STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATIVENESS IN AN EFL CLASSROOM

Abstract

As a result of global socioeconomic changes, English differs from other languages because of its status as an international language or a lingua franca, i.e. a language which is used for cross-cultural communication of non-native speakers of English who come from different lingua-cultural communities. This role of English makes one wonder what should be the key concern in English language teaching and learning: following the norms of the Standard English so that learners may become native-like, or preparing learners to use English as a lingua franca, i.e. the language used by non-native speakers of English while communicating with other non-native speakers. The aim of the research presented in this paper was to examine the attitudes of vocational school students in Serbia (Kragujevac and Lapovo) towards nativeness in English language teaching and learning. The data were collected using a questionnaire which contained both closed-ended and open-ended questions. The results of the quantitative part of the research, which were obtained via SPSS 18.0 (descriptive statistics and factor analysis), indicate that the subjects’ general attitude is moderate, with a slight tendency towards positive, whereas the results of the qualitative part of the research suggest that the subjects think that English teachers should insist less on grammatical correctness and pay more attention to preparing the students for communication with other non-native speakers of English who come from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Finally, the paper ends with implications for English language teaching and suggestions for further research.