Using Audio and Video to Disrupt the Concept of Native Speakerism in a Colombian High School: the Effects on Listening Comprehension in Online Environments

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This was an exploratory case study with a mixed- methods approach that included qualitative and quantitative analysis. Data were collected in a private high school in Colombia, with 25 students. I gathered data using a pre-and a post-intervention survey, seven listening tests in which learners had to identify eight items or utterances with propositions, eight in-depth interviews, and two focus groups. Results showed a change in students’ perceptions and assumptions towards native speakerism, and an awareness of those English varieties presented in the pedagogical intervention. They started to recognize the existence of Englishes different from the inner circle countries and they perceived them as acceptable. Results also showed high scores in the listening tests when exposed to those English varieties they had already had some exposure to. Yet, participants still show a preference after the intervention for the American accent as the one they would like to imitate and the one easier for them to understand.