attitudes toward standard english and world englishes among vietnamese adult learners of english

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY ATTITUDES TOWARD STANDARD ENGLISH AND WORLD ENGLISHES AMONG VIETNAMESE ADULT LEARNERS OF ENGLISH A thesis submitted

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

ATTITUDES TOWARD STANDARD ENGLISH AND WORLD ENGLISHES AMONG

VIETNAMESE ADULT LEARNERS OF ENGLISH

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for

the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL

Submitted by NGUYEN XUAN AN

Supervisor: DR HUYNH CONG MINH HUNG

Ho Chi Minh City

2018

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY -

Nguyen Xuan An

Major: TEACHING ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES Major code: 60140111

MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL

Supervisor: DR HUYNH CONG MINH HUNG

Ho Chi Minh City, 2018

ATTITUDES TOWARD STANDARD ENGLISH AND WORLD ENGLISHES

AMONG VIETNAMESE ADULT LEARNERS OF ENGLISH

No other person‟s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis

This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution

Ho Chi Minh City, 2018

Nguyen Xuan An

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Above all, I would like to express my deeply thankful heart to the LORD- my GOD Without His love and blessings, I wouldn‟t have any opportunity to attend a TESOL course at Ho Chi Minh City Open University and my thesis would not be done Next, I would like to thank Dr Huynh Cong Minh Hung – the supervisor of this study who gave me great support, guidance, advice and feedback during the time I conducted the study Then, my gratefulness is offered to all dedicated research participants who spent their valuable time and had wonderful support and cooperation in giving responses to questions in Questionnaire and Interview Without you, much of this study would not have been possible To all of my friends, thank you for standing by me throughout this journey I also would like to thank most of all, my students, who are my inspiration with a lot of sharing about the issue relating to Standard English and World Englishes and their values Finally,

my very special and sincere thanks will be offered to my mother and brother, who always had a lot of encouragement and prayer for me during the journey of my study at TESOL course and gave me unconditional support to help me complete my course

ABSTRACT

In the current time when English is spoken by different users around the world, Issues relating to Standard English and World Englishes are on debate and widely discussed in English Language teaching A number of studies into learners‟ attitudes toward WE and which model of English should be taught in ELT have been carried out worldwide However, these matters have not been sufficiently examined in Vietnam Therefore, this study makes contribution the understanding

of the attitudes toward Standard English and World Englishes among Vietnamese adult learners of English The study aimed at answering two research questions:

“What are the attitudes of Vietnamese adult learners of English toward Standard English? and “What are the attitudes of Vietnamese adult learners of English toward W.E? The study was designed with two research instruments: Questionnaire on 84 students and Interview with 10 students at different English language centers It revealed from the findings that Vietnamese adult learners of English have very positive attitudes towards Standard English and quite neutral attitudes toward World Englishes although they do not have supporting behavioral attitudes toward World Englishes The study findings also have important implications for English teaching

in the current context of Vietnam

Key words: attitude, Standard English, World Englishes, Vietnamese adult learners

of English

TABLE OF CONTENT

Page

Statement of authorship……… i

Acknowledgement……… ii

Abstract ……… iii

Table of contents………iv

List of figures………vii

List of tables………viii

List of abbreviations……… ix

Chapter1: Introduction………1

1.1Background of the study………1

1.2 Statement of the problems……….2

1.3 Purpose of the study and the research questions……… 4

1.4 Scope of the study ……… 4

1.5 Significance of the study……… ……….5

1.6 Limitations of the study ……… 6

1.7 Organization of the study……… 6

Chapter 2: Literature Review……… ……8

2.1 An overview of previous studies and the research gap……… 8

2.1.1 Previous studies……….……… 8

2.1.2 Research gaps……… ……….14

2.2 Standard English and World Englishes……….… 15

2.2.1 Standard English……….……… 15

2.2.2 World Englishes……….……… …… 19

2.3 English and World Englishes in Vietnam……… ……… 28

2.4 Vietnamese Adult learners ……….……… 31

2.5 Attitude and its importance in English language learning……… 33

2.5.1 Definitions……… 33

2.5.2 Components and types of attitude……….……… 34

2.5.3 The importance of attitude in language learning……….………38

Chapter 3: Methodology……… 40

3.1 Study design……….……… … 40

3.2 Research site and participants….……… 40

3.3 Research instruments……… … … … 41

3.4 Procedure…….……… ………44

3.5 Data analysis……… …….……45

3.6 Reliability and validity………45

Chapter 4: Findings and discussion……….……….47

4.1 Findings…….……….47

4.1.1 Findings from the questionnaire……….……… 47

4.1.2 Findings from the interview……….……… 56

4.2 Discussion of findings……… ………… 62

Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendations……… ……… 70

5.1 Main conclusions……….……… …70

5.2 Recommendations for English language education in Vietnam………… 71

5.3 Suggestions for further research……….……….… 73

References……… ……… 74

Appendices……… ……… 83

LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure2.1 Kachru‟s circles……… …… 24

Figure 2.2 Three components of attitude……… … 36

Figure 4.1 Means‟ graph of Questionnaire about SE……… 51

Figure 4.2 Means‟ graph of Questionnaire about WE……….56

LIST OF TABLES

Page Table 3.1 Structure of questionnaire……… ………….43 Table 3.2: Reliability Statistics……….46 Table 4.1 Participants‟ response percentage of items………47 about the attitudes toward S.E

Table 4.2 Descriptive statistics of questionnaire about SE……….50 Table 4.3 Participants‟ response percentage of items ……….52 about the attitudes toward W.E

Table 4.4 Descriptive statistics of questionnaire about WE………54 Table 4.5 General information of the interviewees……… ……57

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

A : Agree

D : Disagree

EC : the Expanding Circle

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

ELF: English as a Lingua Franca

ELT: English Language Teaching

IC: the Inner Circle

OC : the Outer Circle

S.E : Standard Engish

S.U.E : Successful Users of English

SA: Strongly Agree

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study

Since English becomes a language of international communication, many countries have made great effort to help English language education achieve positive results

