British English or American accent?

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Sherli

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Hi, all. I'm training for a CELTA cert right now and I had to do a Teaching Practice lesson last week with guidance from my tutor. I'm tuned in to British English more than other versions of the language, so in my lesson I had corrected a student for saying " vase" (with AE as in case) and I told the student it should be vase (with A, as in car). I was quite shocked to be told by my tutor that I should accept both as valid. I'm OK about it as my students are multilingual and multicultural, just had my stereotypes I guess .... but I am just wondering that if we start accepting different pronunciations... then the language may evolve to be something quite different and where should it stop ? I would constantly refer to a British dict but now should I, as a result of having an open mind, then also refer to other English dictionaries ? It's tough being a teacher these days !
 

Tdol

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If a student has learned AE pronunciation and spelling, then it's a bit tough on the student to say they cannot use it. I'd say that the major varieties of English are all acceptable. It's hard to say where this will take us- I have seen some argue that the language will eventually break up the way Latin did, while others say that the opposite is likely to occur and that the differences will be eroded. I think that at the fringes, some break up may occur, but I think the overall driving force will be to homogenise things, so national and regional variations are likely to become less marked. ;-)
 

Infosaturated

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Anyone try to read Old English recently? Languages are always evolving. English has had both the privilege and curse of becoming a world language. It is a privilege because English speakers face fewer barriers in business and travel. It is a huge benefit having so much of the internet available in one's native language. A curse, because it is spoken in so many different countries that the British no longer "own" the language therefore it can't be controlled.

American Engish is or has become the international English and it is continuing to evolve. The root purpose of language is communication. American English is slowly becoming simplified. For example, they accept the spelling of nite as night. "Real" is accepted as an adverb as well as "really". I used to think this was terrible but now realize it has both pros and cons. Simplifying grammatical conventions and spellings makes the language more accessable to more people which promotes communication. Communication is the primary purpose of language so that would seem to be a good thing. The downside, in my opinion, is loss of musicality. Perhaps it is because I am Canadian, but I much prefer the sound of the RP British accent.

So, as many others have already noted the students' purpose in learning the language is the most significant determiner of what we should be teaching. Intelligibility is important, accent is not, unless the student wants to cultivate a particular accent for some reason. My students will invaribly be influenced by my accent. It hadn't even occured to me to teach to a specific accent. I live in Montreal, Quebec, a highly multicultural city. People speak English with many different accents here and I love the variety.

"Speaking like a native" seems to be a significant goal for many but I personally believe people should relax and just focus on intelligibility. Accents are charming and they are an expression of individuality and identity.
 
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samsiahk

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Jan 19, 2006
Hi Sherli...well, when we teach we should be aware (because of this "openness" factor -that there are many varieties around) of the fact that the language will be used in many, differring situations. Like in the Malaysian case, the "official" system would be BE but with the AE becoming more acceptable, I usually explain to my students about both. The same case in using the dictionary...I mean if I use the Longman or Oxford, both give the explanation (pronunciation, meaning, acceptability etc) for both English versions. I think this goes well with the notion that a teacher, nowadays, can only function as a facilitator -the most we can do is make sure that the students are aware of the possibilities out there, and they should be flexible enough to be able to adjust in any given situation. Well, this sounds superb on paper, in reality it is not as easy given that being a non-native speaker sometimes lowers the confidence level.
Has anyone ever hear about cognitive grammar?
 

Tdol

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I'm visiting KL in a couple of weeks, so I'll have my first real experience of Malaysian English. ;-)
 

jej1997

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Feb 12, 2006
American English is slowly becoming simplified. For example, they accept the spelling of nite as night. "Real" is accepted as an adverb as well as "really".
Some gradual simplification may be occurring, but I would disagree with both of the examples you gave.

There is big a difference between "formal" English and "casual" or "slang" English. Teenagers sending text messages on their cell phones or over the Internet use about the most degenerate form of written English commonly used by native speakers. However, in any context in which they want to be taken seriously, they either shape up, or come off as ignorant/uneducated. They can flip the switch on and off depending on the context.

Using "real" instead of "really" in conversation is recognized as a (quaint and very often ironic) colloquialism by the majority of Americans.
 

samsiahk

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I do agree with infosaturated that English has become internationalised. And yes, there are of course differences in "formal" English and "slang" -in fact the spoken and written version are different from each other, what more formal and slang! The beauty of English is that it is dynamic...for non-native, we borrow first and then we adapt the language to suit our situation/ environment. When used in this situation, the question then is what variety do we use? If we are to be internationally intelligible, we have to keep to the standard syntax, and so on. In the Malaysian case, the Malaysian English is used for maintaining solidarity (this has been proved in several studies done...this is due to many reasons, one being that English is the language of our then-coloniser, British). tdol is coming to KL in a couple weeks' time, so welcome...don't forget to visit the Petaling Street -am sure tdol will experience first hand what I mean by the language being adapted to suit the Malaysian purpose!
 

