Investigating teachers’ views of the role and nature of english

Investigating Teachers’ Views of the Role and Nature of English - 1

ABSTRACT

Nowadays, English has long been seen as a tool of empowerment and social mobility, and under

the striking globalization, it is fast becoming a necessary tool to interact with people, transact

views, and create a sense of community; therefore, more and more people rush to learn and

explore English. English teachers have much more pressure than ever because the English

language is being used in so many new ways that it is hard for teachers to keep up with the

changes. Our project is done in order to find out the teachers’ views of the role and nature of

English. It is based on data generated with ten teachers through questionnaire and the other ten

directly answering our four main questions. These are mainly conducted at Center for Language

Studies, University of Agriculture and Forestry, HCM and one case for a teacher from University

of Technical Education. The data have been analyzed to show what country English belongs to,

which English the teachers prefer - native speakers’ English, neutral English, local English,

Standard English; what kind of English should Vietnamese users of English learn; whether

English should have the same correct standard for everyone or no; where they wish to speak

English like a native speaker or not.

Key words: native speakers’ English, neutral English, local English, Standard English, native

English speakers.

INTRODUCTION

It is said that English has been a global language. “English is shockingly emerging as the

only truly global language” (cited in Al-Salman, 2007, p.142). Similarly, Al-Salman (2007)

agrees with Crystal (2006) that there are three major trends which had an impact on the world’s

linguistic ecology, one of which is “the arrival of the world’s first genuinely global language –

English” (p.1). Also, English is by far the most useful language for international communication

today and for multilateral contacts, especially for divergent regions; the language which

functions best in most cases, or the only one functioning, is English (Ulrich, 2003, p. 23). In fact,

English is a means of communication for all people worldwide, especially for those who come

from different countries with different first languages and cultures. As Crystal (1997)

commented, there has never been a language so widely spread or spoken by so many people as

English. According to Graddol (1997, p.56), cited in Al-Salman (2007, p.103), English functions


as a vehicular language for international communication and as the basis for constructing

identities. Undoubtedly, in the trend of world trade organization, English has been widely used in

many aspects of life such as economics, politics, culture, science, electronics, tourism,

telecommunication and information technology. As S. M., November (2003) puts it “Nowadays,

English is the language of science, technology, entertainment, communication, and even sports.

If you don’t know anything about it, you are out of side [i.e., having less possibilities to succeed]

because we live in a world of globalization and everything moves around the knowledge of

technology”.

Thus, the status of English as a global language according to some researchers and experts such

as Brutt-Griffler (2002); Cronin (2003); Jenkins (2003); Mair (2003); and Ulrich (2003), cited in

Al-Salman (2007, p.143), has been well established and the universality of English is largely

undisputed.

In Vietnam, in the trend of English as global language, English plays an extremely

important role in the life of many Vietnamese, and accordingly English has just regained

its role as the main foreign language taught and used in Vietnam (Alter, and Moreau,

1995; Mydans, 1995; Shapiro, 1995; Wilson, 1993a, b).

Many teachers and students in Vietnam have recognized the important role of English and they

considered English as a compulsory subject to be taught and learnt in schools in order to achieve

the Ministry of Education and Training’s Education plan.

“By 2012, students of four study branches, information technology, finance &

banking, business administration and tourism, will hear lecturers in English. By

2020, English will be a teaching language for study branches which have high

social demand."

That’s why it’s really vital for Vietnamese, especially Vietnamese students to grasp English to

integrate themselves into the universal world.

There have been many researches into the role and nature of English (e.g., The Role of

English in Vietnam’s Foreign Language Policy: A brief History by Do Huy Thinh (2006);

Perspectives of the Role of English as an International Language by Paul Moritoshi (2001); The

Nature, Structure, and Status of Indian English by R. Singh (2007); On the Nature and Role of

English in Asia by Patil, Z. N., (2006), and so forth). However, few studies have been done on

investigating teacher’s view of the role and nature of English.


For all of these reasons, it would be essential to have an investigation into teachers’ views

of the role and nature of English. By doing so, we could recognize the relationship between

teachers’ views and English in terms of its role and nature. In other words, we could find out

how teachers’ views influence English language learning and teaching. Namely, investigating the

teachers’ views on the role of English facilitates us, researchers to find out whether or not the

importance of English today is motivation for Vietnamese EFL teachers to look for suitable

methods and teaching materials to improve their teaching and whether or not students aspire to

improve their English learning. Especially, through this study, it’s hoped that teachers’ views on

the nature of English will be exploited, which is very conducive to these teachers’ English

language teaching in the context of English as a foreign language in Vietnam. For example,

based on their right belief of the role and nature of English in Asian context, these teachers know

what kind of English, native speaker’s English, neutral English or local English, their students

should learn; students should learn standard English or not; and students should learn to speak

English like native speakers do or not.

In brief, we as EFL teachers hope this empirical study will be helpful and useful for teachers to

attain an appropriate teaching method and teaching materials as well as some other elements so

that their students can use English communicatively and achieve learning purposes after the

course of English.

