Elsevier

System

Volume 35, Issue 3, September 2007, Pages 293-304
System

Intelligibility and individual learner differences in the EIL context

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2007.03.003Get rights and content

Abstract

According to Smith and Nelson [Smith, L.E., Nelson, C.E., 1985. International intelligibility of English: directions and resources. World Englishes 3, 333–342.], intelligibility refers to word/utterance recognition, whereas comprehensibility is the understanding of word/utterance meaning. This study examines the intelligibility of American English (US English) and Hong Kong-accented English (HK English) to Japanese EFL students, specifically focusing on the relationships between intelligibility and such individual learner differences as perceived comprehensibility of these two English varieties, familiarity with different English varieties, language anxiety, and perceived competence. In terms of both varieties, there was a significant negative correlation between intelligibility and language anxiety, and perceived competence was found as a best predictor of intelligibility. Perceived comprehensibility, on the other hand, significantly correlated with intelligibility of US English only. The extent of familiarity with different English varieties indicated a significant correlation with the intelligibility of HK English but not with the US English intelligibility. Allowing students to be exposed to a wide variety of English appears to be important in an era of teaching EIL (English as an international language).

Section snippets

EIL and intelligibility studies

English today has acquired the status of an international language, with users around the world including an estimated 375 million native English speakers, 375 million second-language speakers, and 750 million foreign-language speakers (Graddol, 1997). Maintaining that English serves various roles in different countries and regions of the world, Kachru (1989) proposed the notion of three concentric circles. The Inner Circle consists of countries where English is used as a primary language:

Individual learner differences

Many language instructors are aware that individual learner differences more or less contribute to the success of language learning. According to Larsen-Freeman (2001), a variety of learner differences are grouped into three main categories: (1) attributes that indicate who learners are (e.g., age, aptitude, personality, and social identities); (2) conceptualization, indicating how they conceptualize second-language acquisition (e.g., motivation, attitude, and beliefs); and (3) actions,

Research questions

The present study examines the intelligibility of different English varieties (here, US English and HK English) for EFL learners and explores possible learner factors that would explain and predict the intelligibility of these two varieties. For the measurement of intelligibility, this study employs a cloze dictation, a method used in Matsuura et al. (1999). Other variables involved in this study are: familiarity with different English varieties, language anxiety, and perceived competence. In

Participants

Participants in this study were 106 Japanese students, 50 males (47.2%) and 56 females (52.8%), enrolled in either a private university in the Tokyo metropolitan area or a national university in northeastern Japan. These students were all social science majors: 71 students (67.0%) were majoring in either economics or business, and the remaining 35 (33%) were international relations majors. All of them were native speakers of Japanese and were taking one or more English courses at the time of

Results

Table 1 gives descriptive statistics for dictation scores, perceived comprehensibility ratings, the number of English varieties experienced, language anxiety scores, and perceived competence ratings. As the dictation scores indicate, it was rather easier for Japanese students to understand the speaker of HK English (M = 15.37) than it was for them to understand the speaker of US English (M = 12.62). Similarly, Japanese students perceived HK English as easier than US English with the means of 8.77

Discussion

It appears that a listener’s judgment with respect to comprehensibility is not necessarily a good indicator of intelligibility, since a significant correlation between these variables was identified for US English but not for HK English. A similar finding was obtained by Matsuura et al. (1999) in their study of two native English varieties. There might be a complex system at work, possibly one involving both psychological and attitudinal factors, intervening between L2 intelligibility and a

Conclusion

This study investigated intelligibility vis-à-vis US English and HK English with respect to Japanese EFL listeners and the relationships between intelligibility and individual learner differences. With relation to intelligibility and perceived comprehensibility the finding was that the latter was not always a good indicator of the intelligibility level, which was a finding similar to that of Matsuura et al. (1999) study concerning American and Irish English. Other notable findings were that

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