Innovation in Language Learning

Previous research has looked into how native speakers of English perceive speakers of other varieties given the assumption that all English learners should conform to the norm – which refers to the varieties of the inner circle in World Englishes (WE) research. Scholars such as Jin (2005) have criticized that learners of English highly regard native speaker norms because people are still quite unfamiliar with the theories of WE. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore how the Taiwanese variety of English is being perceived by the outer and expanding circle speakers, and the extent to which outer and expanding circle speakers accept the Taiwanese variety of English.

The participants of this study include four native Taiwanese speakers with varying level of English proficiency and 30 outer and expanding circle speakers. The outer and expanding circle speakers were asked to complete two listening tests (i.e. dictation test and minimal pairs test) that were previously recorded by the four Taiwanese speakers. A follow-up interview was also conducted to gain more insight on the participants’ test results.

The findings suggest that outer circle speakers feel more comfortable with native-like English fluency. The participants regard Standard American and British variety to be the correct variety, which is consistent with the current literature. In contrast, the expanding circle speakers feel more acceptable to the Taiwanese variety of English since most countries in this circle share the same language family. It is concluded that speakers that come from more similar backgrounds would be more acceptable towards one another’s speech. Finally, limitations and implications are made for further studies.