Through conversation analysis as applied to interactional phonetics, this study analyzes the negotiation of segmental pronunciation in six hours of audio-recorded English as a lingua franca (ELF) interactions collected from students at a Japanese university. Previous research has demonstrated that interactants in ELF contexts repair segmental pronunciation so that they can maintain mutually intelligible pronunciation (e.g., Matsumoto 2011; O’Neal 2015). The present study nevertheless claims that the phonetic negotiations of pronunciation in ELF interactions can go beyond the goal of maintaining mutually intelligible pronunciation. That is, phonetic negotiations can occur in ELF interactions even after the maintenance of mutual intelligibility is interactionally achieved, and as such interactants demonstrate that aspects of pronunciation beyond mutual intelligibility are interactionally relevant. Although most ELF phonology studies have hitherto focused solely on the maintenance of mutual intelligibility (e.g., Jenkins 2000; Deterding 2013), interactants in ELF contexts might also orient to states beyond the maintenance of mutual intelligibility as an interactional goal. Namely, “transintelligibility,” or the negotiation of individually favored ways of pronouncing, can be an alternative aim of phonetic negotiations in ELF interactions. Based on the analysis, this study provides pedagogical implications regarding the teaching of phonology in general and how to negotiate pronunciation for English language users in intercultural communication. Furthermore, this study argues that mutual intelligibility, while an important aspect of pronunciation in intercultural communication, sometimes appears to be only one many interactionally significant aspects of pronunciation, and as such pronunciation syllabi should take transintelligibility phenomena into account when deciding which phonetic features should be taught.
References
Deterding, D. (2013). Misunderstandings in English as a Lingua Franca. Walter de Gruyter.
Jenkins, J. (2000). The Phonology of English as an International Language. Oxford University Press.
Matsumoto, Y. (2011). Successful ELF communications and implications for ELT: Sequential analysis of ELF pronunciation negotiation strategies. The Modern Language Journal, 95, 97-114.
O’Neal, G. (2015). Segmental repair and interactional intelligibility: The relationship between consonant deletion, consonant insertion, and pronunciation intelligibility in English as a Lingua Franca in Japan. Journal of Pragmatics, 85, 122-134.
