ELF research suggests native-like accuracy isn’t necessary and intelligibility is the realistic target. But accent bias persists, so there’s no win-win: lay out the options and let learners choose.
Points
- “Threshold level” of pronunciation for intelligibility (Celce-Murcia 1996).
- Accent bias: Hide & Poel (2000) report foreign-accented speakers judged as less intelligent by staff.
- The author’s own shift from hiding a Russian-sounding accent to accepting it.
Classroom (derived)
Discuss accent judgements → introduce ELF and intelligibility → learners choose a goal (intelligible vs native-like) and write it down (B2+) → align pronunciation work to it → revisit.
Limits
Values-based; few concrete activities; little for learners who need a specific accent.
Apply in my context (Claude)
- IELTS Pronunciation descriptors reward intelligibility and the range of features, not accent. Teaching this explicitly reduces anxiety and redirects practice to stress, chunking and connected speech.
Connections
Five things new teachers wish they’d known · Visualise sentence stress with audiograms · Chants train stress-timed rhythm