This study addresses 4 issues:

1. In your opinion, what country should English belong to? Why? 2. What kind of English should Vietnamese users of English learn-native speakers’ English, neutral English or local English? Why? 3. Should English have some correct standard for everyone? Why (not)?

4. Do you wish to speak English like a native speaker? Why (not)?

LIMITATION OF THE PROJECT

In a main focus on teachers’ views of the role and nature of English, our project is

conducted by using survey method but with different ways: questionnaire and interview. The

reason why we choose the two ways is to get enough reliable information for our project. Each

has its own advantages and convenience. The questionnaire we made is stemmed from the four

main questions and has the form of multiple-choice. It is easier and quicker for doers. The ten


subjects we aim to deliver this questionnaire are busy and not really enthusiastic. In order to

modify or add more the views of teacher, we carry out the interview. Within a week, the numbers

of the interviewees we reach are ten. From this small talk, we have chance to ask for more detail.

For questionnaire and interview, we decided to chiefly conduct at Center for Language

Studies, University of Agriculture and Forestry, HCMC and one case in University of Technical

Education HCMC. Here, we have a good relationship with our teachers, colleagues, with

different levels of education and teaching experiences.

By questionnaire, we delivered just10 sheets. However, we still use this kind of data

collection because we think this has its own value. From this, we diagnose some basic view of

these teachers. One in ten teachers is originally from Yorkshire, England but lives in Australia,

other four are Masters of Arts, the others are Bachelors of Arts. Seven of them have four to six-

year experience in teaching. Other two have over ten-year experience.

In order not to get lost, we started to interview to investigate the ten teachers’ views of

the role and nature of English by using directly the four main questions and extra questions to

clarify more the information. One of them is from Southwest America. He’s got MA and has

been teaching at University of Technical Education. The rest are from Center for Language

Studies, Agriculture and Forestry University, HCMC. Two out of nine have teaching experience

with over ten years, 13 years of teaching (BA) and 18 years of teaching (MA). There are two BA

and one MA with four to six years in teaching experience. The rest are the four one-year

teaching-experience teachers. With their little teaching experience, we would like to know their

views on this matter. More than what we expected, the information we got is diverse. To help the

readers have a quick and basic look on the information we collected, we make the two below

tables (in the survey part) as frames.

LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The Role and Nature of English

1. English speaking countries

Today English plays a central role in the “globalization” and it has become the common

language choice for communication among various nations of the earth. McCrum (1992)

reported that nowadays, English is used by at least 750 million people and half of those speak it

as a mother tongue. Some estimates have put that figure closer to one billion. However, in


Crystal’s book English as a global language (1997), he assesses that a total of 670 million

people use English. Whatever the total, English at the end of the twentieth century is more

widely spoken and written than any other language has ever been. Therefore, English has

become the language of the planet, has become the dominant language of world communication.

It’s the main language of world’s book, newspaper, advertisement. It’s the official international

language of airports and air traffic control. At the same time, it’s the language of international

business and academic conferences, of diplomacy, of sport. Three-quarters of the world’s mail is

written in English. Moreover, 80% of all the information stored in the electronic retrieval

systems of the world is stored in English (David Graddol, Dick Leith & Joan Swann, 1996)

Denning & Leben (1995) said that English actually refers to American English, Australian

English, Canadian English, Scottish English and Wales English and so on. According to the

theory of concentric circles (Kachru, 1985), English being used around the world is divided into

three groups: inner circle, outer circle and expanding circle.

• The inner circle refers to the countries where English is a native language: the USA, UK,

Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand

• The outer circle denotes EFL countries (e.g. former English colonies), such as India,

Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa;

• The expanding circle involves EFL countries like China, Japan, Israel, Greece, Poland,

etc.

Meanwhile, MacArthur (1998) divided English language into native language, second language

and foreign language. After the colonialism, English spreads from Europe to different parts of

the world and it achieves the status of an international language. Therefore English is not only

the language of colonization but also the major language of Westernization, modernization as

well as a major language for most countries in Asia.

1.1. Areas of English as first language:

English is used as a first language in countries such as Australia, Canada, GB, Ireland, New

Zealand, the USA and many of the countries in the Caribbean…

Christophersen (1990) pointed out that not all native speakers share the same intuitions about the

language; non-native speakers are much more diverse group: they have learned English under

different conditions, they use it in different ways and for different purposes. Thus, the intuition

of non-native speakers about English are linked to the particular social and cultural contexts in


which the language is used (Kachru, 1991). The most recent estimates tell us that native speakers

are now over 300 million. The USA has nearly 70% of all English mother-tongue speakers in the

world. In the nineteenth century, the American immigration increased massively because people

escaped the results of revolution, poverty and famine in Europe. In 1990, the number of people

who spoke only English at home grew to over198 million-86% of the population; in 2000, this

figure increased 215 million. Thus, the English language was a major factor in maintaining

American unity through the period of remarkable cultural diversification. In Canada, over 31

millions of people speak English as the native language in 2001 (David Crystal, 1997)

1.2. Areas of English as second language

In Filipino, English is spoken by many different classes: from oversea contract worker, lower

middle class, middle class, upper middle class to the intellectuals. There are many families speak

English as the main language of the home. Besides, although the children are usually bilingual,

they speak English with their parents and friends in their school during formal class period

(Bonifacio P.Sibayan & Andrew Gonzalez, 1989). At the same time, over half the population of

Nairobi city in Kenya know English, but the proportion of English speakers is much lower in

rural areas. Most Kenyans who are at the top of the socio-economic scale use English at home.

