ABSTRACT

Previously, learning English as a foreign or second language generally involved adopting British or American English as a model. However, as the number of non-native speakers of English now exceeds native speakers, and as a large proportion of their interactions in English do not involve native speakers, imitation of native speaker English is increasingly regarded as inappropriate. This is not just because many non-native speakers do not want to sound like someone from the UK or USA, but also because some patterns of native speaker pronunciation fail to enhance the intelligibility of speech in an international setting. This chapter discusses the background to the emergence of new styles of pronunciation and then presents a case study of interactions between non-native speakers, analysing their pronunciation of polysyllabic words to illustrate how new styles of speech are becoming increasingly acceptable. However, it is acknowledged that many challenges remain, especially concerning the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF). Furthermore, there is a lack of reference materials for the newly emergent styles of speech, and teachers often express concern about the absence of clear standards. Nevertheless, these new ways of speaking are gradually gaining acceptance, and in the future teaching is more likely to focus on achieving international intelligibility than adhering to irrelevant native speaker norms. In addition, new varieties of world Englishes will continue to emerge, emphasizing their distinctive identity while at the same time speakers endeavour to maintain intelligibility for listeners from elsewhere.