accent reduction

[Kathryn Remlinger]

Both Harold's and Susan's comments about "enriched" accents makes me think about how speakers will similarly use regional dialects in a more characteristic, performance-type way to draw attention to their authenticity, their identities as "real" locals. Also, the original article raises questions about accent reduction (i.e. "correction") versus what the article called "teaching an American accent." I wonder which American Accent is taught? And, isn't this perspective just a correction wolf in descriptivst sheep's clothing?

Kate


Kathryn Remlinger, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of English: Linguistics
Grand Valley State University
Allendale, Michigan
tel: 616-331-3122
fax: 616-331-3430
>>> "Harold F. Schiffman" <haroldfs at ccat.sas.upenn.edu> 06/08/07 8:39 AM >>>
Susan Ervin-Tripp's mention of a French bilingual who "enriched" her
French accent reminds me of something I observed when I lived in France
for 2 years some 45 years ago. I noticed that Americans who spoke French
often spoke with a "stronger" American accent when they were in mixed
(French and American) company than when they were speaking to French
speakers only. I concluded (after some smirking I picked up on (Who's he
trying to impress?)  when I didn't do this) that they wanted to convey to
their fellow Americans that they weren't giving something up (their
American identity?) by cow-towing to French culture by trying to
approximate a better French accent.  So it was clear to me that these
folks could control their accents if they wanted to--speaking "better"
French when they weren't being overhead by Americans, and worse when they
were.  This despite the fact that a really bad accent in French earns you
nothing from French speakers but derision and even ostracism.

Hal Schiffman