At work, English is used particularly in white-collar occupation and authority (Myers-Scotton,

1993). On the other hand, English becomes the second language for those countries where

English has some kind of special status, where English has been chosen as an official language.

For example, in Ghana and Nigeria where the governments have settled on English as the main

language to carry on the affairs of government, education, commerce, media and legal system. In

these countries, people have to learn English if they want to survive and progress in life. English

will become a necessary language when their mother tongue proves to be inadequate for

communication. Moreover, English is an official language in India, alongside Hindi language

and English is a language of legal system, a major language in Parliament, a preferred language

in universities (David Graddol, Dick Leith & Joan Swann, 1996)

1.3. Areas of English as foreign language

For the countries where English has no official status, where English is learned as a foreign

language in school, institutes of higher education; English is an international language.

In China, there has been an explosion of interest in the English language in recent years. Over

100 million people in China watch the BBC television series designed to teach the language, now


the CNN is the preferred broad channel in Asia and connects Asia to the rest of the world

through English. Besides, English is the official language in the apart from the British Isles and

the territories in Europe. Everybody speaks virtually Spanish as the language of the general of

communication but the English is the official language. In Malta and the Republic of Ireland,

English is the co-official with other national languages. In Cyprus or in the enclaves of the

American or British Armed Forces in Germany, English is widely used in official circles

In Cyprus or in the enclaves of the American or British Armed Forces in Germany, English is

widely used in official circles. Many countries in Europe regard English as a desire to introduce

at primary level. Especially, all state-maintained primary schools in Italy and the experimental

program in Netherlands, Austria, introduce English as a compulsory. In Germany, a growing

number of schools use a form of bilingual education with German and English (Jasone Cenoz &

Ulrike Jessner, 2000)

2. Kinds of English

Today English is considered as the universal language for business, international

communications, entertainment, tourism, trade and technology. The majority of all resources on

the internet are in English, affecting people to learn English to take full advantage of it. English

has an official or special status in more than 70 countries with a total population of over two

billion. There has been an increasing trend to recognize English as a very important tool in

national development, cooperation and globalization.

The use of English as a means of globalization has contributed to the wider spread of the

language which is perceived to be a threat to cultural identity in different parts of the world.

“Since language is the means by which the culture of a people is disseminated, the

imposition of English on the Periphery has also meant the imposition of the culture which

the language bears.” (Phillipson in Bisong, 1995: 127)

The role of the English language is to make language universal. It is a unifying language

whose history is as interesting as its learning process. The global spread of English is

fundamentally an imperialistic process. Some emphasize the fact that English is not imposed by

force as it was during early colonial times but its spread is determined by the demand for it.

The world needed a global language, and English, by acquiring a wide array of functions,

satisfied this need and is now the world’s way of intercultural communication. Language

planning worldwide will play a crucial role on whether English fragments into several


unintelligible local languages. While the mass-communications industry and a uniform standard

written English tend to pull the different subtypes together, some remote varieties could become

mutually incomprehensible. International English borrows a large number of words from other

languages, and, reciprocally, languages mix English with local words, sometimes with their

original meaning being distorted:

“The vocabulary of ‘World English’ is increasing at a rate of at least 5,000 new words

every year […] The fact is that the English-speaking countries have given up ownership

of English”. (Crystal in BBC News 2001: Speed section , para. 5)

Although English is widely regarded as having become the global language, it has been

used in many ways: native English, Standard English, local English or neutral English.

2.1. Native speakers’ English

Soyinka (1993, p.88) considered native English as a linguistic blade in the hands of the

traditional cultural castrator, which black people have twisted to carve new concepts into the

flesh of white supremacy. Sidhwa (2000), cited in Yoneoka (2002), sounds a similar note when

he remarks, “the colonized have subjugated the English language, beaten it on its head and

made it theirs, and in adapting it to their use, in hammering it sometimes on its head and

sometimes twisting its tail, they have given it a new shape, substance and dimension”.

Native English can be used by native speakers of English. Native speaker of English is that

English must be the first language learned or a native speaker involves the continued use of

English in that person’s life. Some people wish to speak English like native speakers. There are

many kinds of incentives to speak like a native and many disincentives to maintain one's foreign

accent. The Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics (Richards, Platt and Weber 1985:188)

defines a native speaker as “a person considered as a speaker of his native language”. A native

language is then defined as the language that “a person acquires early in childhood because it is

spoken in the family or it is the language of the country where he is living”.

2.2. Standard English

According to Eric Partridge (2008), old English had a standard, but that standard

disappeared with the Norman Conquest. In the victorious reigns of Edward I (1272-1307) and

Edward III (1327-1377), the use of French in England was detested strongly and the favorable

attitude toward the use of English was increased. In the 14th century, Standard English became

the East Midland dialect; and in the 15th century this dialect was established as the correct one


for the general literary purposes. For more than 300 years, the East Midland dialect was merely

the fashionable mode of speech, until at the present day, it is spreading all over the world and

among all classes. Then this dialect has become Standard English.