As a matter of fact, a lot of teaching and learning methods and approaches have been found out to help English learners succeed in using English for communication It is seen that a large number of adult learners realize the importance of English learning and consider it as a crucial path to success in their life When English spreads to every corner of the world, it almost exists in international communication where people from different countries meet and have a demand for exchanging information English has been changed in forms, usages or pronunciation because of the variety of English users Naturally, English escapes from its original standard to have many kinds of English which are known as localized Englishes or World Englishes (W.E) However, Standard English (S.E) seems to play an important role and is taught in most schools In other words, English language education aims at Standard English A survey of Ton &Pham (2010) revealed that Vietnamese learners of English are in favor of S.E rather than W.E However, it is not ensured that by learning only S.E, learners do not find difficulties in communicating with non- native speakers who have diversity in local accents, pronunciation or language usage, etc It is strongly agreed that since Vietnam had open door policy, Vietnamese people have more opportunities to meet different foreigners In the current time, Vietnam becomes a country where English language education gets a lot of attention from not only Department of education but also Vietnamese people Hence, realizing the crucial role of English, Vietnam allows English to be taught not only at schools but also at foreign language centers where thousands of people have come to enroll short-term or long-term courses with the hope that they can improve their English skills and use English fluently It can be seen that more and more Vietnamese adult do not hesitate spending time and money enrolling courses at the foreign language centers where they think that will

be taught to be a successful users of English However, the emergence of W.E requires both English language educators and learners to have fair attitudes toward S.E and W.E It is seen that the boundary of standard and non- standard English is hardly defined Therefore, to gain success in English learning, understanding S.E and W.E should be taken into consideration among Vietnamese adult learners of English It is strongly believed that negative attitudes toward W.E will have disadvantageous impacts on English learning process and results According to Fakeye (2010), learners‟ attitude is considered to be one of the most important factors determining the success of their language learning Therefore, biases against W.E or wrong assumption towards W.E will be barriers for Vietnamese learners of English to maximize absorbing different kinds of English in the world and become successful users of English This can cause trouble for learners in international communication when they meet non- native speakers around the world Recently, the terms “S.E” and “W.E” have become controversial in the language education in Vietnam Furthermore, the attitudes toward S.E and W.E among Vietnamese adult learners of English should be considered

1.2 Statement of the problems

In the current time of globalization, English has a magic power to be dominant among different languages as a means of communication to open doors into the world It has been seen that a number of people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds have been trying to learn English because of the demand for international communication Difficulties in communication among non- native speakers offer users of English have a new perception about kinds of English One

of the most considered issues is the emergence of English around the world as the Lingua franca (ELF) rather than as a foreign language (EFL) Furthermore, the spread of English as the Lingua franca nowadays leads to the conflict between local identity and global linguistic values It means that local people are supposed to adapt their language to communicate with others but they still need to secure and

maintain their separate social identity Moreover, with the fast growth of globalization and technology, people contact diverse non-standardized English of non-native speakers around the world more frequently than standardized English norms of native speakers Moreover, there is no doubt that knowledge about standardized and non- standardized English are too wide to be mastered at all, so linguistic difference in international communication may cause misunderstanding and failure of exchanging information Therefore, it is thought that using Standard English will help communication go more easily However, there is the fact that language is shaped by culture and language consists of many components such as words usage, accent, pronunciation, etc It is agreed that each countries has different culture, so it is impossible for English to have the same standard to follow Furthermore, language also reflects cultural identity and culture is the value which needs to be respected Hence, differences in English language should be accepted and valued when English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) is emerging In Vietnam, since English is the language to be taught at schools and the foreign language centers, S.E seems to be the language Vietnamese learners of English have been trying to study However, with the emergence of W.E, it is strongly believed that wrong attitudes toward S.E and W.E will cause trouble which has negative impacts on English the learning process and results As a matter of fact, attitudes toward S.E and W.E are controversial in many studies because attitude is affected by many factors and it may change over years Therefore, discovering real attitudes of learners toward S.E and W.E will offer a real look about English language education and help revealing worthy recommendations for English teaching and learning to help learners become

successful users of English

1.3 Purpose of the study and the research questions

It is natural for English to exceed its standard to develop into W.E when it is used

by different people around the world who have diversity in cultural identity and background It is impossible to stop the development of English to adapt itself for fast changes of the life For English learners, they have their own choice of the model of English to learn: S.E or W.E that can make them successful users of English Right attitude toward language will facilitate language learning much better It is agreed that attitudes toward something is considered to be one of the most crucial factors helps determining what should be done to achieve the target With the same meaning for Vietnamese adult learners of English, attitudes toward S.E and W.E will have remarkable effects on their learning process and results Before offering any recommendations for better English language education, the insights for the issue should be taken into consideration In the current time when the battle between S.E and W.E becomes fierce with a lot of opposite argument and different opinions among Vietnamese learners of English, it is high time to do the research relating to this topic This study aims at investigating attitudes toward S.E and W.E among Vietnamese adult learners of English Basing on the findings, there will be recommendations for English teaching and learning to help Vietnamese adult learners of English become successful users of English

To lead the study, here are the research questions:

 What are the attitudes of Vietnamese adult learners of English toward S.E?

 What are the attitudes of Vietnamese adult learners of English toward W.E?

