 Corresponding author: Joselito Bayya Bisenio. Copyright © 2023 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0. Comprehensibility of wasei eigo among native speakers teaching English as a foreign language in Japan Joselito Bayya Bisenio * and Esperval Cezhar H. Cadiao West Visayas State University, Iloilo City, Philippines. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2023, 18(03), 209–215 Publication history: Received on 23 April 2023; revised on 02 June 2023; accepted on 04 June 2023 Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.30574/wjarr.2023.18.3.0996 Abstract 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. Keywords: Wasei eigo; English language; English as a foreign language; Japanese English 1. Introduction Britannica Encyclopedia (2023) defines language as a system of conventional spoken, manual, or written symbols by means of which human beings as members of a social group and participants in its culture, express themselves. The functions of language include communication, the expression of identity, play, imaginative expression, and emotional release. Taking this description of a language, its most important function is for communication. The people of one area and of one group speak one language, which may or may not be the same as what the people in the neighboring region do. That is why language borrowing occurs. Language borrowing happens when two language communities develop cultural contact (Kemmer, 2019). Though the two communities decide to adopt words from the other language into their native language, the borrowing of words may not always be of an equal distribution. One group may adopt more words and use them in their own language than what the other group may get from their counterpart. This happens when speakers of one language find a word in the other language to describe something they do not have a word for. These words are referred to as loan words or loanwords. Michaloski (2021) claimed that loan words can be found in nearly every language. Take English as an Example. Former Merriam Webster lexicographer Kory Stamper revealed that English is made up of loan words from about 350 other languages, comprising about 80 percent of the words used in the English language. The languages with the most influence are French, Latin, and German, with Greek or Latin comprising about 60 percent of all the borrowed words (Dictionary.com, 2015). The most popular loanwords, as a result of cultural contact, often describe food, entertainment, the arts, including scholarly or specialized fields like science and medicine. Most of these loaned words are actually part of the material