Developing a lingua franca core for Burmese speakers of english

Abstract

To achieve successful communication in English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) interactions, pronunciation instruction must prioritize features that enhance speech intelligibility. However, in Myanmar, there is a lack of context-specific resources to guide the teaching and learning of ELF pronunciation. This study therefore aims to establish pronunciation priorities for Burmese speakers of English by developing a localized Lingua Franca Core (LFC) model to improve international intelligibility of Burmese learners of English. Therefore, A comparative analysis was conducted between Jenkins’ (2000) LFC framework and the phonological features of Burmese through systematic document analysis and initial pronunciation features that should be incorporated in the development of the Burmese Lingua Franca Core were first identified. Then, in the second stage of the research, the intelligibility assessment was carried out involving native and non-native English speakers from diverse first-language backgrounds. The findings suggest that, in the ELF context of Burmese speakers, segmental features contribute more substantially to international intelligibility than suprasegmental features. These results highlight the importance of prioritizing segmental aspects in pronunciation instruction for Burmese learners of English and therefore, in accordance with the findings of this study, a Lingua Franca Core modified for the Burmese context has been developed and suggested in the present study.