1.4 Scope of the study

The study will be carried out among Vietnamese adult learners of English who are

18 or over 18 years old and are studying English at English Language centers in Ho Chi Minh City The Research participants are believed to have different background

of ages, genders, occupations, learning contexts and knowledge of English, etc

These participants have different levels of English from the elementary level to the advanced level among English classes at English language centers The study intentionally focuses on these levels because at these levels, learners are supposed

to have basic or much more knowledge of English and have their own belief or ideas about English language These participants are convenient samples who agree

to take part in the study with two research instruments: questionnaire and interview The study attempts to investigate learners‟ attitudes in three types of attitude: positive, negative and neutral basing on three components of attitude: cognitive, affective and behavioral attitude The concentrated academic terms in this study are S.E and W.E

1.5 Significance of the study

First, the topic of this study seems to be the great interest of the English language educators and learners It is agreed that discovering learners‟ attitude toward Standard English and World English means understanding their feelings, beliefs, needs and behavior toward the issue By understanding learners‟ real attitudes, English language educators will have suitable learning activities that strengthen their English learning It is strongly believed that learners‟ right attitude toward the language will give more and more motivation and interest in their learning process

to achieve the target while wrong attitude will be considered to be a big barrier for becoming successful users of English When English becomes a dominant language

in most of international communication, successful users of English are expected to know not only S.E but also W.E Furthermore, understanding learners‟ real attitudes toward S.E and W.E will help English language educators determine what should be changed or advised to raise learners‟ awareness toward English varieties in the world Moreover, focusing on the research participants - Vietnamese adult learners

of English at English language centers will help English centers understand their learners‟ attitudes toward S.E and W.E to adjust their English teaching and learning

as well as curriculum that meet learners‟ need and interest, attract more and more learners coming to enroll courses and to make them successful users of English

1.6 Limitations of the study

The study was conducted with the research participants who are Vietnamese adult

learners of English at English language centers It is agreed that asking for the authority‟s permission to make a survey at their language centers is not easy, so the study used convenient samples instead of random samples It means the findings may not be generalized for the population in some extent However, participants of the study were selected from different language centers with diversity in the background of ages, occupations, genders, learning contexts and knowledge of English, etc Although these are convenient sample, they are still believed to have common characteristics of Vietnamese adult learners of English and in some extent they may be considered to be main representatives for Vietnamese learners of English The next limitation of the study is time constraint For some reasons, the study must be completed in the short time, which requires much of the researcher‟s effort To handle this limitation, an appropriate detailed research plan with a clear schedule was helpful for the research to conduct the study smoothly and punctually

1.7 Organization of the study

The study was conducted by the following organization with five main chapters

Chapter 1: Introduction

This chapter introduced important points of the study which included background of the study, statement of the problems, purpose of the study, the research questions, scope of the study, significance of the study, limitations of the study and also the organization

Chapter 2: Literature Review

To lay a good foundation for conducting the study, literature review was written carefully basing on reading and collecting theoretical information from previous studies, articles, journals, books and online websites, etc This chapter was considered to be one of the most important because it was also a basis for designing questionnaire which helps answering the research questions In this chapter, an overview of previous studies and the research gap were pointed out, it also offered definitions of the terms such as S.E, W.E, attitude and its importance in English language learning, and an overview of the current English language education in Vietnam and characteristics of adult learners of English who are the research samples

Chapter 3: Methodology

In details, this chapter described participants, research methods and the two research instruments: questionnaire and interview which helped finding the answers for research questions It also presented sampling methods, sample size and how data was collected and analyzed

Chapter 4: Findings and discussion

The chapter showed findings which were found from questionnaire and interview This chapter was considered to be worth reading because the findings were answers for the two research question which were given in the first chapter- introduction The findings were compared with findings in previous studies Moreover, the most interesting point in this chapter was discussion of the findings which offered full of critical discussion basing on the findings and theoretical perspective in chapter two- literature review

Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendations

This chapter summarized main points of the study and also offered recommendations which will help Vietnamese adult learners of English become successful users of English and suggestions for further research

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 An overview of previous studies and the research gap

2.1.1 Previous studies

Over the years, there have been a large number of studies relating to language attitude with different dimensions Since the spread of English as Lingua Franca took place with the fast speed, more and more research have been conducted to discover attitude or perception about English and its varieties as W.E It is seen that these studies have great contribution into the field of English language education around the world With different study contexts and dimensions, various interesting results were shown For instance, relating the topic favorite kinds of English, Do (2000) revealed that the percentage of Vietnamese people who preferred British English is 44.2%, 32.6% admitted American English was their favorite kind of English, 15.8% supported for Vietnamese English, 4.4% preferred Australian English, and only 1.3% had favor for other varieties of English This result can be interpreted that most Vietnamese people have favor for S.E like British English, American English or Australian English but W.E are not their favor because of the low percentage of choice Since English was allowed to be taught at schools and English language centers, it seems that Standard English has been superior in the battle with W.E because the percentage of those who support for Standard English was much higher than for W.E There is an idea that attitude toward language can

be changed over the years when factors influencing the language development change However, this assumption sounds wrong for Vietnamese learners of English because according to a survey of Ton &Pham (2010), the statement “I want to learn the English that native speakers use” achieved very high percentage of choice with 42.8% strongly agreed and 45.6% agreed while only 12.4% strongly agreed with the statement “I want to learn the kind of English that will help me communicate with non-native speakers all over the world” Once again, it is obvious that Vietnamese learners of English still had positive attitudes toward Standard English and wanted

to adopt it as their favorite model of English which should be learned to become successful users of English

It reveals that the importance of understanding varieties of English and learning W.E has been not realized yet However, the emergence of W.E as localized Englishes seems to make English language educators and language experts pay more attention to, so there have been studies conducted to find out perceptions about Standard English and W.E For example, the project of Marcus Martins (2016) which focuses on discovering the perceptions of Vietnamese teachers on appropriate models of English for English teaching and learning The study had important contribution when it attempted to investigate whether the model of S.E such as British, American or Australian English is the favorite choice for their English teaching which is thought to be helpful for their students Basing the findings and suggestions for previous further researches on the spread of localized Englishes as W.E, it is believed that the study offers clear understanding teachers‟ perceptions on models of English for English teaching in the context of English language education in Vietnam However, it appears that the result of the study was not much different from previous studies Particularly, it also revealed that Vietnamese teachers‟ awareness for English varieties and more needs for adapting W.E into English teaching and learning have been beginning to grow However, the study still draws the main conclusion that the models of Standard English achieved more of teachers‟ interest for classroom application rather than W.E Although ELF

is emerging nowadays, it seems that there are not many changes in teachers and learners‟ beliefs and perceptions about S.E and W.E According to Ton & Pham (2010), most interviewees agreed with the idea that English belongs to countries like England or America Most of them also support the idea that Vietnamese learners should learn American English or British English which are considered to

be standard for everyone to follow Differently, those who support for the varieties

of English and accept them still take up a very low percentage For instance, few interviewees in the study agree that finding one correct standard in English is

impossible because in their perception, British or American English can be considered to be standard for teachers and learners to follow Moreover, they show their preference for learning American English or British English and also wish to speak English like native speakers As a matter of fact, intelligibility- being understood in communication is actually more important than linguistic knowledge

