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Resumo

This study assessed the attitudinal responses of 48 Japanese university students towards 10 accented English speech samples across nine evaluative criteria. Of the 10 samples, one was a Japanese‐English speech sample (the intracultural familiar), seven were non‐native‐English samples originating from a variety of Asian countries (intercultural others), and two were native‐English samples originating from America and England (preferred intercultural others). Framed within socio‐psychological intergroup theories of identity, and current debates concerning English as a Foreign Language (EFL), the results indicate that although the students favoured the native‐English speech samples, they were generally unsuccessfully in identifying where the speaker of each speech sample originated. This paper contends that the native English speech samples were afforded a kind of quasi‐ingroup status among the Japanese students, while the non‐native Asian speech samples were positioned firmly within a distant outgroup category. The results are discussed in relation to the development of positive intercultural relationships, the domestic presence of the foreigner and the implications for the future of ELT within Japan.

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