Comprehensive research on attitudes toward accented English and the perceptions of Japanese English in a global era

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24520701
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Foreign language education
• Research Institution: Hiroshima University
• Principal Investigator: SHIBATA Miki 広島大学, 総合科学研究科, 准教授 (90310961)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: ジャパニーズ・イングリッシュ / リンガ・フランカ英語 / 言語態度

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The study investigated whether only Japanese speakers of English negatively perceive their own accented English or if non-Japanese also consider Japanese-accented English difficult for others to understand. A total of 290 participants from 7 countries judged their own English through a questionnaire. The results found that Japanese had the most negative attitudes toward their own English; they were neither confident in nor happy with their own English, and had little desire of maintaining it as it was. In addition, they were hesitant to speak, as they felt self-conscious about their accented English. For the second question, the participants from the first survey and 44 Americans judged 4 Japanese male English users for 10 items including comprehension, intelligence, and fluency. Overall, the more native-like a speaker was, the more positively he was judged across the groups. Interestingly, however, Americans tended to accept the strong Japanese-accented English more than other groups.

Free Research Field

第二言語習得