It is suggested that basing on learners‟ needs, teachers should raise learners‟ awareness of varieties of English as W.E and help learners realize the importance of intelligibility in English communication

Furthermore, the emergence of ELF nowadays requires much attention and consideration for learning English varieties as well as security of local identity for local linguistic and cultural values It is strongly believed that English learners‟ awareness of S.E and W.E continues to change in the era of globalization Therefore, it is crucial to update how perspectives on the issue are changing that there will be more suitable suggestions for helping English language education better Following the attention to the issue of ELF, Tran ((2000) revealed in an article that raising awareness of W.E in English language education programs was still a challenge which needs to be taken into consideration Moreover, the view of English users should be open to realize and respect diversity in local cultures and civilizations in the world especially in term of localized Englishes Though the article pointed out Vietnamese perspectives on W.E and reveals implications for English teaching in Vietnam, it may not be very persuasive because of lack of real research survey or interviews to discover Vietnamese people‟s awareness of English varieties nowadays As a contribution for understanding the issue, Tran and Moore (2015) investigated perceptions of Vietnamese teachers on incorporating W.E into their teaching In some extent, the study showed the results which seemed to be similar to the results of Ton &Pham (2010) It can be drawn from the study that Vietnamese teachers of English were aware of different varieties of English but it needed to be more strengthened and there should be teacher training courses to deepen teachers‟ awareness of the ELF growth and address practical

applications for classroom contexts It is believed that this research is valuable for English teaching and learning in Vietnam However, small numbers of participants

in the study and a focus on university and college teachers are limitations for popularization

It can be said that topics relating to S.E and varieties of English get a lot of attention

in English language education not only in Vietnam but also in other countries For instance, Pishghadam & Sabouri (2011) was conducted among 165 Iranian learners

of English to find out their attitudes toward different kinds of English basing on the theory of W.E These participants‟ attitudes were recorded when they listened to a text read by different accents: British, American, Persian and Arabic A semantic differential scale was used to analyze their attitudes toward readers and the findings showed that American accent was the most preferred and American teachers were considered to be the best It is seen that the existence of S.E was still believed rather than W.E Comparing to findings of studies in the Vietnamese context, learners of English in this study also had favor for S.E more than W.E In Pakistani context, according to Parveen & Mehmood (2013), Pakistani learners of English were still aware of Pakistani English as their own linguistic identity and accept it However,

in their viewpoint, possessing S.E was considered to carry prestige and express success Speaking with standard accent is what they determine to achieve in English language learning though they have few opportunities to contact with native speakers

In the context of Korean college, Choi (2007) was considered to be one of the worthy studies which offered understanding attitudes of Korean college learners toward W.E and non- native English teachers The study was conducted by a questionnaire survey between two groups of college students Group one consisted

of the second year students who were not familiar with the new concept “W.E” whereas group two was built from the fourth - year students who had lectures on W.E The study had interesting findings that group one had stronger favor for

British or American English while S.E got less preference among students of groups two Another finding of the study was that the English proficiency determined choosing their favorite teachers According to the finding of this study, non- native teachers were the favorite choice of group one with low English proficiency while group two with higher English proficiency had favor for native teachers It seems that in Korea, English learners with high level of English had awareness the existence of W.E and it was so surprising to know that they had less preference for S.E That was because these participants received lectures relating W.E It is assumed that in different context and settings, English learners‟ belief and attitudes toward language are also various

Apart from the studies in Iran and Korea, the next study- Arrieta (2017) was conducted in the US setting to investigate two groups of ESL teachers and students‟ perception and attitudes toward W.E pronunciation before and after they watched a video on W.E accents The study revealed interesting findings that teachers‟ attitudes and perception on W.E changed little from negative to slightly positive after they were shown to W.E Moreover, teachers‟ education did not much effect

on their perception and attitudes The study showed the belief that extensive training

on the issue may make teachers change their perception and attitudes Different from teachers, students in this study showed more positive attitudes toward WE and most of them expressed their hope that WE should be added into their lessons to help them know the ways people around the world speak English It seemed that American learners had positive attitudes and have acceptance for W.E However, the finding of the study in the US context raised a doubt whether W.E will be still valuable in learners‟ perception if they study in the context in which S.E is only the target

Another study is Sachiko (2009) which aimed at investigating Japanese learners‟ attitudes toward varieties of English It offered the answer for the above doubt The study was conducted in Japan where English was seldom used outside the

classrooms and learners had less opportunity to be shown to varieties of English It seemed that the spread of English as Lingua Franca was hardly known in this country Therefore, it is not surprising when the study result showed that Japanese learners of English considered American English as their preferable and comprehensible model among varieties of English It is seen that the findings of Sachiko (2009) again disappointed those who were aware of the emergence of W.E and respect English varieties

Another study is Armandi (2016) which aimed at discovering the Swedish people‟s attitudes towards the varieties of English: Indian English (IndE), American English (AmE), Nigerian English (NigE) and British English (BrE) With the number of 157 participants via written questionnaire, the findings revealed that most of Swedish had a positive attitude towards British English and American English, while Indian English and Nigerian English seemed not familiar with them It was also discovered that younger people preferred American English while British English is the favorite choice of the older people The study result suggested the concept “W.E” should be introduced in their English language education

