[lg policy] Teaching a Foreign Language? Best in the Accent of the Listener

[Anthea Fraser Gupta]

I'm of the view that there are huge problems with this 'native speaker accent' concept -- let alone the even sillier 'original accent'. How many 'native' accents are there? And for many learners of English, the aim of learning a language is NOT to speak to 'native speakers' (however defined) but to speak to (and/or communicate in writing with) any other people who don't speak the other languages you know.

I do think that advanced learners need to cope with a range of accents (well, we all need to develop these skills throughout life). But the accent of the initial teacher(s)? How much does it matter? Not much, luckily, 'cos few people learn languages from 'native speakers'. I think a focus on accent is a bit deadly and time could be better spent on other stuff.

Also.... I just wonder whether this result is the same as that of studies that have suggested that it is an advantage for an early-stage teacher to be familiar with the native language of the learner.

Anthea

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Anthea Fraser Gupta (Dr)
School of English, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT
<www.leeds.ac.uk/english/staff/afg<http://www.leeds.ac.uk/english/staff/afg>>
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________________________________
From: lgpolicy-list-bounces at groups.sas.upenn.edu [lgpolicy-list-bounces at groups.sas.upenn.edu] On Behalf Of Jeremy Graves [jayrkirk42 at yahoo.com]
Sent: 19 February 2010 20:00
To: Language Policy List
Subject: Re: [lg policy] Teaching a Foreign Language? Best in the Accent of the Listener

So are they learning the target language, or are they just learning to be dependent on a familiar accent? I mean, does it really count as learning the language if you're not learning to understand native speakers?

-Jeremy Graves

________________________________
From: Harold Schiffman <hfsclpp at gmail.com>
To: lp <lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu>
Sent: Thu, February 18, 2010 5:38:52 PM
Subject: [lg policy] Teaching a Foreign Language? Best in the Accent of the Listener

Forwarded From:  edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu<mailto:edling at lists.sis.utsa.edu>


Newswise



Teaching a Foreign Language?  Best in the Accent of the Listener



Perception of second language speech is easier when it is spoken in
the accent of the listener and not in the 'original' accent of that
language, shows a new study from the University of Haifa. The study
was published in the prestigious Journal of Psycholinguistic Research.



Full story:

http://www.newswise.com/articles/teaching-a-foreign-language-is-best-in-the-accent-of-the-listener





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