Teaching Pronunciation: Accents, discrimination and intelligibility

I speak with an accent from the North of England. I’ve been an English teacher and lived outside of the UK for 25 years. My accent has got weaker over the years although it is still noticeable (I say got weaker rather than softened as the latter infers that this is a positive thing). People will often guess where I am from (they usually go for Manchester or Leeds but I’m actually from Sheffield). 

I do not use the / ʌ / sound and pronounce words such as cup, pub and monkey with the /ʊ/ sound as most people do where I am from. I also say words such as grass, castle and bath with the short vowel /æ/ rather than the long vowel /ɑː/.

As a new teacher, I found teaching pronunciation intimidating. I didn’t know the phonetic script and I was supposedly the ‘native model’ that my students would learn from but I didn’t even speak ‘correctly’. I would come across stand-alone pronunciation exercises in coursebooks and dutifully drill the / ʌ / and /ɑː/ sounds before asking students to come here, hand out some papers or stand up in my own accent. You can imagine how much impact these coursebook activities had on my student’s pronunciation. I still fondly remember a Polish colleague who took over my elementary teenagers the following term saying; “they all talk like you, Rich.” or words to that affect. 

Discrimination

My Polish colleague spoke perfect English, she was also qualified and experienced (the opposite of what I was at that time) and I probably wouldn’t have got through my first year of teaching without her ideas and support. Despite this, she was not allowed to teach any level higher than B1. All higher levels and exam classes were given to ‘native’ speakers. This was how the school chose to promote its courses. The school felt there was prestige connected to having ‘teachers’ such as myself. The thinking was (I believe) that students would just somehow absorb the language from us. Looking back, it was a very strange idea but, unfortunately, one that still persists in many places. I still see job adverts saying ‘native’ speakers only or promotional material for academies about having ‘native’ teachers. There is no doubt that I have personally benefitted from this system, but it should be called out for what it is: native speakerism. This is a form of discrimination that gives privilege to those that are considered to be native speakers regardless of their experience and qualifications. It also reinforces wider assumptions about which nationalities , cultures and ways of speaking are superior. These assumptions have historical roots in colonialism and often overlap with racism.

But how does pronunciation fit into all of this?

Is it because people confuse pronunciation and accent? Accent is often the main target for bias with those that believe only certain ones are acceptable. However, we all know that English is spoken by people with an array of regional and national accents and people communicate successfully across many of these differences every day. Of course, some accents may be more difficult to understand especially when they are unfamiliar. But that is not the same as saying that one accent is better than another or having a particular accent means someone has a lower level of English. And this should not only include L1 speakers of English but people who have learned English as an L2 from many different backgrounds. Would someone with an accent from Birmingham, Sydney or Chicago be considered not to speak C2 level English due to their accent? No. There should be no reason why the English by someone from Seville, Caracas or the Canary Islands should be treated any differently.  In actual fact,  while the CEF at this level takes phonological control and intelligibility into account, it has no requirement about eliminating a regional or national accent.

What does this mean for us as teachers?

Personally, I believe we should focus on intelligibility rather than trying to get rid of an accent. I tell my students that we all have an accent, and that having an accent isn't a problem in itself. What matters is whether we can communicate effectively and make ourselves understood.

Instead of trying to imitate the pronunciation on a recording  that is different from my own, I’m now confident enough to have students notice the difference between the two. Strangely, students usually prefer the way I say things!

I also think we should expose students to a variety of accents and very importantly these shouldn’t only be L1 speakers of English. English is often used as a lingua franca between people who have different first languages which means our students need opportunities to hear and understand a wide range of English accents, including those of people who have learned English as an additional language. Hearing people speak English with a Spanish accent or that they know to be Spanish can also be very motivating. One way to do this can be listening to international interviews with Spanish singers, actors and sports stars who often give interviews in English.

All of this is not to deny those students who wish to learn a British or American English accent. That is OK, too and can be a legitimate goal. However, this is a choice and all accents are valid. I would of course be very happy if everyone spoke with a Sheffield accent, so in case you want to give it a go, here’s lesson one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2ZXW2LGw4o&t

Source: https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/native-speakerism-%E2%80%93-what-it-and-why-does-it-matter