Phonology
Phonology, or accent, is another case in point. My own research into phonology in
ELF settings has demonstrated that certain features of ENL pronunciation are
detrimental to intelligibility in ELF communication. These are primarily the use of
weak forms and other features of connected speech such as elision and assimilation.
Those who did not grow up speaking a variety of English that includes such features
are unable to recover the full forms that for which they are substituted. On the other
hand, some features of ENL pronunciation do not actually cause intelligibility
problems, but appear not to contribute anything to intelligibility in ELF
communication. These include the consonant sounds [T] and [D], which are regularly
substituted in East Asian ELF varieties by [s] and [z] or [t] and [d] without any loss of
intelligibility; word stress, where many Expanding Circle varieties, like Outer Circle
Englishes, not to mention American English, before them, are in the process of
developing their own stress patterns; and stress-timed rhythm, with most nativised
and Expanding Circle varieties exhibiting a preference for syllable timing (see Jenkins
2000).