An investigation into attitudes of English-majored students at Banking Academy towards English accents in elf context

BANKING ACADEMY OF VIETNAM

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

GRADUATION THESIS

AN INVESTIGATION INTO ATTITUDES OF ENGLISH-MAJORED

STUDENTS AT BANKING ACADEMY TOWARDS ENGLISH ACCENTS

IN ELF CONTEXT

Student: Nguyen Thi Loan

Student ID: 22A7510006

Class: K22ATCB

Supervior: Dr. Bui Thi Minh Thu

Ha Noi, May 2023

BANKING ACADEMY OF VIETNAM

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

GRADUATION THESIS

AN INVESTIGATION INTO ATTITUDES OF ENGLISH-MAJORED

STUDENTS AT BANKING ACADEMY TOWARDS ENGLISH ACCENTS

IN ELF CONTEXT

Student: Nguyen Thi Loan

Student ID: 22A7510006

Class: K22ATCB

Supervior: Dr. Bui Thi Minh Thu

Ha Noi, May 2023

i

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this research is completely my own and this study has not been

previously submitted and approved for a degree at Banking Academy of Vietnam or

any other higher educational institutions. This dissertation is copyright material, from

which no quotation may be published without appropriate acknowledgement.

Hanoi, May 2023

Signature

Nguyen Thi Loan

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in

making this dissertation possible. Without their love, support, and guidance, this

achievement would not have been possible. This section is used to show my

gratitude and appreciation to all that assisted me in this research.

First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Bui Thi Minh Thu, lecturer of Foreign

Language Department at Banking Academy, for her perceptive guidance and

insightful feedback throughout this progress. She provided me with invaluable

feedback and corrected my mistakes meticulously. Her motivation and inspiration

were critical in helping me complete my dissertation on time.

I would also like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to my two best friends, Ngo Ba

Khoa and Tran Thi Van Anh, for their unwavering support and encouragement. They

stood by me through thick and thin, providing me with invaluable advice and

feedback that helped me overcome many challenges along the way.

Many thanks are due to all the participants who took part in this research.Their

contribution was of importance in shaping findings of this dissertation.

Finally, I would like to thank my family for their constant love and support. My

parents and sister have always been there for me, motivating me to keep going even

during the most challenging times. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION........................................................................................................i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..................................................................................... ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................ iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS..................................................................................vi

LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................. vii

TABLES OF FIGURES...........................................................................................ix

LIST OF APPENDICES...........................................................................................x

ABSTRACTS............................................................................................................xi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION............................................................................1

1.1. Rationale of the Study ......................................................................................1

1.2. Research Aim....................................................................................................1

1.3. Research questions............................................................................................1

1.4. Significance of the study ..................................................................................2

1.5. Scope of the Study ............................................................................................2

1.6. Structure of the Study .......................................................................................2

1.7. Conclusion ........................................................................................................3

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW...............................................................4

2.1. Definition of accent ..........................................................................................4

2.2. English as a Lingua Franca...............................................................................4

2.3. Classification of English accent varieties.........................................................5

2.3.1. Native English accents ...............................................................................6

2.3.2 Non-native English accents.........................................................................7

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2.4. English as Vietnamese English.........................................................................8

2.4.1. English in Vietnam: An Overview .............................................................8

2.4.2. The Vietnamese Variety of English ............................................................9

2.5. Language attitude............................................................................................10

2.6. Factors affecting learners’attitudes towards English accents.........................12

2.7. Previous studies on attitudes towards accents of English...............................13

2.7.1. Previous studies on accent attitudes in the world ....................................13

2.7.2. Previous studies on accent attitudes in Vietnam......................................16

2.8. Proposed theoretical framework .....................................................................17

...................................................................................................................................18

2.9. Conclusion ......................................................................................................19

CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...............................................20

3.1. Methodological Approach - Mixed method ...................................................20

3.2. Rationale for choosing mixed methods ..........................................................20

3.3. Participants......................................................................................................21

3.4. Data Collection, Instruments, and Procedure .................................................22

3.4.1. The Questionnaire ....................................................................................22

3.4.2. The Interviews ..........................................................................................25

3.5. Data Analysis..................................................................................................25

3.5.1. Quantitative Data Analysis ......................................................................25

3.5.2. Qualitative Data Analysis ........................................................................28

3.6. Conclusion ......................................................................................................28

CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.................................................30

4.1. Demographic results.......................................................................................30

4.2. Reliability of the Measurement ......................................................................34

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4.3. Findings ..........................................................................................................39

4.3.1. English majored students’ attitudes towards their own English accent. .39

4.3.2. English majored students’ attitudes towards other English accents. ......49

4.3.3. English majored students’s attitudes towards improving pronunciation to

achieve native-like accents.................................................................................55

4.4. Discussion.......................................................................................................61

4.4.1. English-majored students’ attitudes towards their own English accent..61

4.4.2. English-majored students’ towards their other English accents .............63

4.4.3. English-majored students’ attitudes towards improving pronunciation..65

4.5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................67

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATION AND LIMITATIONS

...................................................................................................................................68

5.1. Summary of the Findings................................................................................68

5.2. Recommendations...........................................................................................69

5.2.1. Recommendations for Students ................................................................69

5.2.2. Recommendations for Lecturers...............................................................70

5.2.3. Recommendations for the Banking Academy of Vietnam ........................72

5.3. Limitations......................................................................................................72

REFERENCES........................................................................................................74

APPENDICES .........................................................................................................80

vi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Abbreviations Meaning

ELF English as a lingua franca

NNs Native English speakers

NNSs Non-native English speakers

ELT English language teaching

L1 First Language

L2 Second Language

BA Banking Academy of Vietnam

RP . Received Pronunciation

GA General American

SPSS Statistical Package for Social Sciences

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1. Background information of five interviewees .........................................22

Table 3.2. Classification of Questionare items.........................................................24

Table 3.3. Digitallized values of levels of Agreement and Disagreement................26

Table 3.4. Interpretation of Mean values..................................................................27

Table 4.1. Demographic results ................................................................................30

Table 4.2. Summary statistics of the Cronbach’s Alpha...........................................35

Table 4.3. The corrected item – total correlation of section 2 ..................................36

Table 4.4. The corrected item – total correlaton of section 4 ...................................37

Table 4.5. The corrected item – total correlation of section 4.1 ...............................38

Table 4.6. The corrected item – total correlation of section 4.2 ...............................38

Table 4.7. Descriptive statistics about Englih-majored students’ attitudes towards

their own accent ........................................................................................................40

Table 4.8. ANOVA statistics about the correlation between the primary living place

and attitudes towards.................................................................................................44

Table 4.9. Descriptive statistics about correlation between the primary living place

and attitudes towards their own English accent........................................................45

Table 4.10. ANOVA statistics about the correlation between level of English

proiciency and attitudes towards their own accent ...................................................46

Table 4.11. Descriptive statistics about correlation between level of English

proficiency and attitudes towards their own accent..................................................47

Table 4.12. Descriptive statistics about English-majored students’ attitudes towards

other English accents.................................................................................................49

Table 4.13. ANOVA statistics about the correlation between the primary living

place and attitudes towards other English accents....................................................53

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Table 4.14. ANOVA statistics about the correlation between level of English

proficiency and attitudes towards other English accents..........................................54

Table 4.15. Descriptive statistics about motivations for selection YES ...................56

Table 4.16. Motivations statistics for selection NO..................................................59