An Analysis of English Pronunciation of Japanese Learners: From the Viewpoint of EIL

The objective of this research is to detect effective factors in English pronunciation teaching from the viewpoint of EIL (English as an International Language). This research is based on the data of the Successful Pronunciation Learners (SPL) selected by the raters, Japanese and native speakers of English (NSE), in Tominaga (2005). On the grounds that the aim of teaching English to Japanese students should not be confined within the intelligibility to NSE, in order to examine whether the pronunciation of each SPL in this research is really not only intelligible but also sounds good to both NSE and non-NSE from the viewpoint of World Englishes (WE) or EIL, their pronunciations were evaluated by non-NSE from 12 countries studying English in an English school in the United Kingdom. This evaluation was analyzed and compared with the evaluation by the NSE. In respect of the correlation between the evaluations by NSE and those by non-NSE, significant correlation was found between rhythm and fluency. In regard to the total score, the evaluation by non-NSE was generally stricter than that by NSE.