiên cứu thái độ sinh viên khoa ngôn ngữ Anh Học viện Ngân Hàng giọng Anh Thông tin thu thập từ khảo sát số liệu quan trọng nghiên cứu Các bạn vui lịng hồn thành phiếu khảo sát cách tích vào phù hợp Sự tham gia bạn niềm vinh dự Cảm ơn trân trọng! A Demographic background questions How old are you? Bạn tuổi? a 19 years old b 20 years old c 21 years old 80 d 22 years old Gender? Giới tính? a Male b Female c Prefer not to answer Where have you lived mostly since you were little? Từ nhỏ tới bạn sống chủ yếu đâu? a in a village b in a small town c in a big city Which level of English are you in? Trình độ tiếng Anh bạn gì? a Intermediate b Upper intermediate c Advanced B Questions about attitudes 1= Strongly disagree; = Disagree; = Neutral; = Agree; = Strongly agree I Attitudes of English-majored students towards their own English accent I have a non-native accent Tơi có giọng Anh xứ 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| I feel satisfied with your own English accent Tơi cảm thấy hài lịng với giọng Anh 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| 81 My foreign accent is part of my identity and I am proud of my English accent Giọng Anh phần tính tơi tơi tự hào giọng Anh 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| I would like to have a native-like accent Tơi muốn có giọng Anh giống người xứ 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| I want to avoid circumstances when I have to communicate with native speakers Tơi muốn tránh tình mà tơi phải giao tiếp với người xứ 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| If someone compliments that I have an English accent like a native speaker, I will feel very happy Nếu có khen tơi có giọng Anh giống người xứ, cảm thấy vui 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| II Attitudes of English-majored students towards other accents of English I believe that some English accents are superior to others Tơi tin có số giọng Anh đánh giá cao giọng khác 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| Rate the following accents from (strongly unfavorable) to (strongly favorable): Đánh giá giọng Anh từ (rất khơng thích) tới (rất thích): a British accent 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| b American accent 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| b Indian accent 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| c Singaporean accent 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| d Chinese accent 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| f Vietnamese accent 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| 82 People’s English accents are acceptable as long as they are intelligible Tơi tin giọng Anh khác chấp nhận miễn chúng dễ hiểu 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| 10 It is unnatural if nôn-native speakers try to imitate native speakers’ accent Việc người xứ cố gắng bắt chước giọng Anh người xứ thật tự nhiên 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| 11 I like communicating in English more with native speakers than with non-native speakers Tơi thích giao tiếp tiếng Anh với người xứ tơi cảm thấy giọng người xứ dễ hiểu giọng người xứ 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| III Attitudes of English-majored students towards improving pronunciation to achieve a native-like accent 12 If I could improve my English pronunciation to reach a native-like level, I would it regardless of the time and effort it would take Nếu tơi cải thiện phát âm để nói giọng giống người xứ, tơi làm điều tốn thời gian công sức: YES NO 13 If you answered YES to question 12: I would like to improve my English accent, because: (Tơi muốn cải thiện giọng Anh mình, vì) 13.1 It greatly improves the general impression of me and my English proficiency Điều giúp tăng thêm ấn tượng người tơi trình độ tiếng anh 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| 13.2 I want to find a job with high salary in the future 83 Tơi muốn tìm cơng việc với mức lương cao tương lai 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| 13.3 I want to speak English professionally, and achieving a native accent is key to achieve that goal Tơi muốn nói tiếng Anh cách chuyên nghiệp, nói giọng giống người xứ yếu tố then chốt để đạt mục tiêu 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| 13.4 Achieving a native-like level helps me easier get good marks in English-related subjects at my university Có giọng Anh giống người xứ giúp dễ đạt điểm cao môn học tiếng Anh trường đại học 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| 14 If you answered NO to question 12: I would not like to improve my English accent, because: (Tôi không muốn cải thiện phát âm vì:) 14.1 When I speak a foreign language, I want to maintain my sense of national identity Ngay tơi nói tiếng Anh, muốn giữ sắc dân tộc 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| 14.2 Acquiring the native-like accent is impossible, therefore, it would be better to spend time on mastering fluency, grammar and vocabulary Nói giọng giống người xứ điều khơng thể, tốt tập trung vào việc cải thiện chôi trảy, ngữ pháp từ vựng 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| 14.3 People will think that I am showing off Mọi người nghĩ cố gắng khoe mẽ 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| 84 14.4 I think my current English accent is acceptable as long as other people can understand me Tôi nghĩ giọng Anh tơi chấp nhận miễn người khác hiểu 1_|_2_|_3_|_4_|_5_| Appendix Interview questions This study was conducted to investigate the English-major students’ attitudes towards English accents I would like to explore what students’ attitudes are towards their own and other English accents In addition, students' attitudes towards improving their pronunciation to achieve native-like English are also mentioned in this research I am doing this research for the purpose of my graduation thesis Your participation is highly appreciated Please note that there are no right or wrong answers in this interview You are free to express your opinion during the interview.This interview will be recorded for the purposes of analyzing the findings in this dissertation Please note that all your personal information will be kept confidential, and this recording will be used for research purposes only During the interview, if there is a question you not want to answer, you can refuse to answer it You also have the right to stop the interview at any time Do you have any questions before we start the interview? How you evaluate your own English accent? Probe: satisfaction/ dissatisfaction Have you ever wanted to avoid circumstances when you have to communicate with native speakers because you feel embarrassed with your non-native English accent? If you have, tell me about that experience Do you believe that certain English accents are superior to others? Why? 85 Which type of English accent you aspire to? (eg.Sound like a native speaker of English/ Keep my own English accent/ I not care about my English accent) Why? Do you think it is important to improve your pronunciation to reach native-accented level ? Why/ Why not? What type of accents would you like lecturers to introduce in the classroom? Why? (only native accents, both native and non - native accents) Do you believe that receiving instruction from a native teacher would result in a native-like pronunciation? Closing question Is there anything you want to share before we end the interview? - The end - 86