Meerleer (2011-2012) conducted in Belgium revealed interesting findings about beliefs and attitudes towards English as a Lingua franca: native and non-native pronunciation With participating of 29 Flemings and 27 Walloons, and international students spread over five different Belgian cities, respondents showed their dependence on native English norms and some expressed difficulties in ELF communication because of their lack of confidence with non- native pronunciation The next study is Yang (2011) which was conducted to find out the attitudes toward native and non-native varieties of English among 30 Chinese postgraduate students

at the University of Edinburgh Among varieties of English: New York English, London English, Edinburgh English, Singapore English, Japanese English, Indian English, and Chinese English It was revealed in the result that among those kinds

of English, Chinese students had more favor for native English: the New York

English and London English However, they also expressed positive attitudes toward Chinese English and little ability to recognize native and non- native English It is assume that American and British English seemed to be the most well-known models of English nowadays and these English models were considered to

be standard for learners to follow

2.1.2 Research gaps

The previous studies are still limited although the issue of S.E and W.E in language education is one of the most controversial topics at the present time It is seen that most studies attempted to find out perception on W.E or attitudes toward varieties

of English These studies have great contribution in discovering the answers for questions relating to favorite model of English and offering the insights of learners‟ belief, feelings and needs which have implications for English language education However, findings from each studies were very various in different countries and contexts In some countries, learners had positive attitudes toward S.E learners while still others had awareness of W.E There were not any studies relating to attitudes toward S.E and W.E in Vietnamese The previous studies conducted in Vietnam just stopped at finding out learners‟ favorite English models and perceptions about W.E It is believed that the issue about learners‟ attitudes toward S.E and W.E should be investigated in the Vietnamese context Therefore, this study will be considered to be one of the first researches on discovering Vietnamese learners‟ attitudes toward S.E and W.E It is seen that most of the mentioned studies used questionnaire as a main research instrument to find out answers for their research questions

Moreover, it seems that previous studies just stopped at revealing models of English which learners had positive attitudes toward It is agreed that the insights of these attitudes should be explained in detail to help understanding their attitudes more deeply in term of attitude components and its types Therefore, it is strongly believed that combining two research instruments: questionnaire and interview in

this study will facilitate discovering learners‟ attitude more specifically than previous studies Questions in the survey of this study focused on three main components types of attitude and offered more comprehensive view of learners‟ attitude Moreover, unlike the previous studies, this study had practical suggestions basing on the findings to help English learning more effective and offered recommendations for raising awareness of English variation as W.E nowadays Furthermore, it is believed that findings in the previous studied were pointed out over years, so this study is considered to the newest study to reveal learners‟ attitudes toward S.E and W.E in detail

2.2 Standard English and World Englishes

2.2.1 Standard English

The term “Standard English” in the language field has been taken into consideration over years and there have been different definitions relating to this term Trudgill and Hannah(1994) presents that S.E is the written and spoken language of the intellectual speakers In general, the similarity of the definitions is that Standard English is purely a communicative dialect of educated people It seems that the emphasis of Standard English is its users who must have education In other words, this belief reveals the unique characteristics of S.E Its users are supposed to spend time being taught this standard dialect That makes S.E more and more prestigious among different English varieties As it is already known, English today becomes

an international language which more and more people want to master it as an effective means of communication There are approximately 375 million English native speakers and more than one billion people use it as a second language nowadays

Furthermore, the spread of English to every corners of the world makes it widely used in the majority of life aspects such as social media, politics, business, science, and tourism, etc It is considered as “the global language” (Crystal 2003) The term

“English” leads to the assumption that there must be a standard for its users to agree upon That can be British English, American English or Australian English which is well- known and widely appears across the world However, English not only exists

at English speaking countries but also is used at non-native English countries where speakers adapt English with their local cultural and linguistic identity English now becomes diverse in its forms, usages, pronunciation, accents, spellings, grammar and lexical meanings, etc Therefore, the term “Standard English” seems to give the suggestion that it must share the same understanding among English users However, the term “Standard English” is not easy to be defined because of the emergence of English as the Lingua franca around the world, which requires much more attention and discussion from linguists, researchers and language educators

Mc Arthur (2003) indicates that S.E is the model which English speaking communities set a high value on and widely accept to use He also advocates that S.E is the kind of language in the field of news and it reveals the users‟ social status and educational background Therefore, it was believed that English learners have desire to learn S.E used by the majority of native speakers According to Crystal (2003), S.E is widely understood within a community of users who have most prestige or power in an English speaking country Those who would like to join in this prestigious community are expected to learn S.E However, S.E is considered

as the language model of native-speakers, so it is impossible for non-native speakers

to master Standard English unless they are reborn as native ones (Cook 1999) It is seen that the number of native speakers in English speaking countries is less than non- native speakers who have diversity in cultural and linguistic identity Therefore, setting a kind of S.E for all English learners seems unrealistic

According to Widdowson (2003), S.E refers to grammar and vocabulary with lexical meaning, so S.E is believed to play an important role in the intelligibility of communication Furthermore, he suggests that there are two choices for learners one

of which is becoming the member of the Standard English-users community or still remaining non- standard ways of writing and speaking With the same opinion,

Trudgill and Hannah's (1994) agrees that grammar and dialect (vocabulary) are emphasized in S.E, so just educated English speakers usually use Moreover, it is stated that pronunciation or accent does not take an important place in S.E Furthermore, Halliday (2006) emphasizes that S.E is just like other dialects but it has a uniform That sounds an interesting opinion which means S.E has an equal value as other varieties but it shares most common linguistic features widely understood According to Jenkins (2003), S.E is just a social dialect which is formed by education It is seen that there have been various definitions by language experts and researchers but S.E still seems a controversial term Kyung-Ja Park and Nakano (2007) argues that S.E is a language of people who have power British English is assumed to be standard because of its origin while others believe that American English is a kind of standard because of its power As a matter of fact, there is such idea since America is considered to one of the most powerful and richest countries in economy and politics across the world Therefore, its language

is also superior to other languages Nevertheless, this conclusion seems not persuasive and definition of S.E is hard to be clarified For many years, Standard British English was known as traditional S.E in the 19th century However, with its global authority in economic and politics, America promoted its language- Standard American English into the prestigiously standard variety beside Standard British English which is almost used as global media and computer language around the world

