How well can native English speakers understand the Japanese pronunciation of English-based loanwords? The potential use of katakana in the English classroom

Abstract

There are numerous English-based loanwords in Japanese, often called katakana words. Many teachers and researchers have advocated for using katakana words in English education, particularly for novice English learners. To maximize the teaching potential, teachers should consider the phonological differences between the English and katakana words. However, it has not been systematically explored whether native English speakers can comprehend the sounds of katakana words using a lemmatized word list. Therefore, the current study aims to fill this gap. First, we identified 769 katakana words from the first 1,000 words in the New General Service List developed by Browne, et al. (2013) by referring to a katakana dictionary. Second, we created an audio file of the selected katakana words. Third, we asked three native English speakers to guess the words after listening to the audio file while rating the intelligibility of each word. The analysis showed that among the 769 katakana words, 400 words were guessed correctly by all native speakers, while 120 words were not correctly understood by anyone. Additionally, 119 words could be easily understood. Based on the results, we discuss several points to consider when using katakana words in the English classroom.