We often assume that if two people speak English, understanding each other should be easy. But research suggests otherwise—especially when the English in question comes from very different corners of the world.
A new study by Liu Jie & Jie Zeng (2025) looked at how well Chinese pre-service English teachers understood South Asian Englishes—specifically Indian, Pakistani & Nepali varieties. The researchers used a mixed-methods design, combining quantitative measures of word-by-word transcription accuracy with qualitative analysis of participants’ reflections on what made comprehension difficult.
Who took part? 30 trainee English teachers (all native Chinese speakers, CEFR B2–C1 level) from a university in Southwest China. None had much exposure to South Asian Englishes; most were trained in British & American norms.
What did they do? Each participant listened to a 69-word passage read by South Asian speakers (recorded from the Speech Accent Archive, which probably deserves a blogpost all to itself, check it out) & transcribed it word by word. Then they answered open-ended questions about which sounds or features were hardest to understand.
What did the researchers find?
- Overall intelligibility was modest (60%), meaning 4 out of 10 words were misheard.
- Nepali English was easiest to understand (66.7%), while Indian English proved hardest (55.2%).
- The biggest barriers were vowel length contrasts, voicing differences (e.g. peas → bees), & retroflex consonants (a feature of many languages, though not present in English, they’re particularly prevalent in languages spoken on the Indian subcontinent.) unfamiliar to Chinese listeners.
- Prior exposure to “standard” British or American English actually made it harder to adapt to new accents.
- Many participants admitted they subconsciously viewed non-Inner Circle accents as “wrong”—a finding that highlights the lingering hierarchy of Englishes in global education.
These results echo other World Englishes research showing that intelligibility depends less on linguistic “correctness” & more on exposure. In short, the more varieties learners hear, the better they understand them—a finding that fits neatly with Jenkins’s idea of English as a lingua franca used among non-native speakers worldwide.
For example, a Chinese engineer & a Pakistani colleague might both use English fluently but still struggle with mutual comprehension because each expects a different rhythm or vowel quality. Such misunderstandings aren’t about proficiency—they’re about phonological expectations shaped by education.
Teacher Takeaways?
- Diversify listening input. Include regional Englishes (e.g. South Asia, Africa, Southeast Asia) in class materials—not just BBC or CNN voices.
- Teach for intelligibility, not imitation. Help students recognise core phonological contrasts rather than chase native-speaker pronunciation.
- Challenge accent bias. Discuss why some accents are perceived as “standard” & how this shapes attitudes toward speakers.
For ELT professionals, the message is clear: sustainability in English education isn’t only environmental—it’s linguistic. A globally sustainable classroom is one where understanding depends on openness, not accent.
How do you help your students (or yourself) tune in to the world’s many Englishes?
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