Abstract:
The present study aims to investigate the students’ awareness of the segmental phonology
differences between two of the most common standard and official varieties of English:
Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GA). It also investigates whether
students at the department of English at Mohammed Esseddik Ben Yehia stick to one
reference accent, and whether inconsistencies and difficulties in pronunciation can be
attributed partly to mingling unconsciously between RP and GA and to current instruction.
Data are gathered through the use of a questionnaire administered to 10 teachers who have
taught Oral Expression and Phonetics at the department of English, Mohammed Esseddik
Ben Yahia, Jijel. Furthermore, a test was conducted with two groups of second year students
at the same university. The results obtained from the teachers questionnaire and the students
test demonstrate that not all students are fully aware of the segmental phonology features of
RP and GA nor are they consistent in the use of a single accent in speech, due to lack of
instruction and readings on the matter. Thus, the teachers need to provide systematic and
explicit instruction on model accents.
