Dissertationsprojekt

The global spread of English as a pluricentric language has reshaped its sociolinguistic landscape, leading to the emergence of localised varieties worldwide (Bolton, 2012; Kachru, 1983). As English continues to serve as a means of international communication among speakers from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, the traditional dominance of native speakers of English in education has been called into question (Jenkins, 2006). Scholars have advocated for incorporating local English varieties in English teaching alongside the conventional standards of British and American English (Kirkpatrick, 2007). Nonetheless, research on language attitudes shows that learners still often favour native speaker models and may resist accepting localised varieties, even within their own contexts (Timmis, 2002). Therefore, it is essential to explore what factors contribute to learners' reluctance to embrace non-native English varieties as valid pedagogical models.

Research in sociolinguistics and the social psychology of language has consistently demonstrated the significant social, educational, and economic implications of speakers’ language attitudes (Garrett, 2010; Lippi-Green, 2012). The fact is that while research on language attitudes is well-documented in Inner Circle (IC) countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the USA, and the UK (e.g., Bayard et al., 2001; Lindemann, 2003; Gallois & Callan, 1981), and Outer Circle (OC) countries such as India, Nigeria or Singapore (e.g., Veettil, 2013, Peter & Daniel (2008); Olatoye, 2022), few investigations (e.g., Duong, 2012; Nguyen, 2022; Phan, 2020; Tran & Moore, 2015) have been conducted in Expanding Circle (EC) countries such as Vietnam where English is learned as a foreign language.

Vietnam, which has experienced rapid technological and economic growth, presents a unique context for exploring attitudes towards English varieties. English has become the dominant language for international communication, business, and academic exchange, and its importance is recognised by the government and the public alike (Hoang, 2020). While American and British English varieties continue to dominate as teaching models in Vietnam (Tran & Tanemura, 2020), Vietnamese learners are increasingly exposed to diverse English varieties through globalised media, education, and international business (Nguyen, 2022; Tran & Ngo, 2017). This growing exposure to various forms of English makes Vietnam a potential site to examine whether such contact influences learners' attitudes towards native and non-native accents, contributing to international research.

The present study focuses on Vietnamese EFL university students, who are likely to have broader exposure to different English varieties and whose attitudes towards those varieties have been more solidly formed compared to younger students. While previous studies have mainly employed item-response surveys to elicit students' attitudes, these approaches tend to capture only surface-level opinions. They may overlook the underlying reasons for such attitudes.

Therefore, to fill in the gaps in the literature, I want to conduct a mixed-method study, employing both quantitative and qualitative approaches, to see if Vietnamese EFL university students hold different attitudes towards native and non-native varieties.

To be more specific, this study will address the following research questions: 

RQ1: What are Vietnamese EFL university students’ implicit attitudes towards varieties of English?

RQ2: What sociolinguistic variables influence the respondents’ attitudes towards the accents of English?

RQ3: To what extent can Vietnamese EFL university students correctly identify local and non-local varieties of English? 

RQ4: What role does the respondents’ identification of speakers’ origins play in their evaluations of the varieties of English?

RQ5: What are Vietnamese EFL university students’ explicit attitudes towards varieties of English? 

RQ6: To what extent do the respondents' implicit and explicit attitudes towards different Englishes overlap?

This study will benefit several stakeholders. Practically, understanding learners’ perceptions would encourage attitudes towards English varieties that are most beneficial to the success of EFL learners. Pedagogically, the findings will raise teachers' awareness of the varieties of English issues and guide their curriculum, course design and teaching methodologies to implement ELT programmes. Politically, the investigation may have important implications for policymakers regarding localising English education in Vietnam and similar contexts. Academically, the study will also enrich international literature of English varieties for the scholarly community with the voice of participants in an underresearched area as Vietnam.