Comprehensibility of wasei eigo among native speakers teaching English as a foreign language in Japan

This paper focused on analyzing the comprehensibility of wasei eigo or the Japanese-made English among native English speakers who are teaching English as a foreign language in Japan. Though these words are loanwords from English, they mean differently from the original words or expressions they are derived from. The first research question determined the wasei eigo words or expressions understood by the NSE EFL teachers in Japan. The second and third research questions examined which wasei eigo word is the most understood and the least understood by the respondents. To answer these questions, a descriptive survey was used in this study. Purposive sampling was also used to gather the needed data from 20 native English speakers who are working as EFL teachers in Japan. The results show that some of the wasei eigo words are understood by the native English speakers who are teaching in Japan. However, further studies could be conducted to find out the effects of wasei eigo in the EFL teaching and learning in Japan.