Trudgill (1995, p. 5–6) defines Standard English as follows (note his use of ‘usually’ and

‘normally’ in this definition): Standard English is that variety of English which is usually used in

print, and which is normally taught in schools and to non-native speakers learning the language.

It is also the variety which is normally spoken by educated people and used in news broadcasts

and other similar situations. The difference between standard and nonstandard, it should be

noted, has nothing in principle to do with differences between formal and colloquial language, or

with concepts such as ‘bad language.’ Standard English has colloquial as well as formal variants,

and Standard English speakers swear as much as others. James Sledd (1984) found that Standard

English is the English used by the powerful. Standard English is the variety of English which

carries most prestige within a country. “Prestige” is a social concept, whereby some people have

high standing in the eyes of others, whether this derives from social class, material success,

political strength, popular acclaim or educational background. The English that these people

choose to use will become the standard within their community. Hudson (2000) stated that

standard English is written in published work and spoken in situations where published writing is

influential, especially in education and spoken natively by people who are most influenced by

public writing.

David Crystal (1997) reported that English standard is the variety which is used as the

norm of communication by the community’s leading institutions, such as its government, law

courts and media. Therefore, it is the variety which is likely to be the most widely disseminated

among the public. Accordingly, it will be widely understood. However, having a standardized

version of English does not mean we need an official language, nor does it mean that we are

required to speak Standard English in all situations. We are free to speak in the parlance of those

around us, knowing that we are communicating perfectly well. We just understand that there are

settings in which Standard English is the best choice.

2.3. Neutral English

Neutral English is a part of artificial English in which regional differences in

pronunciation and vocabulary have been leveled out to create a language that doesn't pin the

speaker to any one particular region or social class. TV news people in the United States and


elsewhere (although less frequently now, perhaps) learn to downplay their regional versions of

English while speaking to the camera.

Neutral accent of English has all to consider the language rules and notifications which

comprise the format on which a language works and it conceptualizes all the vocabulary

formulations and grammar segments with precise overview. It just keeps it simple and

comprehensive in the verbal usage. A 'neutral accent' can be defined as a way of speaking (tone,

intonation etc) where people from any geographical location is able to understand you. A neutral

accent is one that is grammatically and phonetically correct, but has no regional characteristics.

In other words, you can't tell which part of the country the person is from.

Neutral Pronunciation: The standardization of English pronunciation for communication

with the majority of the audience. This is accomplished through the study and knowledge of

neutral pronunciation of English, one that is free of regionalisms and that conforms to the norms

of the theatrical stage and public usage - that is, the pronunciation of news broadcasters,

television actors and national mass media performers.

Neutral English: This is not to imply that neutral pronunciation has greater merit than any

of the regional dialects. It is also a dialect, but one without any regionalisms. It is, however, the

dialect that is used by trained speakers and performers for public usage. The way we speak

English regionally is part of our personal identity. It is something that should be used and

mentioned in our everyday speech. However, when we are speaking or performing in a public

forum, neutral English should be used, so as to erase regional barriers and communicate

effectively with the most people. (Kathryn LaBouff)

2.4. Local English

English is a living language spoken around the world. For all people who speak English, there is

a tension between the neutral English of international communication and the English of the

local language community which reinforces a sense of national identity

“No two speakers of a language speak exactly the same way; nor does any individual

speaker speak the same way all the time. Variation is a natural part of human language,

and it is influenced by such factors as socioeconomic status, region and ethnicity.”

(Language Files, 1998: p. 367)

Language plays a crucial role on whether English fragments into several unintelligible local

languages. While the mass-communications industry and a uniform standard written English tend


to pull the different subtypes together, some remote varieties could become mutually

incomprehensible. International English borrows a large number of words from other languages,

and, reciprocally, languages mix English with local words, sometimes with their original

meaning being distorted. English is now the most creolized tongue of all time, spoken in some

form by people on every continent.

Local English is the accent that is acquired by the group which adopts it. It has everything to do

with the unique traits shared by a group of speakers, and requires more than mere repetition: It is

a fragment of the culture and temperament of group as well as what gives the group its identity.

Local English is any pattern of English that is used in a way that marks the person's

origins and/or identity, whether in terms of geography, social class, ethnicity, and any number of

other social positions. Some groups use words that other groups don't, and the same word can be

pronounced differently in different groups.


