Public plenary talk – Ewa Waniek-Klimczak: Accents in learners of English: Problems, challenges, (possible) solutions

Whether considered from the perspective of a target/model variety or characteristics of learner pronunciation, English accents continue to attract attention of English learners and teachers. The aim of this talk is to discuss accents with reference to both of the above meanings, concentrating on problems related to the choice of the model/target variety and its function, the status and description of learner Englishes, major  challenges that the problems create for specifying the aims and priorities in pronunciation instruction, and finally, possible solutions. Throughout the talk, learners will have a voice – after all, the speaker herself belongs in that number.