Subject Code: MAT

Reflection Paper No. 3

INTELLIGIBILITY VS. COMPREHENSIBILITY

The capacity of listeners to comprehend each other despite considerable differences

in pronunciation demonstrates that individuals generally exhibit a great level of flexibility in
communication. An accent may serve as both your identification and a representation of
where you are from. An accent emphasizes what you say. It assists you in being aware of
what you are saying. When it is used appropriately, it may help you in your career. However,
it should not be a burden to the students learn the language easily.

As I read the reading materials given, I have learned that Intelligibility is the
recognition of a word and/or grammatical structure of an utterance while Comprehensibility is
the recognition of a meaning attached to a word or utterance, i.e. an understanding of a
possible meaning.

As I research more about it, I read this example, “Anyone lived in a pretty how town”
What do I know about this utterance? It simply contains six English words and I know the
meaning of every word in the utterances. So, if I know the meaning of each word (or at least
almost all the words) in an utterance, and recognize that the grammar appears “appropriate”,
I can say that I have an intelligibility of the utterance. Meanwhile, when I hear the word
Please I can actually recognize its contextual meaning which is a request. That is an
example of comprehensibility.

It is possible to have intelligibility without comprehensibility in some situations

because as individuals we really try to understand what we just listen to. Because
communication is more essential than native-like speech, students should focus on
developing intelligibility and comprehensibility. Teachers should strive to make students’
speech functional not putting too much focus on making L2 learners sound like native
English speakers in order for them to communicate and perform more successfully since
language is used by participants to accomplish social processes in communication.