At the current time, English language education across the world seems to aim at two main standard varieties which are Standard British or Standard American English However, with the fast growth of some other countries, standardization in English may be little changed by regular existence of other English varieties such Australian English (AusE), Canadian English (CanE) or New Zealand English (NSE) which are also considered to be standard nowadays In general, the answers

of the question about S.E appear more and more complicated It is suggested that the concept of standard should be more discussed and clarified in English language

education Among English learners, definition of S.E seems to lead them to negative biases against other English varieties According to Strevens (1985), S.E can be spoken with different accent It is agreed that everyone has different accent and national identity, so classification of S.E cannot depend on vocalization and cultural values When English becomes an international language, the division of English speakers into native and non-native seems more and more vague Moreover, English

is used across the world, so the questions relating to S.E and its ownership need to

be concerned in the field of English education There is a traditional belief that the British people, Americans or Australians are considered to be the owners of English Specially, many believe that England is the country where English originated, so British people are thought to have the ownership and British English should be accepted to be the most standard among English varieties However, Widdowson (1994) states that English serves communication need of different communities nowadays, so it should belong to those who use it

According to Alptekin (2002), since English is the global language in the national level, so beliefs about the ownership of English have changed significantly

multi-In addition, English is used in every corners of the world in the era of globalization,

so English learners should learn how to confront difference in English rather than determine which English model is standard or what country is the owner of English However, relating to English language teaching, according to Foley (2012), an appropriate English model in education should depend on which communities English learners are expected to join in and it should be the prestigiously standard models widely used in English speaking communities Similarly, it is suggested that students should learn one primary model of English supporting for their communication and also be aware of English varieties Furthermore, Phan (2008) has another suggestion that learners who would like to attend internationally standardized tests such as IELTS, TOEIC or TOEFL should concentrate on not only standard varieties of English like American or British English but also other English models It is seen that definition of Standard English is hard to be clarified because

there have been different discussion and opinions However, it is agreed that S.E is just considered as a communicative language primary used and understood by the majority of speakers around the world In general, the definitions of Standard English are very various, so it should be taken into consideration in the language education

2.2.2 World Englishes

Theory of World Englishes

According to Jenkins (2003), the term “W.E” covers a large number of English varieties which are different in their characteristics and current use although they might share some common features While S.E is considered to be just one native English dialect, the term “W.E” means all different English varieties around the world Since English became a global language in international communication, English adapted itself with local identity to develop into W.E or localized new Englishes

According to Bolton (2004), W.E relate to the worldwide spread of English to form new Englishes which fit local cultural values For example, new English varieties appear such as Hong Kong English, Indian English, Malaysian English, Singaporean English, and Philippine English or even Vietnamese English, etc These different localized Englishes shares some common features of S.E but they also have many differences in accents, pronunciation, word usage or even in grammatical structures which are affected by local linguistic identities W.E seem to

be the English models mixed with regional dialects to have the unique the language styles reflecting local culture

Bhatt (2001) indicates that W.E are the models which have diverse non-native English norms clinging to regional settings across the world It is believed that the W.E paradigms specifically focus on creativity relating to multicultural identities Moreover, Davis (2004) assumes that W.E refer to legal English varieties used by

the British non-white colonies and he also expresses his concern about discriminations between native speakers and W.E users The term “W.E” is

variously used across the world and is also known as adapted Englishes or new localized Englishes Griffler (2002) states that W.E can be defined as new Englishes

which has been transformed from S.E to be used among more speakers with different first native languages According to Braine (as cited in Jenkins, 2008), non-native speakers (NNSs) take up approximately 80 percent of the English speakers in the world and they will have powerful effects on the English language development At the same time, there are significant changes in the ownership of English because that English nowadays accompanies with multi-national identity (Alptekin, 2002) Consequently, the culture that associates with English no longer completely belongs to places where English is used as the native language (Lai, 2014)

Moreover, the beliefs of W.E strongly deny the idea that native speakers are better English speakers and they would be ideal English teachers (Jenkins, 2003) Furthermore, it is advocated that international communications in W.E among non-native speakers are even more powerful than among native speakers Therefore, it is offensive to sneer at the proficient users of W.E just because they are non-native speakers Cook (1995) attempted to authorize non-native speakers by suggesting his multi-competence model (cited in Brown, 2007) According to this model, L2 users are thought to be more flexible than monolingual native speakers because they can access two or more than two linguistic competences at the same time Similarly, Widdowson (2003) strongly opposes the affirmation that native English speakers are the owner of English language and they have authority to decide English using around the world Instead, the ideology of W.E should be concerned because W.E reflect how English language develops and spread out to the world

According to Crystal (2003), most adaptation in a New English relates

to vocabulary, in the form of new words, word-formations,

word-meanings, collocations and idiomatic phrases Speakers still find their cultural identity in adapting the English language to meet their communicative needs Also

according to Crystal (2003), W.E have two major features In the linguistic

repertoire, English is only one of two or more codes and it has gained an important status in the language of such multilingual nations In functional terms, W.E have extended their function in the fields of society, education, administration, and literature