THE SURVEY

Description of the survey questions

I. Questionnaire

1. Survey questionnaire

Please give some information about you: • Age: • Gender: • Institute/ School: • Teaching experience: • Qualification of education: 1. In your opinion, what country should English belong to? a. Native areas (USA, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) b. Previous English colonies (India, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) c. Areas of English as Foreign Language (China, Japan, Poland, Vietnam…) d. All areas are listed above. 2. Which English do you prefer? a. Native speaker’s English: English that someone speaks as their first language. b. Neutral English: International Standard English to talk to foreigners c. Local English: The English use by a group of speakers who are set off from others geographically or socially 3. In your opinion, what kind of English should Vietnamese users of English learn? a. Native speakers’ English b. Neutral English c. Local English 4. According to you, most Vietnamese English users want to speak English as: a. their first language b. a recognizable and understandable language c. local language 5. When you speak English you have to get rid of your accent? a. strongly agree b. agree c. disagree d. strongly disagree 6. Do you think it is easy to get rid of your accent? a. Yes b. No 7. If yes, could you suggest some ways to get rid of your accent? “Standard E is that variety of E usually used in print, and normally taught in schools and to non native speakers learning the language.”


8. Should English have the same correct standard for everyone? Why? a. Strongly agree: ………………………………………………. b. Agree: ……………………………………………………….. c. Strongly disagree: ……………………………………………. d. Disagree: ……………………………………………………… e. No opinion: 9. In your view, native English speaker is a person who a. was born and grew up in the US b. was born and grew up in the UK c. Was born and grew up in countries where English is the primary language of the great majority of the d. speaks English as his native language 10. How many percent do you wish to speak like a native speaker? a. 80-100% b. 60-80% c. 50-60% d. > 50% 11. Why do you wish to speak like a native speaker? a. To have a native-like accent b. To hide identity c. To be accepted by native speakers d. To have a good salary e. To get others’ admiration f. To get others’ respect g. To make others easily understand you h. To make me feel more confident i. Other, please specify ………………………………………………………………………… 2. Result

A questionnaire with eleven questions based on the research results was used to elicit

teachers’ views of the role and nature of English. The results from each question were calculated

based on the replies from 10 teachers from the questionnaires returned in time for analysis. These

are presented in the table below.

QUESTIONNAIRE PARTICIPANTS

(10)

PERCENTAGE (100%)

a. Native areas (USA, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand)

7 70% 1. In your opinion, what country should English belong to? b. Previous English colonies ( India,

Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) 0 0%


c. Areas of English as Foreign Language (China, Japan, Poland, Vietnam…)

0 0%

d. All areas are listed above 3 30%

a. Native speaker’s English: English that someone speaks as their first language.

6 60%

b. Neutral English: International Standard English to talk to foreigners

4 40% 2. Which English do you prefer? c. Local English: The English use by a group

of speakers who are set off from others geographically or socially

0 0%

a. Native speakers’ English 4 40% b. Neutral English 6 60%

3. In your opinion, what kind of English should Vietnamese users of English learn? c. Local English 0 0%

a. Their first language 3 30% b. A recognizable and understandable language

7 70%

4. According to you, most Vietnamese English users want to speak English as: c. Local language 0 0%

a. Strongly agree 0 0%

b. Agree 4 40% c. Strongly disagree 6 60%

5. When you speak English, you should get rid of your accent.

d. Disagree 0 0%

a. Yes 2 20% 6. Do you think it is easy to get rid of your accent? b. No 8 80%

7. If yes, could you suggest some ways to get rid of your accent?

1. Frequently listen to language spoken by native speakers of good English and repeat them 2. Listen to the TV news. Many news anchors and reporters have regional accents but you would never know it from their voices on television. They have trained themselves to use non-regional diction. Repeat what they say in the same way they say it. 3. Control your rate of speech to get the correct intonation and rhythm of language.

a. Strongly agree 2 20%

b. Agree 7 70%

c. Disagree 0 0%

d. Strongly disagree 0 0%

8. English should have the same correct standard for everyone. (“Standard E is that variety of E usually used in print, and normally taught in schools and to non native speakers learning the language.”)

e. No opinion 1 10%

9. In your view, native a. Was born and grew up in the US 0 0%


b. Was born and grew up in the UK 0 0%

c. Was born and grew up in countries where English is the primary language of the great majority of the

10 100%

English speaker is a person who …

d. Speaks English as his native language 0 0%

a. 80-100% 3 30%

b. 60-80% 7 70%

d. 50-60% 0 0%

10. How many percent do you wish to speak like a native speaker?

e. > 50% 0 0%

a. To have a native-like accent 1 10%

b. To hide identity 0 0%

c. To be accepted by native speakers 5 50%

d. To have a good salary 0 0%

e. To get others’ admiration 1 10%

f. To get others’ respect 0 0%

g. To make others easily understand you 2 20%

h. To make me feel more confident 1 10%

11. Why do you wish to speak like a native speaker?

i. Other, please specify 0 0%

TABLE 1: The Results of Teachers’ Questionnaire

3. Findings

From the data in the table above, generally, the results of question 1 show that most of

the teachers (60%) reported that English should belong to countries where English spoken as the

primary language of the great majority of the population such as the USA, the UK, Ireland,

Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Whereas, just 30% of the teachers involved in the study

showed their ideas that English should belong to native areas, previous English colonies and

areas of English as foreign language.

When these ten teachers were asked: “Which English do you prefer?” (Question 2), 60%

of these teachers replied that they preferred native speakers’ English, and the rest of these

teachers (40%) answered that they preferred neutral English. However, when being asked: “What


kind of English should Vietnamese users of English learn?” (Question 3), just 4 out of every 10

teachers (40%) chose the answer “Native speakers’ English”. In the mean time, 6 out of 10

teachers chose the answer “Neutral English”.

