“What Reference Accent should we Adopt?” University Students’ and Teachers’ Preferences for and Attitudes Toward English Reference Accents

Abstract

English possesses different varieties in all the circles mentioned by Kachru (1985). However, two of them, American English and British English are considered the major reference accents. As observed, students prefer to use American English while teachers prefer British English although this proposition has not been confirmed by prior research. Therefore, the present study endeavored to understand Kurdish university students’ and teachers’ preferences and attitudes toward the two major accents of English that are situated within the Inner Circle of Kachru’s model through a self-reported questionnaire adapted from previous studies. More importantly, the study tackled the factors that influenced their attitudes toward either of the aforementioned accents through a second self-reported questionnaire inquiring about the reasons why they preferred one accent over the other. The sample included 87 students and 49 teachers from different universities in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. The study used percentages, means, and t-tests to analyze the data. Unexpectedly, the data analysis revealed similar attitudes of Kurdish university students toward American English and British English. Nevertheless, the majority of Kurdish university instructors held more positive attitudes toward British English. As for the reasons, although their responses were various, the study listed the order of some factors that influenced their choice of accent.