Abstract Previous studies have identified Japanese negative attitudes towards their English and ambivalent attitudes towards the language (e.g. Jenkins 2007, English as a Lingua Franca: Attitude and identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press; Matsuda 2003, The ownership of English in Japanese secondary schools. World Englishes 22(4). 483–496; McKenzie 2010, The social psychology of English as a global language: Attitudes, awareness and identity in the Japanese context. Dordrecht: Springer). The current research targets Japanese university students and adds several insights into the nature of these attitudes through the analysis of 95 open-ended questionnaires and 18 conversational interviews. First of all, the participants’ negative language attitudes embraced notable contradictions. Also, their ambivalence was scarcely evident, and more to the point, a matter of degree. Moreover, it is the doxic experience (Bourdieu 1977, Outline of a theory of practice. Trans. Richard Nice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) within Japanese society that was likely to hinder grounding those attitudes on their own critical thinking and valuing their English communication ability with non-Japanese. And most importantly, it was easy for them to appreciate English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) perspectives, so long as they would like to use English for international communication. More precisely, while they were unlikely to have any previous attitudes towards the unfamiliar representation of their English (i.e. from ELF perspectives), they were highly likely to develop positive attitudes towards it. This article calls for more future research and effort devoted to raising ELF awareness in Japanese and other similar contexts.

中文翻译：

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日本大学生对英语的态度和ELF意识的可能性

摘要 以前的研究已经确定了日本人对英语的消极态度和对语言的矛盾态度（例如 Jenkins 2007，英语作为通用语：态度和身份。牛津：牛津大学出版社；松田 2003，日本中学英语的所有权。 World Englishes 22(4). 483–496；McKenzie 2010，英语作为全球语言的社会心理学：日本语境中的态度、意识和身份。多德雷赫特：斯普林格。当前的研究针对日本大学生，并通过对 95 份开放式问卷和 18 份对话式访谈的分析，增加了对这些态度的本质的一些见解。首先，参与者的消极语言态度包含显着的矛盾。此外，他们的矛盾心理几乎不明显，更重要的是，程度的问题。此外，正是日本社会中令人信服的经历（Bourdieu 1977, Outline of a theory of practice. Trans. Richard Nice。Cambridge: Cambridge University Press）可能会阻碍将这些态度建立在他们自己的批判性思维上并重视他们的英语交流与非日语的能力。最重要的是，他们很容易将英语作为通用语 (ELF) 的观点来欣赏，只要他们愿意使用英语进行国际交流。更准确地说，虽然他们以前不太可能对他们的英语不熟悉的表现有任何态度（即从 ELF 的角度来看），但他们极有可能对它产生积极的态度。