World Englishes and Issues of Intelligibility

World Englishes in English language teaching

“…Although participants expressed their concerns for the intelligibility of the Outer and Expanding Circle Englishes, research suggests that the EAL speakers appear to be very successful in CALD interactions (Kirkpatrick, ; Meierkord, ) and their Englishes have been found to be intelligible in international communications (Kirkpatrick, Deterding, & Wong, ). In addition, intelligibility is believed not be the responsibility solely of the speaker, but is rather an outcome of an interactional process between the speaker and listener (Smith & Nelson, ; Smith & Rafiqzad, ). More importantly, intelligibility does not only depend on the English variety that is used, but also the familiarity of the listener with that variety or varieties of English (Smith & Nelson, ), and familiarity of the listener with the cultural conceptualizations associated with the variety(ies) of English being used (Sharifian, ).…”

“…In addition, intelligibility is believed not be the responsibility solely of the speaker, but is rather an outcome of an interactional process between the speaker and listener (Smith & Nelson, ; Smith & Rafiqzad, ). More importantly, intelligibility does not only depend on the English variety that is used, but also the familiarity of the listener with that variety or varieties of English (Smith & Nelson, ), and familiarity of the listener with the cultural conceptualizations associated with the variety(ies) of English being used (Sharifian, ). Therefore, a broader and deeper perception of the concept of intelligibility and intelligibility could allow more room for WEs into ELT and ELT pedagogical practices.…”

World Englishes in English language teaching: Kachru's six fallacies and the TEIL paradigm

“…While it is reasonable to select one variety as the instructional variety, TEIL strongly argues that the variety presented as a – rather than the – variety of English. It also emphasizes the importance of exposing students to and raising their awareness about other varieties of English, because, WE studies have suggested, the lack of awareness may adversely affect the students’ attitudes toward other varieties of English, their confidence in successful communication involving multiple varieties of English (Matsuura, Chiba, & Fujieda, ), and their actual ability to correctly interpret interactions in various Englishes (Smith & Nelson, ). EIL users must understand that there are multiple varieties of English that are different form the one they are learning, and there may be contexts where one of such varieties may be considered more desirable than the one they are learning.…”

Accent, intelligibility, mental health, and trauma

“…In other words, intelligibility is neither a new question nor is the expectation that absolute intelligibility in communication is required in a language with or without accent. In an attempt to determine whether the global spread of English is creating greater problems of intelligibility across cultures, Smith (1992); Smith and Nelson (2006) carried out an experimental study of world Englishes across three groups of English speakers-native, non-native and mixed groups. In an attempt to define intelligibility or understanding, they rightly claim that 'understanding is not solely speaker-or listener-centered, but is interactional act between speaker and listener' .…”

“…Along the lines of the speech act theory, Smith (1992) and Smith and Nelson's (2006) study measured the degree of understanding measured into three categories-intelligibility (word/utterance recognition), comprehensibility (word/utterance intelligibility-locutionary force) and interpretability (meaning behind word/utterance-illocutionary force). Their results showed that being a native speaker was not the deciding factor in intelligibility.…”