UST - AJELS

The Asian Journal of English Language Studies (AJELS) is proud to complete its Volume 8, December 2020 edition. Since 2013, the journal has remained committed in contributing to the academic discourse surrounding the dynamic and shifting nature of the English language and in encouraging relevant discussions of issues on languages by publishing articles by local and international scholars. Modesty aside, the online journal has been successful in terms of its relatively steady increase in readership, article submissions, and citations to its published articles. With respect to quality, the journal has been keen in its attempt to build its reputation and broaden its visibility in the academic community; and to attain such, the editorial board regularly evaluates the publication process to guarantee efficiency and gratifying experience for both authors and editorial staff. One of the journal’s strengths is its roster of 28 outstanding academics from reputable institutions around the globe who serve as peer reviewers. Just recently, Dr. James F. D’Angelo of Chukyo University, Nagoya, Japan, has joined AJELS. All these achievements have become possible because of the support and diligence of our international advisory board, the hard work of the editorial staff, and the interest of our readers, and we fervently hope that these sustained collaboration and support continue for several years to come.

Volume 8 features ten articles that deal with different areas and topics in applied linguistics such as varieties of English, code-switching, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics and transnational identities, forensic linguistics, vocabulary acquisition strategies, and language and gender.

The first and second research articles explore issues on the accentedness of English based on ‘nonnative’ speakers’ perspective. Henelsie B. Mendoza’s study deals with an analysis of language stereotypes attached by Filipino ESL (English as a second language) learners to different Philippine lectal groups (i.e., basilect, mesolect, and acrolect). Through the use of a Matched Guise Test (MGT) and follow-up interviews, she found that specific language stereotypes are strongly linked to different lectal groups. The student-participants in the study were more inclined to consider the acrolect variety as the prescribed accent in evaluating other speakers of English. In his paper “The accentedness of English as an additional language (EAL): A nonnative speaker’s perspective,” Paul Lochland, using an online survey, asked 100 EAL users to judge the accentedness of Japanese English, French English, Mandarin English, and German English in terms of tone, syllable, mora, and stress. Interestingly, the findings indicated that ‘nonnative’ speakers (NNS) do not find their own accent to be weaker than other varieties of EAL accents.