Comprehensibility of Englishes within ASEAN: A Synopsis of Results
Author: Wilang, Jeffrey Dawala
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Language Variation,Comprehension,Mutual Intelligibility,College Students,Asians,Educational Attainment,Work Experience,Social Networks,Travel,Correlation,Questionnaires

The purpose of this study is to measure the comprehensibility of the Expanding Circle nations' citizens, namely Burmese, Cambodians, Indonesians, Laotians, Thais and Vietnamese towards the Outer Circle Englishes, namely Bruneian English, Malaysian English. Philippine English and Singaporean English. Ten universities in the Expanding Circle that participated in the study, namely Assumption University, Chiang Mai University, Khon Khaen University, King Mongkut University of Technology North Bangkok, Mahapanya Vidayalai University, Mahidol University, Prince of Songkla University Hat Yai Campus, Rajamangala University Srivijaya Songkhla Campus, and Rajamangala University Srivijaya Trang Campus in Thailand, and University of Riau in Indonesia. Participants in the data collection process consist of two hundred and one subjects in undergraduate and graduate level. Eight comprehension tests and a questionnaire were used as main tools in the data collection process. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were used to analyze the results of the comprehension tests and to reveal the questionnaire's results. The following are the results of the study. (1) The Englishes spoken in the Outer Circle were moderately comprehensible to the citizens of the Expanding Circle nations. Based on the standardized comprehensibility scales and levels set in this study, the comprehensibility scores of Bruneian English, Malaysian English, Philippine English and Singaporean English are M = 4.90, M = 5.57, M = 5.01, and M = 4.76 respectively. All fell under the moderate comprehensibility level set at 3.34-6.67. (2) The Expanding Circle citizens exhibited varying degrees of comprehensibility towards the Outer Circle Englishes. The least comprehensible variety among the Burmese is Malaysian English; among Laotians and Thais is Bruneian English; and among Cambodians, Indonesians and Vietnamese is Singaporean English. The most comprehensible varieties are Malaysian English among Cambodians, Thais and Vietnamese; Philippine English among Indonesians, and Singaporean English among Burmese and Laotians. (3) There are types of exposures related to the Expanding Circle's citizens' comprehension of Outer Circle Englishes. They are exposures to English through education, work experiences, outside the classroom, social media, and travelling and staying abroad. Based on Pearson correlation coefficients, this study established the positive significant correlations between graduate studies and comprehension scores at p less than 0.01 level. Positive significant correlations were also found between comprehension scores and several factors, namely exposure through work experiences at p less than 0.01 level, the use of social network and watching TV at p less than 0.05 level, reading newspapers and watching movies at p less than 0.01 level, and studying in Thailand at p less than 0.01 level. Based on ANOVA results, there was a significant effect of pre-school education on comprehension scores at F (3, 198) = 4.94, p = 0.002; primary education on comprehension scores at F (2, 199) = 6.93, p = 0.001; and, graduate studies on comprehension scores at F (3, 198) = 7.46, p = 0.000. However, there is no significant effect of secondary education and undergraduate studies on the subjects' comprehension scores. (Contains 6 tables. and 4 figures)