BookWorm041

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Feb 17, 2006
I am from the US and can honestly say that I prfer the English Accent. The american accent (well, my accent) can sound very harsh. But, if you sound better with the English, go ahead.
 

Tdol

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samsiahk said:
In the Malaysian case, the Malaysian English is used for maintaining solidarity (this has been proved in several studies done...this is due to many reasons, one being that English is the language of our then-coloniser, British). tdol is coming to KL in a couple weeks' time, so welcome...don't forget to visit the Petaling Street -am sure tdol will experience first hand what I mean by the language being adapted to suit the Malaysian purpose!

I'll make sure I do. It will be interesting for me to see an Asian country where there is a British English influence- at the moment, I'm in Japan, where American English dominates and before that I was in Cambodia, where American and Australian English wee the most commonly taught. ;-)
 

Nary

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Jan 11, 2006
well to me i see the British accent is much better i am trying to learn it. it is hard i think it will take time till i do.
 

smelvanzq

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For me it is not really important as long as it is comprehensible
 

Tdol

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smelvanzq said:
For me it is not really important as long as it is comprehensible

I agree with you and the differences between the standard forms are rarely enough to impede comprehension. :cool:
 

queenmaabd

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I'm from the U.S. and I teach English in Spain. That is one of the most common questions I get because I'm the only American teacher at our academy. All of my other workmates are either Spainish or English. Our company has no strict policy as to accents, but I do the best I can and I always tell my students about the differences I know, both in vocabulary and in pronunciation. I'd say if you can't decide for one or the other, learn them both, just try to be constant when you speak and use just one accent (whichever is easier for you). You can't switch back and forth all the time, because if you do, you'll give poeple trying to understand you a really hard time.
 

dipizz

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I think it doesn't matter in which accent people express themselves. What's more, I believe that different accents make languages richer and more precious.

I'm a Spanish speaker from America and I see it from this point of view: accents should not bother anyone whereas they don't make difficult comprehension.

In Spanish, as in many languages, we also have different accents. The main ones are the Peninsular Spanish accent and the South American Spanish accents -one of which is the River Plate region accent.

Related to English, I really like the United States accent. As I watch movies from there, I try to emulate their accent. It's a good way to improve pronunciation.

Regards,

Adrián.
 

nyggus

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thestudentproofreader said:
I don't care about what people sound like
As long as I can understand what they're saying it really doesn't bother me
http://www.studentproofreader.com
The thing is that many people say that (which I like, for sure)--but usually not the people who are interviewing you (which is bad for me). At least it is a bit consoling that so many people think like thestudentproofreader. Thanks for that!

Take care,
Nyggus :cool:
 

lapiz

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Hello!! I`m from South America. I study at a teacher college trainee. My teacher of phonetics say that The British accent is the most understandable one. I think that languages are used to communicate. If you speak british or american it doesn`t matter. The thing is that the person you are speaking to have to undestand what:lol: you are saying.
 

lapiz

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lapiz said:
Hello!! I`m from South America. I study at a teacher college trainee. My teacher of phonetics say that The British accent is the most understandable one. I think that languages are used to communicate. If you speak british or american it doesn`t matter. The thing is that the person you are speaking to must :?: understand what:lol: you are saying.
:?:
 

Philly

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My teacher of phonetics say that The British accent is the most understandable one.
I'd say that what your teacher of phonetics is really saying is that the British accent is the most understandable for him/her and that he/she personally has difficulty with the "American sound". :lol:
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I once had to teach a group of beginners and, because I'm American and their coursebook and accompanying tapes were also "American", the pronunciation they heard in class was initially strictly American.
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When we were about halfway through the course book, I decided to start doing some listening exercises with British pronunciation. The particular course book that was being used had both British and American versions, so I simply brought the "British" cassette with me one day. My students promptly commented on how odd the speech sounded and complained that they could hardly understand anything the speakers said. They had very little trouble understanding the American tape because that's the sound they'd learned up to that point.
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I rest my case. 8)
.
 

Shad

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I am a student in China. Because of the Hollywood movies, American songs and much more frequent contact with US than that of UK, American accent seems more popular.

However, the college teachers suggest that British accent is more acceptable in the world, especially in the world outside US. Is it true?

I want to know how would UKers react to American accent speaking callers and vice versa.

Do Americans like British accent on the phone when it is a sales call, for example?

I want opinions from only native English speakers, mainly UK and US citizens. Please state your nationality and your feelings about the accents.

Thanks.
I am an indian, we in india teach/ learn BE but popular speaking is American usually. we also write BE...we also understant BE quicker.. but american eng.. overwhelms the television etc..
 
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