foreign instructors

[Shannon Sauro]

The Public Broadcasting System recently released a new three part documentary
called "Do you speak American?" which has an accompanying web site:
http://www.pbs.org/speak/

This new documentary was released in January of this year and contains even
more recent examples of US English accents.  Because of its three hour running
time, it has time to look extensively at west coast and southwestern varieties
such as Valley Girl/Surfer Dude and Spanglish.

Shannon Sauro

Quoting Aurolyn Luykx <aurolynluykx at yahoo.com>:

> Hi Anthea,
> the film "American Tongues" is an excellent
> presentation both of different U.S. English accents
> and of the prejudices surrounding them. If you don't
> know it, check it out. I use it for undergraduate
> teaching and it's a real eye-opener for students
> unfamiliar with sociolinguistic issues.
> Aurolyn
>
>
> --- "Harold F. Schiffman"
> <haroldfs at ccat.sas.upenn.edu> wrote:
>
> > Anthea and all:
> >
> > I just wanted to share a little experience I have
> > had with this 'foreign'
> > accent stuff.  I am American-born, "Caucasian", a
> > native speaker of
> > English, raised mostly in the east and midwest. I
> > taught for 28 years in
> > Seattle (on the west coast), and there I
> > occasionally was asked (e.g. in
> > linguistics courses or language-and-culture
> > courses), by people from the
> > west coast (some from rural areas, to be sure) if I
> > was "from this
> > country."  They meant from the US, not from
> > Washington State. So the low
> > tolerance for any difference, and the reports that
> > students perceive a
> > voice as "less comprehensible" if matched with an
> > Asian face, resonate
> > with me.  Many state universities have gone through
> > this business about
> > the lack of comprehensibility of "foreign" accents,
> > and attempts to train
> > TA's to "enunciate more clearly" or whatever have
> > been mostly a waste of
> > time, IMHO.
> >
> > I once participated (since I was chair of a dept. of
> > Asian languages) in
> > discussions in the UW graduate school about how to
> > help these "foreign"
> > students to be more comprehensible; my suggestions
> > were ignored.  But note
> > also the lack of training reported by some of these
> > instructors--thrown
> > into a classroom with no preparation.  Some might
> > benefit from training in
> > some kind of pedagogy (as we are forced to do in our
> > language
> > departments). Math and science courses are
> > notoriously bad, from the
> > pedagogical standpoint.  One math prof told me they
> > don't care how bad
> > Calculus is taught--the good ones will get it, and
> > the rest will drop out.
> >
> > On the question about ordinary Americans talking
> > about their accents--yes,
> > stigmatized accents (New York, southern) are
> > discussed, mocked, ridiculed.
> > Others not so much...  But the idea that Brits are
> > more tolerant is new to
> > me--we get the impression that there's a lot more
> > fussing out class
> > accents--like the fact that Mrs. Thatcher was hated
> > (?) for her "fake"
> > Oxbridge accent, which she hadn't acquired
> > rightfully.
> >
> > Hal Schiffman
> >
> >
> >
> > On Thu, 7 Apr 2005, Anthea Fraser Gupta wrote:
> >
> > > This seems a very fair and balanced article, that
> > puts forward factors
> > > concerning the speaker's skills, the hearer's
> > skills, the cultural
> > > setting, and prejudice.
> > >  It strikes me that I have the impression that
> > 'accented English' and
> > > 'English with an accent' is more used in the US
> > than the UK. People in
> > > the UK talk about 'foreign accents' where foreign
> > is shorthand for
> > > 'assumed non-native', and make assumptions that if
> > you are not from an
> > > inner circle country you won't be a native speaker
> > of English. There is
> > > certainly this shared prejudicial system on both
> > sides of the Atlantic.
> > > But we also talk about British accents -- A LOT.
> > Do ordinary American
> > > talk about their own accents????
> >
> > >  This posting isn't very well thought through, but
> > I do have the feeling
> > > that there is something very different across the
> > Atlantic in terms of
> > > attitudes to accents. I notice on Ask-a-linguist
> > that a lot of Americans
> > > have a strong idea that there is a correct way of
> > speaking, and that
> > > there is a great deal of hostility to Southern
> > accents. I just have a
> > > vague feeling that there is a more normative
> > attitude to accents in the
> > > US than in the UK. In the UK people certainly have
> > prejudices of a
> > > rather complex sort, but diversity seems to be
> > better accepted.
> > >
> > > Anyone got any thoughts??? Evidence???
> > >
> > > Anthea
> > > School of English, University of Leeds
> > >
> > > 	-----Original Message-----
> > > 	From: owner-lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu on
> > behalf of Harold F. Schiffman
> > > 	Sent: Wed 06/04/2005 21:14
> > > 	To: Language Policy-List
> > > 	Cc:
> > > 	Subject:
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > 	>From the Chronicle of Higher Education, April 8,
> > 2005
> > >
> > > 	http://chronicle.com/free/v51/i31/31a01001.htm
> > >
> > > 	Teach Impediment
> > >
> > > 	When the student can't understand the instructor,
> > who is to blame?
> > >
> > > 	By JOHN GRAVOIS
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
>
> 		
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