Thus, according to the results of questions 2 and 3, most teachers of English would like to master

English as native speakers’ English, but they supported that Vietnamese learners of English

should acquire neutral English so that learners can speak English as a recognizable,

understandable and comprehensible language.

As can be seen from the table above, in question 4, there is 70% of the teachers

expressing their agreement with the answer “A recognizable and understandable language”;

while 30% of the teachers the answer “their first language”.

According to the data in the table above, the results of questions 5 and 6 are that 6

teachers (60%) strongly disagree to get rid of their accent when speaking English because they

argued that it’s really not easy to get rid of one’s accent when speaking English (80% of the

teachers agreed). However, 40% of the teachers conveyed their ideas that English speakers

should get rid of their own accent and 20% presented that they could get rid of their accent when

speaking English so that their interlocutors can understand them.

As a teacher of English, I think that it’s indeed difficult to get rid of my own accent of mother

tongue when speaking English, but I am in favor of the thing that English speaker should speak

neutral accent, I mean neutral English.

As to Question 7, examples of ways to get rid of one’s accent are:

1. Frequently listen to language spoken by native speakers of good English and repeat them

2. Listen to the TV news. Many news anchors and reporters have regional accents but you

would never know it from their voices on television. They have trained themselves to use

non-regional diction. Repeat what they say in the same way they say it.

3. Control your rate of speech to get the correct intonation and rhythm of language.

The above answers indicated that neutral accent should be learnt so that English spoken by

everyone can be standardized English.

In question 8 in the table above, 70% of the teachers agreed that English should have the

same correct standard for everyone speaking English; however, 20% of the teachers showed that

it’s very difficult to set standard English for everyone speaking English.


The results of questions 9 and 10 in the table above show 10 teachers know that native speaker is

a person who was born and grew up in countries where English spoken as the primary language

of the great majority of the population. And 7 out of 10 teachers wished to speak English like a

native speaker at 60-80% and 3 out of 10 teachers at 90-100%. From these results that most

teachers liked to speak nearly like a native English speaker and just 30% of the teachers wished

to speak English perfectly like a native English speaker, it seems that not all native English

speakers speak neutral accent and good English, so Vietnamese learners of English should speak

English with neutral accent.

For the last question (question 11) in the table above, we find out that a half of the

teachers involved in this study would like to speak English as a native English speaker because

they want to be accepted by native speakers. And 20% of these teachers want to make their

conversation speakers understand their English. And 10% of these teachers want to get others’

admiration, and 10% of these teachers would like to speak like a native English speaker because

she or he feels more confident.

II. Interview

1. Questions and extra questions for interview

1. In your opinion, what countries should English belongs to? Why?

2. What kind of English should Vietnamese users of English learn – native speakers’ English,

neutral English or local English? Why?

2a. Which English is the most neutral?

2b. According to you, where in the USA do people speak with an accent which is hard for others

to listen?

3. Should English have the same correct standard for everyone? Why (not)?

4. Do you wish to speak English like a native speaker? Why (not)?

2. Result

Numbers of Participants (experience/ education)

Around 1 year

4-6 years Over 10 years

Questions

Answers

BA BA MA BA MA

Percentage

None or all countries because it’s an international language

2 1 1 40% 1. In your opinion, what country should

The USA because it dominates almost fields and areas.

1 10%


Native English countries 1 10% Any countries that chooses to use it

1 2 30%

English belong to? Why?

The UK 1 10% Neutral English because: - it’s easier to learn. - main purpose of learning a language is for communication. - we can communicate with different English speakers from many countries and regions.

4

1

1

1

2

90%

2. What kind of English should Vietnamese users of English learn – native speakers’ English, neutral English or local English? Why?

Standard English

1 10%

Should because: - it helps learners learn more easily. - everyone can understand each other in a basic way. - it won’t cause confusing in learning.

2

20%

3. Should English have the same correct standard for everyone? Why (not)?

Should not because: - people are not the same. - it’s impossible. - English has been shifting a lot by time. - each country its own value and it wants to keep it. - English spoken by different people depending on many different factors such the city and state they belong to, their educational background, whether they live in urban or rural area, their age group, their social classes - it is not practical to make people speaking different versions of English change over to a standard English.

2

2

1

1

2

80%

4. Do you wish to speak like a native

Yes. Because: - it is a necessity. - it’s a target of learning. - I’d like to give my students more input to help them speak better.

3

1

40%


speaker? Why (not)? No. Because: - I want to speak English with the international language that my accent is understandable and acceptable to other English speaking users. - each person has his/ her own accent. - of dialect’s influences

1

1

1

1

2

60%

TABLE 2: The Results of Teachers’ Interview

3. Findings

From the summary we made, we weigh and highlight the data in each question in the following

section.

In question number one, just 10% for each choice in the UK and The US, they think these

countries has been dominating all fields and areas and are the place where English stems from.

