Issues in Accents of English 2: Variability and Norm
Editor: Ewa Waniek-Klimczak
Date Of Publication: Feb 2010
Isbn13: 978-1-4438-1736-3
Isbn: 1-4438-1736-8
This book explores variability and norm in accent production and perception by native and non-native speakers of English. The issues discussed range from description of selected phenomena in native and non-native accents of English, analysis of similarities and differences between accents, their intelligibility and attitudinal value, through reports on the role of identity and motivation in learning English pronunciation, research methods in pronunciation teaching and ultimate attainment, to discussion of different aspects of stress, rhythm and timing in the organisation of speech.

The volume contains contributions based on original data collected and analysed by researchers active in the fields of accent variability and English pronunciation teaching. The studies adopt sociolinguistic and/or applied linguistics perspectives in their descriptive and experimental accounts of native and non-native accents, addressing questions as to the sources of variability and the nature of the norms accepted or imposed in language acquisition and usage. By bringing the results of numerous studies into the foreground, the volume hopes to contribute to accent and pronunciation teaching and stimulate further discussion in the field of applied phonetics.

Ewa Waniek-Klimczak is Professor of English Linguistics at the University of Łódź, Poland. Her teaching and research focus on second language phonetics and phonology, sociolinguistics, language varieties and English pronunciation. Over the years, she has organized conferences on teaching English phonetics and phonology and variability in native and non-native accents of English and edited or co-edited books containing contributions to the field, including Accents and Speech in Teaching English Phonetics and Phonology (co-edited with J. P. Melia, Peter Lang 2002) and Issues in Accents of English (Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2008). She is also editor of the journal Research in Language, published annually by Versita and the University of Łódź.

“The Polish teachers of English whom I have had the pleasure to know are true scholars interested in not only the pedagogical aspects of how students acquire English as a second language, but also in the details of the phonetic and phonological differences between the two languages, the dynamics of the articulatory process, and the acoustic correlates of non-native accent. The “Accents” conferences in Łódz are both an effect and a cause of this interest.

I have attended two of these conferences and have been uniformly impressed both with academics from Poland and with contributors from other countries . Most delegates want their students to achieve a native-like pronunciation of some form of English. Whether this should be the desired outcome, how this can be achieved if so, and what sort of English should serve as target are subjects of endless debate, as are the intricacies of the English vowel system(s) and of the suprasegmental aspects of English and other languages.

I believe that the collection of papers you will find in this volume is a fair representation of the very high standard of discussion and debate at Accents 2008.”

—Linda Shockey, Ph.D., Pronunciation Linguist, B.B.C.

Price Uk Gbp: 44.99
Price Us Usd: 67.99

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