From native speaker ideal to accommodative mindset: changes in non-native English majors’ perceptions and priorities in learning English

Abstract This replication study (2010 and 2023), carried out at a Western European university (in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium) and enriched with reflective focus group data, identifies the changes among non-native students majoring in English in terms of the importance and use of English, their attitudes towards English (as a lingua franca) and speakers of English, and motivations for and focus on learning English. Results show that participants are increasingly exposed to English through social media and entertainment. Native-like proficiency in English is no longer the sole learning motivation, and the ideal of approximating a ‘native English speaker’ or emulating native-speaker culture is no longer valid. Mutual intelligibility has become more important and students value multilingualism and varieties of English. English continues to be a tool for global communication and connection, but with increased interest in culturally and linguistically diverse others, where effective communication is prioritized. This study shows that the English majors’ views on and attitudes towards English have evolved over the past decade; accommodation is prioritised over nativeness and framed as elevating multilinguals’ status, and they claim ownership of the language in their engagement with other cultures and communities. Pedagogical implications embrace the development of an accommodative mindset.