Intelligibility and Comprehensibility of Hawai’i Pidgin English to Japanese Learners of English: Is Pidgin Easier to Understand than Standard English?

Abstract

This pilot study aims to investigate the degrees of Pidgin comprehension by Japanese learners of English, and find out whether Pidgin is easier to listen to and understand than Standard English. Also, it intends to examine the validity of the testing materials. Four Japanese learners of English were recruited, and they were asked to do a cloze-dictation test and a comprehension test about the listening materials. The test score analysis showed that Standard English was easier to listen to and to seek the word-sound correspondence, while Hawaiian Pidgin English was easier to listen to and identify the content. Further discussion of results and issues in testing materials will follow.