Kachru’s three circles

There have been several researches of W.E, two famous scholars Quirk and Kachru are worth to be mentioned Quirk divided English varieties into three kinds: English

as native language (ENL); English as second language (ESL); English as foreign language (EFL) He presented that all English varieties should base on the established rules of British English or American English and he suggested the only criterion for English varieties in the world However, it is impossible to maintain one standard for all English varieties when English is spoken by not only native speakers but also non-native speakers who have diversity in cultural and linguistic backgrounds around the world On the contrary, being known as a pioneer of the theories for the internationalization of English, Kachru established the notion of W.E in 1970s Among different models of W.E, the existence of W.E seems to be the best emphasized by Kachru‟ model This model strongly indicates there are various localized Englishes across the world rather than just one kind of English Kachru‟ model is considered to make the first establishment on describing the spread of English to every corners of the world in different social and cultural settings His first publication was in 1985 and classifies the English usage into three centered circles: the inner circle, the outer circle, and the expanding circle Through this frame, Kachru protests the dominance of native English norms in English language education and offers the awareness of the spread of English over its standard to new territorial regions and different local context across the world W.E

paradigm reveals three main ideas which focus on the diversity of English varieties, localized Englishes modifications and new English users The last notion emphasizes that English nowadays belongs to those who use it This idea objects the previous assumption that English is the language of native speakers; instead, it shows new perspective about the ownership the English language Kachru named these three circles: the Inner Circle (IC), the Outer (or Extended) Circle (OC), and the Expanding Circle (EC) of W.E

The inner circle

The Inner Circle (IC) consists of the countries where English is used as the mother tongue, the dominant or primary dialects i.e., the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand English of these countries is considered to be native- speaker (NS) norms or standardized one almost adopted in English language education around the world These native English varieties seem

to be preferred and superior to other non-native English varieties (Jenkins, 2009) reveals the estimated number of Inner Circle speakers which was around 350 million According to Deterding & Kirkpatrick (2006), the number of IC speakers seems to be limited in comparison with the fast increasing number of Outer Circle and Expanding Circle English speakers Although English of this circle is thought

to be native or standard, Jenkins (2009) affirms that “inner” does not mean

“superior” Moreover, Canagarajah (2005b) asserts that “the Inner Circle” means just a name of a group rather than expresses any power or authority

The outer circle

The Outer Circle (OC) comprises countries where English is used as an institutionalized dialect because of colonization during the early time of the English spread As matter of fact, in these colonial countries, English is not their mother tongue but it is used as an official language at public places and in education program This circle includes countries such as India, Nigeria, South Africa,

Philippines, Singapore and others which have diversity in culture and linguistics English of OC countries was thought to be non-native but now it transitioned from traditionally S.E to new standard English varieties widely applied in social, educational and literary fields Therefore, English in OC countries is considered to

be at the high social or educational status

The expanding circle (EC)

The expanding circle comprises countries such as China, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Israel Iran, Japan and Korea where English is primarily used for business and international communication The EC countries show the fast increasing numbers of non- native English speakers at different parts across the world nowadays (Crystal 2003) Therefore, English now combines the diversity in multi- cultural and linguistic values thanks to the various communities of English speakers around the world When English became a global language, many English speakers of EC tend

to use different English varieties in their own styles reflecting their cultural and social identity In the Expanding Circle (EC), Kachru assumes that English has become an international language which is known as a foreign language It is believed that these speakers of EC countries still use their native dialect as an official or primary communicative language outside the classroom However, S.E norms of IC countries seem to be preferred and followed in English language education although non-native English varieties are their regular used models in English teaching and learning

Observations to the three circle model

It is agreed that Kachru‟s model has great contribution into understanding how English spreads across the world and transforms to new W.E Nevertheless, Yano (2001) predicted that Kachru‟s model would have some changes over years Particularly, the line between IC and OC may be more vague because English speakers of OC countries seem to have desire for achieving standardized English

Furthermore, Sifakis (2004) offered a new idea for placing Kachru‟s three circles along a sequence where the changeability between and within circles is highlighted

In addition, Davydova (2012) proposes that in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theory, it is possible to generalize OC and EC English varieties of similar sociocultural backgrounds Although there have been suggestions for improving the first model of Kachru‟s three circle, the W.E model should be in concern nowadays

Figure 2.1 Kachru‟s circles

English as Lingua Franca (ELF)

Recently, the emergence of English as a lingua franca‟ (ELF) refers communication

in English among speakers with different native languages Since English became

an international language, most ELF interactions often exist among non-native English speakers with various cultural and linguistic backgrounds

ELF is considered as a part of the occurrence of W.E or English as a global language ELF also became a preferred term as people with different native languages around the world chose English as a means of international communication In other words, it is not doubtful that English now acts as a global

Lingua franca and it is formed by its users: non-native speakers However, this leads

to the wonder whether ELF should be officially accepted beside native English or it

is just considered as a mistaken version of S.E Therefore, there have been research and studies aiming at analyzing and describing the nature of ELF such as the level

of phonology (Jenkins 2000), pragmatics (Meierkord 1996), and lexico- grammar (Seidlhofer 2004) These studies have remarkable contributions into better understanding of linguistic features of ELF, which minimizes misunderstanding in ELF communication It is believed that these identifying characteristics of ELF should be concerned and widely introduced to help English speakers succeed in international communication As a matter of fact, the rise of English as a lingua franca (ELF) has remarkable influences on English language education, which needs to be taken more consideration

From the ELF perspectives, it is suggested that educators pay more attention to an communicative strategies in ELF interactions in which native English norms are not used as the target speaking proficiency (Wach, 2011) For a number of non-native speakers, the concept of good English seems to refer native speakers in some extent and they have favor for this ideal model Nevertheless, they also express the desire

to show their own local identity in using English Some of them are even aware of themselves as a part of ELF speakers communities and would like to share a common identity with other ELF speakers (Jenkins, 2009)

Crystal (2003) points out that the intelligibility problems result from adapting English with local linguistic identity Similarly, Atechi (2007) emphasizes that the emergence of non-native English varieties leads to linguistic issue relating to unintelligibility among English speakers around the world Therefore, since W.E developed, differences of non-native English varieties should be taken into consideration in international communications (Yano, 2009)

