Serbian EFL Learners’ Preferences Regarding Standard Pronunciation Models

Abstract

This paper observes Serbian EFL students’ attitudes to standard models of pronunciation such as General American (GA) and Southern British Standard (SBS). Previous research on this issue disclosed learners’ overall inclination towards SBS as the preferred English variety. The aim of this research was to test whether Serbian students still hold such views, or whether American variety is on its way to replacing British English and becoming the eminent reference accent for pronunciation learning. Another aim was to observe the underlying reasons for learners’ pronunciation preferences. The data was collected using a direct method, i.e. a writ- ten questionnaire. The respondents were 85 English-major students at the Faculty of Philology and Arts in Kragujevac. The analysis showed that the accuracy of pronunciation remains a high- priority goal since 85% of the respondents reported on native-like accent being their ultimate objective. However, unlike previous attitudinal studies, this research revealed learners’ higher preference for GA. Such preference is to be expected since the respondents’ self-reported expo- sure to this particular variety was much higher compared to their self-reported exposure to SBS.