Intelligibility

Reading:Y. Kachru & L. Smith,

Chapter 4

Identify and explain the difference between ‘intelligibility,’ ‘comprehensibility,’ and ‘interpretability.’

Discuss the implications of these three concepts for your everyday life now and in the future.

In South ___ Southeast Asia, given ___ general identification ___ internationalisms ___ Euro-American colonialism, purification shows tendencies ___ combating ‘cultural ___,’ much more ___ neighboring vernaculars, ___ the more ___, since the latter have little ___ any national significance.

◦Fill in the blanks = intelligibility◦Paraphrase = comprehensibility

In South and Southeast Asia, given the general identification of internationalisms with Euro-American colonialism, purification shows tendencies of combating “cultural colonialism” much more than neighboring vernaculars, all the more so, since the latter have little if any national significance.

From: Joshua Fishman, 1972. Language in Sociocultural Change, Stanford University Press.

In discussing social and cultural features of non-native varieties of English, we need to address the concept of intelligibility. The reason for that is that questions of intelligibility arise whenever there is variation in language use.And, non-native varieties of English, by definition, exhibit variation; therefore it is natural that intelligibility becomes an issue for those using world Englishes across cultures..

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Kachru & Smith, Ch 4: Intelligibility & Interlocutors

Kachru & Smith, Ch 4: Intelligibility & Interlocutors

Understanding and intelligibility are often used interchangeably in conversation.It is not uncommon for “intelligibility” to be the cover term for all aspects of understanding.

But in order to understand the social and cultural features of the non-native variety of Englishes, Kachru and Smith separate three layers of understanding:

1. Intelligibility; 2. Comprehensibility;

3. Interpretability.6

Definition of Intelligibility

Intelligibility is the recognition of the words or another sentence-level element of an utterance.

E.g. E.g. “Anyone lived in a pretty how town”“Anyone lived in a pretty how town”

What do we know about this utterance?- It contains six English words;

- We know the meaning of every word in the utterances.

- But, do we know what it means?

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Definition of Intelligibility

When told that it’s the first line in a poem by e.e. cummings, we still not understand the we still not understand the meaning of the utterance.meaning of the utterance.

So, if we know the meaning of each word (or at least almost all the words) in an utterance, and recognize that the grammar appears “appropriate”, we say that we have an intelligibility of the utterance.

TEST: dictation to write down the utterance.

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Tests of Intelligibility

Ability to repeat the utterance Ability to write the utterance

Volume, clarity, and speed of the recitation, as well as presence or absence of outside noise, would affect the intelligibility of an utterance.

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Definition of Comprehensibility

IntelligibilityIntelligibility is the recognition of a word and/or grammatical structure of an utterance.

ComprehensibilityComprehensibility is the recognition of a meaning attached to a word or utterance, i.e. an understanding of a possible meaning.

E.g. When you hear the word ‘Please’, what do you recognize about its contextual meaning?- It’s a request or directive- It’s usually polite

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Test of Comprehensibility

‘‘Please be prepared to leave the area by 3 Please be prepared to leave the area by 3 pm!’pm!’

(1) Ability to paraphrase the utterance;

(2) Ability to answer a question like ‘What time are we supposed to leave the area?’

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Intelligibility vs. Comprehensibility

IntelligibilityIntelligibility and comprehensibilitycomprehensibility are certainly interrelated but are not the same.

Intelligibility – usually refers to speech perception

Comprehensibility – usually refers to what is conveyed

In certain contexts, it is possible to have intelligibility without comprehensibility and it is possible to measure the difference between them.

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From The Tiger’s Daughter (B. Mukherjee, 1972, p. 41)

“On her third day in Calcutta, Tara’s mother took her to visit her relatives ... ‘Take us to Southern Avenue first,’ the mother said to the chauffeur.... ‘Yes, memsahib.’”

A Conversation in Australia:Soon after arriving to live in Australia, David Cervi

was invited to an informal party and was to bring a plate.

“Of course,” he replied. “Is there anything else you’re short of – glasses, knives and forks, for example?”

“No,” replied his host, “I’ve got plenty of dishes. Just bring some food for everyone to share.”

David immediately realized that, although as a native speaker he had understood the words, he had misunderstood their meaning.

Unidentified passage:

With hocked gems financing him, our hero bravely defied all scornful laughter that tried to prevent his scheme. ‘Your eyes deceive you,’ he had said, ‘an egg not a table correctly typifies this unexplored planet.’ Now three sturdy sisters sought proof, forging along – sometimes through calm vastness, yet more often over turbulent peaks and valleys. Days became weeks as many doubters spread fearful rumors about the edge. At last, from nowhere, welcomed winged creatures appeared, signifying momentous success.

Interpretability

Interpretability refers to the recognition by the hearer/reader of the intent of purpose of an utterance, i.e. the intentionality of the utterance.

It is a more complex feature of understanding than either intelligibility or comprehensibility because one must know something about the cultural context of the statement in order to have the medium to high interpretability.

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‘So you’ve come? Is this your daughter that you’ve told me about?’ a woman who was sitting on a low raised place in the shop greeted us.

‘Yes. Ee-nang, salute Koon Maa.’

from: Prajuab Thirabutana, 1972. Little Things, Fontana.

In groups of 3-4 students, discuss whether there are problems regarding an interpretability issue.

Chinese weekly Beijing Review:Having destroyed the gang’s iron and steel and hat

factories’ and condemned its crime of savagely attacking and persecuting them, our cadres are displaying renewed revolutionary spirit. (From Changing English, p. 7)

African English (Bokamba, 1992): Do you know whether the President has left Nairobi in the following conversation:

A: “Hasn’t the President left Nairobi yet?”B: “Yes.”

Interpretability

What are the problems regarding interpretability in the following example:

While living in the United States, a Japanese While living in the United States, a Japanese woman was invited by an American friend to woman was invited by an American friend to a disco party. She said, “Well, I don’t like a disco party. She said, “Well, I don’t like discos very much but I’ll consider it.”discos very much but I’ll consider it.”She was surprised and displeased when her She was surprised and displeased when her friend called her on the day of the party to friend called her on the day of the party to say, “Are you ready? I’m on my way to pick say, “Are you ready? I’m on my way to pick you up.”you up.”

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English language fluency and grammatical competence facilitates successful intelligibility and comprehensibility, but it is clearly not sufficient for successful interpretability.

Interpretability requires cultural competence as well. ◦ Includes pronunciation, intonation, vocabulary,

politeness strategies, appropriate topics of conversation, sequence of information, ways of greeting, showing agreement, using directives, making refusals, leave-taking, etc.

Implications for your future work?