Prestige and Intelligibility: The Perceptions of British, American and Pakistani English Accents of ESL Learners

Abstract

English being a global language comes in various accents which have varied social and educational implications. Accent attitudes have a strong impact on preferences, identity and classroom practices of learners in the ESL context. This paper examines the perceptions of undergraduate ESL learners of three major accents of the English language; the British, American and Pakistani accents in Government College Karak, Pakistan. A qualitative case study design was adopted where data were gathered in the form of semi-structured interviews with ten undergraduate students. Thematic analysis demonstrated that the British accent was identified by the learners with prestige, authority, and correctness, whereas the American accent was seen as less unknown and less difficult to obtain, in great part owing to media exposure. The Pakistani accent was not considered one of the prestigious ones in the world, but it was appreciated due to its pragmatism, local identity, and convenience in communication. These results illustrate that global prestige and local intelligibility interact in a complex manner to determine attitudinal aspects of accent in learners. The research also adds to discussions in the field of World Englishes and sociolinguistics, showing that ESL students have to compromise between the global norms and the local forms. It also indicates that language instructions in Pakistan must offer the exposure to various accents of the English language to equip learners with global and local communication.