Abstract

This exploratory study investigated the perceptions of Thai university students towards World Englishes (WEs). One hundred and ninety-eight students from three universities in Bangkok were administered a questionnaire inquiring about definitions of WEs, the Kachruvian concentric circles, the concepts of standard and ownership of English, Thai English and the role of native vs. non-native English speaking teachers. Findings revealed that the majority of the respondents were ambivalent about WEs, although they still prized British and American English as most desirable. However, Thai English was perceived as undesirable, although they did not mind whether Thais may speak English with the Thai accent. Implications for classroom teaching and future research are provided.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.