- Dr Akamo O. Princewill
Speech
intelligibility denotes the degree to which a listener can understand what a
speaker says, regardless of his or her accent. When teaching pronunciation,
especially in nations where English is a second language or an international
language, there has been a long-standing debate as to whether or not
native-like pronunciation should be attained instead of ensuring clear and
effective communication. This paper looked at the difference between being
intelligible and having a native-level accent. It asserted that in teaching and
in real life it is more important to focus on being understood. It drew on key
theoretical and empirical studies such as Kachru’s (1985) World Englishes model
which deals with pluricentric standards, Levis’s (2005, 2018) principle of
intelligibility, and finally Jenkins’s (2000) Lingua Franca Core to analyse the
various factors affecting accent perception and comprehension, examining how
these elements interact within second-language learning. Mixed methods research
design was used for this study, i.e., quantitative and qualitative data were
analysed together. Participants included 150 subjects. It examined how things
work when someone is learning a second language. The research discussed the
issues experienced by the non-native speaker in multilingual and post-colonial
societies such as Nigeria. These discussions arise from the context of the
World Englishes and English as Lingua Franca, the research highlighted that it
is of higher priority in acquiring a few specific fundamental phonological
features to achieve mutual intelligibility rather than to strive for
native-like realisation of speech, which is often not needed or possible.
Keywords: Speech intelligibility, native-like realisation, pluricentric standards, second language, World Englishes.