World Englishes

Considering the pluricentricity of English language and more orientation towards intelligibility in multilingual and multicultural contexts, this article presents an attempt to explore 480 Outer Circle (OC) and Expanding Circle (EC) learners’ attitudes towards pronunciation and varieties of English within the framework of global Englishes. Adopting a questionnaire accompanied by interviews with some participants, the analysis shows the degree to which acceptance of pronunciation and pluricentricity of English vary among learners. In particular, the EC participants’ exonormativity was found to be greater. The results also highlight the concept of “identity” and nativism myth which shows native-like preference anchors more in EC learners’ attitudes compared to OC participants. This article argues that English learners must be made aware of the realities of today’s English and global English ownership which can be really helpful to instigate a paradigm shift in language learning to make sure that it is reflective of how English functions globally and all varieties of English in different cultures are respected.

This study investigatesvariability in English yes/no questions as well as the commonalities among yes/no question variants produced by members of two different varieties of English: Canadian English native speakers and Iranian EFL learners.Further, it probes the role of gender in theEnglish yes/no question variants produced by Canadian English native speakers and those produced by Iranian EFL learners. A modified version of the Edinburgh Map Task was used in data collection. 60 Canadians and Iranians performed the task and made English yes/no question variants considering the informal context. Based on the results, the same types of yes/no question variants were produced by both groups. However, with respect to quantity, Canadians made more variants while the context of use was similar. Another difference noticed was the most frequent variant: Iranians’ frequent variant coincided with the informal context, yet the Canadians’ frequent variant did not. Regarding gender, Iranians did not produce any gender-based variant; while Canadians showed that their production of yes/no question variants was gender-oriented. These findings revealed that both Canadians and Iranians from two different varieties of English syntactically behaved similarly, but their sociolinguistic behavior was not the same.

Exploring the disciplinary interface between English for specific purposes (ESP) and World Englishes (WEs), regarding the potential contributions of both disciplines to research on areas of shared interest, including TEFL and ESP Teachers’ attitudes are the center of current study. This investigation examines Iranian EFL and ESP teachers’ views on integrating WEs into ESP classes and assesses the English-speaking needs of ESP students. The study comprised 32 TEFL, 17 EFL, and 15 ESP teachers (16 male and 16 female, aged 30–67), using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach with quantitative questionnaires. Analysis of the data showed that subjects in both groups largely held remarkably positive views on WEs and felt ESP teaching should align with student objectives. More than two-thirds of participants disliked the current ESP syllabuses; however, only ESP teachers were unhappy with the teaching methods, cultural content, and textbook. The participants also showed complete dissatisfaction with their ESP students’ speaking abilities. It can be inferred that ESP course does not fully prepare the students to embark on their studies because it does not sufficiently consider learners’ speaking needs