In this talk, I will try to explain and illustrate the following conclusions:
1. Not all pronunciation features are of equal importance for intelligibility.
2. The more common an accent variant, the more likely it is to be understood.
3. English has become a global lingua franca: “post-ELF” pronunciation teaching assimilates this fact.
4. Mutual intelligibility does not depend on accent homogeneity.
5. Productive and receptive pronunciation need not be symmetrical.
6. Model-driven pronunciation teaching is neither realistic nor desirable.
7. Nobody (or everybody) is a native-speaker of ELF.
8. There is a continuum from hyper-articulation to ease, and the former favours intelligibility.
9. Some iconic features of ‘native’ pronunciation are optional for intelligibility.
10. Accent prejudice exists and this has implications.
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