An attitudinal study of English language learners towards English as a global language in a Japanese context

This study aims to investigate Japanese English language learners’ attitudes towards English as a global language, to explore the factors underpinning these attitudes, and to investigate the relationship between attitudes and other variables including (but not limited to) learners’ English language proficiency and exposure to varieties of English. A growing number of studies continue to investigate learners’ attitudes towards English as a global language. The learners’ attitudes play an important role in initiating curriculum innovations for changes in English language teaching that reflect English use in the 21st century. There are complexities surrounding attitudes such as reports of learners’ strongly preferring native varieties of English, while simultaneously showing openness towards English as a global language. Nevertheless, the extant quantitative measures of language attitudes, such as verbal and matched-guise techniques, are limited by their focus on static varieties of English, and thus cannot capture complex attitude formation in a dynamic global context. A new quantitative measure is necessary. Some mixed methods studies that employed interviews and focus group discussions have highlighted the dynamic nature of language attitudes and how they are formed, which includes factors affecting language attitudes, such as English language proficiency and exposure to varieties of English. A detailed investigation of language attitudes with the use of both quantitative and qualitative measurements that are credible is necessary. This study aims to capture learners’ current attitudes formed in the complex sociolinguistic realities of the 21st century, which can inform a global approach to language teaching. It reports on a mixed methods study that involved the development of the Global Englishes Orientation Questionnaire (GEO-Q), which measures attitudes beyond static varieties and variables affecting them. These data were supplemented by follow-up focus group interviews to explore attitude formation further. The study is embedded in Global Englishes as a theoretical framework, within which, it quantitatively and qualitatively investigated the various facets of English language learners’ attitudes and the variables affecting them. The study took place over three stages. The target population included full-time students who were enrolled in a four-year university programme in Japan. The first stage involved the development of the GEO-Q. The questionnaire items were created through multiple steps, including drawing up items with an expert panel followed by several piloting phases with general and target populations. The validity and reliability of the instrument were examined repeatedly. The second stage involved quantitative data collection using the GEO-Q on 660 learners of English in Japanese universities. The data were used to explore the latent constructs underlying attitudes and relationships between these constructs and other variables, especially English language proficiency and exposure to varieties of English by using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modelling. The third stage involved nine focus groups in order to follow up on the results of the statistical analyses that were conducted in the second stage. The qualitative data were analysed thematically through content analysis. This study supports previous research, which found that learners’ attitudes towards English as a global language were mixed. It identifies their complex attitudes in greater detail, capturing both global and traditional orientations, that is, students were simultaneously aware of and held positive attitudes towards the realities of English usage while also conforming to native-speaker norms in terms of desired target communities and varieties of English spoken in those communities. The study found a positive relationship between both orientations. This can be attributed to the lack of learners’ linguistic self-confidence and an influence of non-linguistic factors like the positive image of native English-speaking countries, especially the United States, on society. Education and media appeared to play a crucial role in those learners’ attitude formations. My findings also revealed relationships between learners’ attitudes and their English language proficiency and exposure to varieties of English while controlling for potential confounding variables. Unlike previous studies that found a positive impact of English as a lingua franca (ELF) experiences on learners’ global orientations, this study showed that ELF experiences could affect learners’ global orientations both positively and negatively. The study highlighted the importance of learners’ ELF experiences that have been sufficiently successful or meaningful in challenging the existing native-speaker norms that have permeated society. This study makes significant theoretical, methodological, and practical contributions to the fields of Global Englishes and English language teaching. This is one of the first studies to build a structural equation model based on the Global Englishes Language Teaching framework. In this study, a rigorous measure was developed in order to capture complex English language learners’ attitudes. The study addresses the nature of English language learners’ attitudes in the 21st century, which informs curriculum change, revealing the persistence of native-speaker norms. The findings pertain to researchers and teachers who are interested in implementing Global Englishes-oriented pedagogic actions in English language classrooms and initiating curriculum innovation. Through collaborations between researchers and teachers, the GEO-Q may be used as an alternative research tool to examine the impact of such actions, leading to effective Global Englishes-informed innovations in English language teaching for the 21st century.