Korean EFL High School Students Intelligibility on Varieties of English

This study explores Korean EFL high school students’ intelligibility and their attitude towards different varieties of English. The study focused on four different varieties of English within the inner circle: England, Scotland, US and Australia. The study examines whether students show differences on intelligibility, whether they can correctly identify the speakers of each variety and whether students’ background variable affect the results. The results revealed that participants found American pronunciation to be most familiar, easiest to understand and most similar to their own pronunciation. They have also shown highest accuracy rate in identifying American pronunciation, closely followed by British pronunciation. The results varied when students’ English proficiency level and experiences living abroad were put into consideration. The survey conducted in this study revealed that students believe in the positive effects of studying varieties of English on their self-confidence and the necessity of studying them at school. The study, thus, aims to establish the need and importance of teaching students different varieties of English.