The study investigates Japanese university students' stereotypes about English varieties in Asia. It examines correlations between objective accentedness (OA), perceived accentedness (PA), and speaker competence. Findings reveal a very weak correlation between OA and both PA and speaker competence, whereas PA significantly correlates with speaker competence. The study suggests listeners' judgments are influenced by various linguistic features beyond segmental and syllable structure errors. It calls for future research to consider a wider range of phonological features and involve more raters to gain a better understanding of linguistic stereotypes.

International intelligibility is overtaking the native-speaker accent as the most relevant pronunciation goal for learners of English today. In this talk, drawn from material in the Oxford University Press position paper on teaching English pronunciation of the same name (Walker, Low & Setter, 2021), I will consider the spread of English as a global language, explain why it is not a necessity to have a native-like accent to teach and assess English pronunciation effectively, and consider why non-native speakers can, in fact, serve as better teachers and role models for learners. This does not, however, preclude the teaching and learning of native-like accents if that is the desired goal of learners. I will also address the teacher-training needs for effective pronunciation teaching and learning.