ИСТИНА

The growth in use of English as a lingua franca has obvious implications for the pronunciation requirements for EFL teachers, leading some researchers to argue that only certain core features are necessary for international intelligibility (the Lingua Franca Core). However, research suggests that expectations surrounding teacher pronunciation are different from those held in the international context. The interview data in this study, performed as a part of an MSc thesis at Oxford University, provides an insight into Russian English Language Teaching majors’ attitudes towards the pronunciation associated with a competent English teacher. Analyses of interview data confirm the participants’ preference for a native-sounding teacher. They also clearly indicate the participants’ personal preference towards native-accent-based pronunciation instruction in ELT programmes.