The future of ELF

Concerning the future of English as lingua franca, it seems quite hard to predict the position of ELF and its development However, Seidlhofer & Berns (2009) and Seidlhofer (2009) anticipates that the establishment of W.E will be parallel with its rise around the world Also, according to Breiteneder (2009), ELF will have diverse properties with different English varieties around the world Moreover, Lluda (2004) believes that the future development of English will be in the hands of non-native speakers and the native speakers‟ power on English will pass to any English users thanks to changes in non-native speakers‟ awareness of the English ownership This means when non-native English speakers realize their property of English and authority to use English in their own way, native speakers will lose their control of (Llurda, 2004) Booij (2001) predicts that English in the future will not belong to any specific countries but it will be attached to any users People from different countries across the world can use various English varieties reflecting their own identity and cultural background in their own way This will have influences

on English language education and shift language learning programs to new forms which satisfy the learners‟ need to master English as a means of international communication However, some problems relating to English phonology will be also concerned to maintain the intelligibility in ELF communications

In addition, the field of English lexis is predicted to be more and more complicated when diverse English varieties around the world are used in different interactive contexts This requires more and more attention from linguists, language educators and TESOL scholars Furthermore, there will be a concern whether English should have one standardized norm which will be followed to ensure international communication take place in a smooth way In general, the ELF communication will continue to occur more and more so far because of the increasing needs for international interactions in the future Simultaneously, pedagogical problems in the

concern of diverse Englishes use also should be taken into consideration to preserve English as a effective means of communication

The intelligibility and comprehensibility in W.E communication

Field (2005) noted that intelligibility has been considered as an appropriate goal for pronunciation instruction Since the emergence of English as Lingua Franca around the world, English has been spoken by millions of people carrying diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds (Björkman, 2008) states that these different English speakers are brought together into specific communication settings Then, miscommunication easily exists due to the diversity in local accents and backgrounds Crystal (2003) also points out that the intelligibility problems result from adapting English with local linguistic identity Similarly, Atechi (2007) emphasizes that the emergence of non-native English varieties leads to linguistic issue relating to unintelligibility among English speakers around the world Therefore, since W.E developed, differences of non-native English varieties should

be taken into consideration in international communications (Yano, 2009) While some sociolinguists fairly support for the rights of non-native Englishes, Quirk (1990) and Chevillet (1993) believe that there should be one standardized English dialect for international communications As a matter of fact, intelligibility and comprehensibility to keep smooth communication are emphasized

While intelligibility in communication refers to word recognition, comprehensibility refers to understanding of word meanings in international communication It is believed that in order to attain comprehensibility in ELF communication, cultural competence as well as speech act functions should be taken into consideration Furthermore, a large number of studies have been conducted in order to discover the intelligibility levels towards both native and non-native Englishes from the view of native and non-native speakers As a result, different findings were revealed While some scholars assume that native speakers are more intelligible than non-native speakers, others claim that speakers with the same linguistic background are

often intelligible to each other (Smith and Rafiqzad, 1979) Intelligibility simply means being understood Moreover, it refers to speaker‟s words and listener‟s sound recognition When English speakers with different cultural and linguistic backgrounds communicate with each other, intelligibility and comprehensibility are considered to be important factors of smooth interaction That means speakers must

be understood in conversations so that information can be exchanged between speakers and listeners In the era of W.E, English language education should raise the importance of the factor “intelligibility” and “comprehensibility” in international communication among English learners to make them successful users

of English no matter which English varieties they are learning

2.3 English and World Englishes in Vietnam

English in Vietnam: History

Foreign language teaching and learning in Vietnam has a long history Wright (2002) indicates that relationships with China, France, Russia, and the US during the political history have effects on Vietnam‟s foreign language education According to (Denham, 1992, p 61), language learning policies in Vietnam has been changed over years because of political changes As it has been known, the first Vietnamese language which is considered to be national and independent is

“Quoc Ngu” This is also the mother tongue of Vietnam However, Vietnam was the country suffering from wars which happened with foreign countries like China, France and America Therefore, beside the first native language, foreign languages like Chinese, French, Russian and English are thought to be the main languages introduced to Vietnamese people (Do, 2000) reveals that among these foreign languages, English is seen to be the Vietnamese people‟s choice in foreign language education nowadays thanks to the open door policy and economic reconstruction in the 1980‟s In a survey, (Do‟s 1996) discovers that 68.6% of the participants strongly voted English as their favorite foreign language learning choice Actually, the country‟ open door policy and economic reform (Doi Moi) in 1986 made

foreign language education in Vietnam have important shifting In particular, English language education plays more and more important role in the country‟s development in the era of globalization Actually, the demand for studying English has become increasing since many foreign companies came to Vietnam to do business and the Vietnamese government addresses the importance for Vietnamese people to learn English supporting for their work

English in Vietnam at the current time

Thanks to economic innovation and the open door policy, participation in the global communities “ASEAN” in 1995 and WTO in 2007 have remarkable effects on English language learning in Vietnam Particularly, statistics present that English is the official foreign language which is allowed to be taught at schools, universities and language centers with over 22 million learners (Dudzik & Nguyen, 2015, p 46) Nevertheless, according to reports from scholars and researchers, there have been a large number of problems relating to English language education such as teaching methodology, teachers‟ English proficiency and others Realizing the importance of English learning in the era of globalization and socialization, Vietnamese Ministry

of Education and language educators have been concerned with practical solutions for English teaching and learning to make Vietnamese learners of English successful users of English (Nguyen & Phung, 2015, p 112) According to Kirkpatrick ( 2010 ), members of the ASEAN economic and political association, which includes Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam are culturally and linguistically diverse, so the language policies should aim at the promotion of national languages domestically plus English As a matter of fact, achieving positive results in English language education require much time, effort and suitable strategies in the specific context of Vietnamese education It also needs critical and flexible thinking as well

as positive attitudes toward English, especially W.E MOET- Ministry of Education and Training statistics (2006) reveals that 67% students at lower secondary schools