EIL and Foreign Accent in ELT

Abdullah Coşkun

Abdullah Arslan

Abant Izzet Baysal University, Bolu, Turkey

Abstract

English as an International Language (EIL) research, which is based on the number of non-native speakers in the world outnumbering the native speakers, is based on the idea that there is no need in insisting on native-speaker norms for proper English. Also, EIL allows a foreign English accent and the deliberate assertion of one’s national identity through a foreign accent as long as one is intelligible enough to his/her interlocutor. Within an EIL perspective, this paper is an attempt to underline the recent trend of tolerating a foreign accent in ELT. 

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