Global Perceptions of Non-Native English: Linking Accents and Listener Attitudes

This study investigates the international intelligibility of English spoken by college students from Sichuan Province, China. With globalization accelerating cross-cultural communication, the ability to produce intelligible English across linguistic backgrounds has become increasingly vital. This research involved 26 student participants from 13 cities within Sichuan and 15 international listeners from countries representing Kachru’s inner, outer, and expanding circles of English usage. The objective was to examine how well the students' spoken English could be understood by a diverse audience and identify key pronunciation challenges. Using a combination of controlled speech tasks and listener comprehension assessments, the study found that while the students' spoken English was generally intelligible to international listeners, intelligibility was reduced by several phonological factors. The most significant issues included interference from regional dialects, difficulty in distinguishing between similar vowel and consonant sounds, and a lack of proficiency in applying standard English intonation and stress patterns. These findings underscore the need for pronunciation instruction tailored to specific regional linguistic features. Ultimately, the research contributes to a better understanding of the pronunciation challenges faced by Chinese learners and offers pedagogical insights for improving international comprehensibility.