Research has suggested that international EAL
students experience significant challenges as a result
of differences in culture and language and that they
struggle to integrate with their local peers (Barron,
Gourlay, & Gannon, 2010). Developing the listening
skills that will facilitate effective integration into the
local university and external environment can be
particularly daunting for EAL students studying
outside of North America or the United Kingdom who
also have to contend with the added challenge of
becoming familiar with the new accent. These accents
are often unfamiliar to international EAL students
because their previous exposure to western English
accents has been largely confined to Standard North
American English (SAE) and Received Pronunciation
(RP) (also called BBC English) British accents in the
popular media. In addition, an examination of English
listening materials reveals that there is a predominant
slant towards the creation of materials that reflect SAE
and RP accents.