Englishaccent isanother issuethat should be
mentioned in teaching English pronunciation in the
ELF context. As already stated, a vast number of
people may prefer Received Pronunciation (RP) or
General American (GA) accents to their own native
accents inspeakingEnglish. However, Jenkins (2009a)
indicates from empirical studies that non-native
accents are perceived by non-native speakers of
English to be more understandable than RP and
GA accents.
Additionally, Jenkins (2005) further pointsout
fromherstudythatspeakingEnglishwiththelearners’
L1 accent can present speakers’ own identities
and this may be one reason why some non-native
English users desire to maintain their accents when
speakingEnglish.Therefore, it seemsacceptablethat
Thai English users and English teachers should not
be overly concerned about their accents. Speaking
and teaching English with their own accent can be
a good way to present themselves as a Thai and
they do not have to strictly imitate native models
of pronunciation. Nevertheless, it isundeniablethat
theThaieducationsystem has relied heavilyonthe
nativespeakermodel. Consequently,Englishteachers
maymostlyexposetheirstudentstoBritishorAmerican
accents in the classroom. This can cause many
Thai English users’ difficulty in trying to understand
non-native English speakers when they have to use
English in the authentic situations and it may affect
thecommunicationand relationshipsofThai people
in workplaces later on. It can be said that teaching
students tohaveanativeaccent isnotas important
as teaching them tounderstand a varietyof English
accents sinceEnglishis widelyused asalinguafranca
in Thailand.
Someteachers mayarguethat it is impossible
tointroducestudents toeveryEnglishaccent inELT
classrooms becausethereareso manyEnglishusers
acrosstheglobe. However, theyshould trytoexpose
students toasmanyaccentsas possible, particularly
theaccentsof people whoarelikelyto bestudents’
futureinterlocutorsintheir workplace,suchas people
from Asian countries or the ASEAN community.
Interestingly, Sharifian (2011) proposes the use of
Facebook as a tool to expose learners to various
English forms and accents since teachers can post
video clips for students to access easily. Thus, Thai
English teachers can use the Internet and websites
suchasFacebookand YouTubeto present students
with a variety of English accents.
Anothereffective way tooffer students more
opportunity to experience different accents of
people in the intercultural communication process
is to assign students to do tasks, or activities that
involve real and virtual communication in English
as a lingua franca setting. These kinds of activities
enable students to be exposed to various accents
or pronunciations from their real communications.
Additionally,encouragingstudents to dointernships
in workplaces whereEnglishis spokentends to bean
effectiveapproachthat possibly broadens students’
viewsontherealuseofEnglishintheir futurecareers.
It helps students perceive the authentic use and
problems of English at work. Furthermore they will
9 ปีที่ 33 ฉบับที่ 4
ตุลาคม-ธันวาคม 2556
have a chance to experience communicating with
nativeornonnativeinterlocutorsintherealworkplace.
Studentsmay beabletocope withaccent differences
more easily whentheyhave touse English for their
real lifeinthefuture. Hence,Englishteachers should
have another role of exposing students to a variety
of English accents, particularly people from ASEAN
countries who will be their important interlocutors
in the near future