| The World Englishes and English as an International Language (EIL) points of view have challenged the traditional schemes of applied linguistics research. Since English belongs to all the worldwide users, nonnative speakers' perspectives should be acknowledged with as much attention as those of native speakers. Consequently, the current study investigated native and nonnative listeners' evaluative reactions to and the intelligibility of Japanese English, a nonnative English variety. Japanese English was chosen as the target of investigation, due to the importance of English-medium international communication for Japanese people and its exemption from localized norms.; Quantitative as well as qualitative methods were employed for triangulation and complementarity. In the ex post facto study, listeners' native language backgrounds (i.e., American English, Hindi, Mandarin, and Japanese), as well as the speakers' proficiency levels, were hypothesized as the predictors of the evaluative reactions to and the intelligibility of Japanese English. Also investigated as possible factors were the listeners' gender, familiarity with Japanese English, and exposure to nonnative speakers of English other than Japanese English speakers. Eighty-four undergraduate and graduate students recruited at an American university listened to extemporaneous speech. The listeners evaluated it on a semantic differential scale and also completed a word-for-word dictation task for the intelligibility. For further qualitative interviews, thirteen participants were recruited from the ex post facto study.; Regression analyses indicated that the Hindi speakers were the most critical of Japanese English while the American participants were the most positive about it, especially about rudimentary speakers. Reactions from Chinese and Japanese participants turned out to be similar. Japanese English speech was more intelligible than native speech, at least to Chinese and Japanese listeners. Interviews revealed that the Hindi speakers were irritated by the choppiness of Japanese speech, while the other nonnative participants were generally more sympathetic. The power imbalance among different types of English users was also articulated. Based on the results of the study, implications were presented for applied linguistics research and English education, especially where international communication was the goal of instruction. Additionally, recommendations for further studies were included. |
