The Effects of an Eight‐Week Global Englishes Instruction on EFL Learners’ Perception, Attitude, and Comprehension of Global Englishes Varieties

ABSTRACT This study examined the effect of an eight‐week intervention featuring global Englishes (GE) varieties on EFL students’ perception, attitude, and comprehension of GE varieties. The intervention group ( n = 51) received instruction on GE intelligibility with different varieties represented, whereas the control group ( n = 59) lessons featured American English. Before and after the intervention, students evaluated GE speakers according to their accentedness, comprehensibility, intelligibility, and acceptability (i.e., perception), responded to a six‐item questionnaire probing their attitude towards GE varieties (i.e., attitude), and completed a TOEFL‐style listening comprehension test featuring GE varieties (i.e., comprehension). Several linear mixed‐effects models were performed. Perception data revealed that while the control group perceived the speakers as less intelligible overtime, the intervention group did not. The intervention group also perceived the speakers as more comprehensible and acceptable, although this was not statistically significant. Attitude data showed the emergence of the intervention group's ideological shifts, detaching the importance of having a native accent for themselves and their teachers. Comprehension data showed that both groups understood GE slightly better over time, but the intervention did not necessarily change students’ ability to understand GE varieties more than the traditional pedagogy. Findings provide evidence supporting the inclusion of GE in EFL classrooms.