(Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2014) Buckingham, L.
While the spread of English as a lingua franca has led to calls for multidialectal
competence, EFL learners often still consider inner circle native English
speaker (NES) pronunciation as their learning goal, and may profess a
preference for particular teachers based on their NES or non-native English
speaker (NNES) status. This study investigates whether a teacher’s NES/
NNES status may affect Omani students’ level of confidence towards the
teacher. Using an adapted matched-guise technique with almost 350 students,
the study reveals a preference for speakers and accents students understand to
be from the UK, although students also responded favourably to Arabic native
speakers. Where the NES/NNES variable remained constant, no significant
difference in student’s ratings of the teacher was found.