Out of them, 10% think it belongs to the five native English countries: The UK, The US, New

Zealand, Canada and Australia because these countries use English as their first or native

language. The majority of subjects stated that it belongs to none or all countries because it’s now

an international language (40%). The second majority (30%) also had another view on this

matter. They brought up to the idea:

“English belongs to any countries choosing to use it without considering whether it is

native (first) language, second language or foreign language. Certainly, the name of

the language ties it to its home country, England, but even there it never was a truly

native language. Around 450 AD, a number of Germanic tribes (primarily the Angles,

Saxons, and Jutes) invaded what is now England and brought with them the Germanic

language that would become known as English. Before that invasion, people were

speaking languages from prior invasions, including Latin and Celtic. Even the history

of the language, then, complicates the idea that any one country or group of people

owns it. Today you'll even hear a number of language scholars talking about World

Englishes, which suggests that there's no longer one language that can be owned by

any one group of people.”


In question number two, there is a high agreement on neutral English with 90% of the

sample and the minority 10% in favor of Standard English. The majority strongly believed that

neutral English is easier for learners to learn. In addition, they think English is just a means for

communication, so using something neutral is the most advantage. One of them believes that

“If we speak neutral English, we can communicate with different English speakers

from many countries and regions.” Another added “neutral English should be used, so

as to erase regional barriers and communicate effectively with the most people.”

Through the effort to seek for the answer for this question, we find out some interesting things

originated from some teachers’ queries. One of them pointed out

“The obvious answer is not for local English. Therefore, we have the two left options.

To some extent, native speakers’ English itself includes neutral and local English. Not

all native speakers’ English is understandable. And of course learners should learn

neutral English because it is the most understandable one. But as a teacher, do you

know which one is the most neutral you want to choose to teach your learners?”

With the purpose of finding out to have a deeper understanding about these quires, we decided to

get more from American (Master degree) teaching English at University of Technical Education,

HCMC. In a three-hour interview, we partly answer these. He explained

“The most neutral English in America is General American English (GAE),

sometimes known as ‘Network English’. And I think neutral English in the UK is

BBC English known as Received Pronunciation. Furthermore, neutral English

actually is a mixture of English” “American English, British English, Australian

English, Singlish…are kinds of local English which do not change. It’s a kind of

adding someone identity, where he or she comes from.”

Another agreed this point and gave more definition of GAE (Standard American English):

“General American English (GAE) is first and foremost the English that everyone

understands. It is the English of American movies, of journalists on the major US

television networks, of educated speakers and of American dictionaries.”


Because of our curiosity, we ask “According to you, which one is the most popular use,

Standard American English (SAE) or Standard British English (SBA)?” Surprisingly, most of the

answers are the same. One stated that “I think Standard British English is most use because I

haven’t seen any American Publisher’s pronunciation textbooks, all of them from the British.”

From this, we can predict that SBE is more popular than SAE.

In question number three, we nearly got shocked because the result is quite different from

our prediction. The majority (80%) of the sample said “should not” embedded different reasons.

Just 20% said “should”. “ Something is unfeasible or impossible, it’s no help conducting it”, one

claimed. Most of them agreed:

“English, after all, is a language means for communication, exchanging culture,

doing business, and the like. And through language, people want to show their

identities, their own values which they want to share with others. In deed, It’s

impossible to have a correct Standard English for every one in the world because

people are not the same. They have their typical accent which hardly changes.

Furthermore, not all parts of the world share the same values, culture,…” and

“English spoken by different people depending on many different factors such the

city and state they belong to, their educational background, whether they live in urban

or rural area, their age group, their social classes their beliefs…”

The rest 20% they agree to have a correct standard for every one. They think that there is a

correct standard will help people teach and learn more easily and understand each other.

In the last question, most of them said “no”. This figure makes up 60% of the sample.

They realized that not all native speakers speak Standard English, they had experienced this

before. Their answer is quite similar: “I want to speak English that my accent is understandable

and acceptable to other English speaking users.” With the extra question to the American

English teacher where in the USA people speak with an accent which is hard for others to listen,

the answer is in New York. He is a native English speaker, but still some certain difficult with

his folks. Therefore, it’s no need to a native-like accent.


DISCUSSION

As can be draw out from the findings of the survey, it is clear that teachers’ views on the

role and nature of English are diverse. In common, a majority of teachers share the same ideas of

the role and nature of English; however, their perspectives vary from question to question. This

expresses clearly in some following points.

First, most of the teachers involved in the survey questionnaire and survey interview

accounting for 60% and 90% respectively agree that Vietnamese users of English should learn

neutral English. As teachers of English in the Vietnamese context, we completely support these

teachers’ idea. Although Asian users of English as Patil (2006) puts it, aspire to study British and

American varieties of English because of the social status and prestige associated with their use,

they should accept the standard forms of varieties. English has been an international language, so

English should be used as a language recognizable and understandable to everyone who speaks

it. And “there is no need to impose a foreign model on our learners. Asian teachers of English

can use their own respective standardized variety of English as a model for teaching and testing

purposes” (Patil, 2006, P.117). Further support on Neutral English comes from Kirpatrick

(2004), cited in Patil (2006, P. 117) who shows “A vast majority of Asians, Africans and

Europeans learn English to use it as a lingua franca. They do not learn it with the intension to

communicate with native speakers but to communicate with other non-native speakers”.

