Multi-competence, expressivity, non-native variants: an investigation into Japanese English

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article investigates Japanese English, a non-standard variety of English, via the three notions of multi-competence, expressivity, and non-native variants. The article demonstrates how speakers of Japanese English manipulate expressivity, a prevalent cognitive-pragmatic construct to generate non-native forms, in assigned presentational talks. The article shows that meaning-carrying non-native forms regularly co-occur with their native counterparts and argues that expressivity belongs to the fourth stage of multi-competence. There is also a preliminary discussion of the implications of the study’s findings for English language teaching in Japan, where educators have begun considering a plurilithic approach to the English language in earnest.