Cigliano, Chiara (2026) English ‘nativeness’ and ‘non-nativeness’: the attitudes and beliefs of Italian students and PhD candidates towards ELF. [Tesi di dottorato]

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Abstract

As the number of so-called ‘non-native’ English speakers (NNES) has long surpassed that of ‘native’ speakers (NES), this language is often believed to have become a true Lingua Franca, belonging to no one. However, studies in the field of language attitudes highlighted a widespread belief that the English spoken by NES is ‘better’ than that spoken by ‘non-natives’ – in terms of correctness, prestige, and pleasantness. These negative attitudes towards foreign-accented English are often accepted by NNES as ‘common sense’, but they can have long-lasting negative effects on the self-esteem and self-efficacy of users of English as a second language (L2). Existing research in the field of language attitudes has collected a considerable amount of data on this topic. Nonetheless, the possible causes at the root of these attitudes and beliefs remain underexplored, especially in the Italian context where studies on these matters are still few and fairly recent. Hence, the present thesis will present the results of two studies which investigated this issue through semi-structured interviews with Italian university students and PhD candidates (n = 37). The goals were: to record the language attitudes held by Italians towards the English language, especially when used by NNES; to observe whether English L2 users used NES as the sole reference point for ‘correct’ English. After the initial interviews confirmed this trend, further goals were added: to ascertain the root causes of these attitudes, and whether they could eventually be changed. The interviews took place in two distinct phases: an initial exploratory phase (Study 1) involving 18 respondents, and a subsequent longitudinal study (Study 2) which involved 19 new participants, interviewed twice in the span of six months. While Study 1 respondents were almost all in Italy at the time of their interview, and discussion on their use of English mostly revolved around academic purposes, Study 2 participants were interviewed during a Study Abroad (SA) experience in order to observe whether the daily use of English in a variety of environments (seven different countries, both anglophone and non-anglophone) could affect their attitudes. A longitudinal approach was adopted in order to observe potential changes in as close to real time as possible. Participants were asked to reflect on their experience of learning English, on the value that they attribute to sounding like a ‘native speaker’, and on the meaning of the ‘native’ label itself. The respondents provided their opinions on those matters in a nuanced and extensive manner. The resulting narratives underwent multiple levels of analysis, including Thematic Analysis and Positioning Analysis, in order to explore the participants’ underlying language attitudes beyond their direct statements. The interviews revealed a stark preference for ‘native’ English, as well as a strong aversion to ‘foreign-sounding’ and especially ‘Italian-sounding’ accents, which were often taken to signal lack of skills. This frequently translated into the belief that ‘all Italians’ are poor English users, unless they learn how to mask their distinctive accents; and into a tendency to favour ‘native’ English teachers, in an example of native-speakerism. Nonetheless, the follow-up interviews with the Study 2 participants revealed that the SA experience, as well as active reflection on those topics, could often change the respondents’ attitudes – sometimes substantially. The results of the present work suggest that new ELF-oriented models and teaching methods are needed in second language education, in order to help L2 users of English realise the value of their multilingual background.

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