ANALYSING ITALIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATIVE AND NON-NATIVE ACCENTS OF ENGLISH

The study attempts to explore learners’ attitudes towards native and non-native English accents and pronunciation. A group of Italian university students studying at the University of Calabria (Italy) has been examined. An online link to a questionnaire was sent via email to all participants and was used as a research instrument to collect quantitative data. The research questions will investigate learners’ attitudes in relation to the following issues: accent and identity, impact of accent on communication, expectations about English teachers’ accents, learners’ pronunciation goals. Responses will be statistically associated with gender, study sector and proficiency level in English to identify a possible impact of one or more of these categories on learners’ attitudes. The study aims to gain useful insights that may hopefully raise students and teachers’ awareness of what models we expect learners to imitate and attain in the language classroom. The preliminary results will be presented and pedagogical considerations suggested.