Next, referring to the question “what country should English belong to?”, teachers’ ideas

involved in the survey questionnaire differ from views of the teachers interviewed. According to

the results of the survey questionnaire, 70% of the teachers show that English should belong to

native areas (USA, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand). Surprisingly, just 10 % of the

teachers interviewed have the same idea that native areas are the homes of English and 70% of

the teachers interviewed strongly support the idea that English should belong to any country

where English is used or belong to no country. As teachers and researchers in this case, we

strongly agree with Patil (2006) that English as an international language belongs, not just to

native speakers, but also to all its users because English is the bridge connecting all countries in

the world. Furthermore, According to some linguists such as Halliday, MacIntosh and Strevens

(1964) and Greenberg (1966) cited in Patil (2006), the ownership of the so-called native English

countries and native English speakers would come to an end. And English would diversify, and

consequently local varieties of the language would develop. Therefore, “the language would set


into new habitations, and re-orientate itself to serve other cultures and, as a result, would acquire

new names such as Indian English, Filipino English, South African English, and so on” (cited in

Patil, 2006, p.90-91).

Thus, when English diversify, and its local varieties develop, it’s very hard to create correct

standard English for everyone. Most of the interviewed teachers accounting for 80% show their

belief that English should not have correct standard for everyone; meanwhile, teachers involved

in the survey questionnaire agree that English should have correct standard. Although teachers’

ideas of this question vary, we think that English should have some correct standard so that users

of English with different cultures can understand one another. We mean that “Non-native

speakers must develop a fluency in educated English but they do not have to have native-speaker

pronunciation as their target. In contrast, they should be trained to be examples of educated

speakers of Standard English, identifiably from their country. A good pronunciation is one that a

variety of educated listeners find intelligible” (cited in Patil, 2006, p.119-120). From this point,

we find that speaking English like a native speaker is the ideal, but it’s unreal to expect to do so

because when speaking English, users of English are influenced by their mother tongue accent

and their cultures. As Qiong (2004), cited in Patil (2006, p.199) puts it, “that Asian users of

English try to emulate British, American, Canadian or Australian varieties of English, especially

in respect to pronunciation is undesirable and virtually unattainable”. With this point, teachers’

perspectives are not the same. Most teachers required to do the questionnaire wish to speak

English like a native speaker because they want to be accepted by the native speakers. In the

mean time, 60% of the teachers interviewed don’t wish to speak English like a native speaker.

Thus whether or not users of English wish to speak English like a native speaker is not important

providing that they can communicate and understand one another.

In brief, in the trend of English as a global language, Vietnamese users of English should

learn neutral English which everyone in the world can recognize and understand because English

belongs to all people who use it.

CONCLUSION

The spread of English in the world has increasingly grown because of various reasons,

including the explosion of technology in all areas of human knowledge. Not only are a great deal

of academic publications written in English but English also pervades the film industry, the


Internet, and many other aspects of our life. Due to its great impacts, we, as English teachers,

should have a clearer and deeper view on the role and nature of English in order to appropriately

use it in our own contexts. Now there has been an increasing trend to recognize English as a

very important tool in national development, cooperation and globalization. English has

developed with an unprecedented speed in Vietnam. Various language centers, both public and

private, have been established with different courses, programs of training to serve the different

learning needs of different types of learners. The English language is being used in so many new

ways that it is hard for teachers to keep up with the changes. The kind of English to teach is an

important issue now that English has become global. Most of the teachers in our survey think

that English should have the same correct standard for everyone but in “standard forms of their

own varieties” only (Patil, 2006, p.117). Indeed, standard form is ideal for every to follow and

from that people understand more easily. Then, that standard form will be adopted or adapted up

to users. Actually, we cannot set up the same correct standard for everyone because every

country has its own value to treasure. There’s no need to follow a certain country’s standard. In

addition, Vietnamese users of English should learn neutral English because they can

communicate with different English speakers from many countries and regions. They want to

speak English with the international language that their accent is understandable and acceptable

to other English speaking users .Consequently, it’s not necessary to speak like a native English

speakers. As we know, not all native English speakers are easy to listen. Some of them have

strong and local accents. Why do we wish to grasp their accents? No matter what English we

use, as long as it’s understandable and comprehensible. Therefore, we can encourage our

students if they cannot speak like a native English speaker. Additionally, it’s no use to imitate the

native accents if we cannot.


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Content Abstract ………………………………………….. 1

Introduction …………………………………………... 1-3

Limitation …………………………………………… 3-4

Literature review …………………………………………… 4-11

The survey .………………………………………….. 12-21

Discussion .………………………………………….. 22-23

Conclusion .………………………………………….. 23-24

Reference .………………………………………….. 25

Investigation members:

1. NGUYỄN THỊ HẰNG TESOL4-13

2. LÊ THỊ THANH THẢO TESOL4-37

3. NGUYỄN THỊ THANH THẢO TESOL4-38

4. ĐÀM THỊ THÙY TRANG TESOL4-43

Submitted on March 28, 2010