Helping intermediate students interpret different accents in authentic spoken texts. Philip Weir Contents Introduction Page 3 Analysis Page 4 1. What defines an accent? 2. Top-down and Bottom-Up processing 3. The teaching of decoding and meaning building. Problems and solutions Page 8 Unfamiliar accents Distinguishing the phonemes Connected speech Conclusion Page 10 Appendices Page 11 Introduction Most course books will contain a variety of different regional British accents, although the majority of which will mainly focus on Received Pronunciation as will its pronunciation section. It should be noted that only 3% of the British population speak RP, although “it is convenient that …show more content…
Jeremy Harmer stated that learners need to be exposed not only to one variety of English (British English, for example) but also to varieties such as American, Australian and Irish English just to name a few. (Harmer, 1998) Understanding regional accents can be overwhelming, however, with the right training, skills and awareness, the students will be better equipped to interpret different accents. Analysis 1. What defines an accent? 2. Top-down and Bottom-Up processing 3. The teaching of decoding and meaning building. 1. What defines an accent? J.C Wells points out that an accent is special to every individual and that each one has its own idiolect and that there are many aspects that affect an accent (Wells, 1982). These aspects can include: The sex of the speaker. Women tend to speak in a higher pitch and maybe more animated, The class of the speaker. Are they upper or working class? As this will affect everything from stress to the vocabulary used. i.e. Received Pronunciation vs A broader regional accent, L1 interference. Is the speaker a non-native? The L1 will certainly be reflected in the L2 of the speaker, The geographical location of the speaker, The style of speaker. Speech rate can be fast in some regions and slower in others. Looking at all these aspects in combination, we soon realise that an accent is not a black and white feature and that we cannot say that all the Irish do not pronounce the TH properly
Tone is another thing that be misinterpreted by other as when someone raises their c=voice to one group of people it means that they are angry are annoyed but to other it can mean that they are excited yet in different culture this can be the subtle difference in cultures; different cultures will often have picked up different things like when looking at the west it is very common to use communication methods as emails and texting. Other culture prefer to communicate through telephones or written word; and generation can also affect the language as young people will have developed new language to accompany the new technology which may seem horrible to older people.
Verbal languages vary in pronunciations. Since, Languages are described as being smooth and light, while on the other hand, languages known to being rough and abrupt. The manner in which speakers pronounce and communicate using words, phrases and hand gesture also has a way in building the personality of the language. Furthermore, whilst a speaker pronounces words and letters that are in the non-speaker opinion rigid and tough, an image of a solid language is created in the observing non-speaker mind. Personally, listening to Hindi dialects, I myself seem to find it challenging to pronounce specific words, and an image of complexity forms in my mind. During dialect comparison, we realize that pronunciation is vulnerable to criticism and satire. Comedians during criticizing a specific group usually imitate the dialect to refer to their identity. Thus when they criticize the language they mean it to the group and their specialized behavior.
Accent reduction schemes work on the basis that regional dialect will be viewed negatively in workplace and attempt to change or completely change the way in which someone speaks. Evidence contradicts this as some regional accents can evoke a positive response and can be an asset in some
One of the main factors that affects our understanding of the language is one’s regional accent. Although most words and phrases will be comprehensible some phonetics may have changed so much that all we can do is hope that the context of what has been said makes sense in order for us to ‘fill in the gaps’.
The article “A person’s Accent Can Change Your Perception of What He Is Saying” by Alice Robb was very interesting. The title of the article says it all. I agree with the author statement in the article “listening to a voice with a foreign accent can prime people to see a situation according to the values of foreign culture. The Chinese-English speakers voices seemed low, soft, scared, and did not stand out as independent, therefore when I looked at the picture of the fishes it made me think the group of fishes were chasing the single fish that was swimming ahead. Once I listened to the American-English speakers the voice sounded more at a higher pinch, strong clear, and independent, which made me looked at the picture differently than when
Anas has known English for as long as he can remember and was taught British English as a young boy in an English school in Karachi. From the beginning in what would be the American equivalent of preschool, Anas attended a school that used almost exclusively English. Anas remembers all of his books being in English as a child and all of his teachers taught in English. While his speech is easy to perceive as foreign, it is not difficult to understand. When asked if he thinks he has a strong accent, he does not believe his accent is very strong. However he mentions that while working at the UT Dallas Visitor Center, many people ask him to repeat directions. Anas’ accent can hinder his communication, but he reports that usually after repeating his directions they understand.
For the question about is there a type of English that we seem to recognize as “accentless”, the answer is no.
It is so fantastic to see how people use different languages to create one that it has a little bit of everything. Hawaiian people must be able to understand all the languages that give birth to the hawaiian pidgin and after the hawaiian creole. While watching the video about the voice of Hawaii it came to my mind the word accent. Many people that come from other countries and start learning a specific language that is not their native language, tend to have accents. Hawaiian people sounded like english with an
The semester observation session I was assigned was focused on accent reduction. This client had difficulty using “th”,
Tone, engages your audience in an inviting manner that makes them willing to hear your message. Therefore, tone, is everything when we interact with others. In our everyday lives, our tone shifts several times throughout our day. We speak to everyone, in different rhetorical situations in a certain kind of tone. You would not speak to your parents, grandparents, or even just your boss, the way that you would speak to your younger siblings, or perhaps, even your enemy. Many people question why our tone changes, why we can’t just be our true selves ALL THE TIME! The reality is, we have to hold a certain level of respect to ourselves, and know the authority or position in society that others around us have obtained.
The information that I paid close attention to was the way things are being said and a person body language. Not only do I have to notice to what someone is saying but also their body language. At times, body language can be just as important as spoken communication. An individual mouth may say one thing, but their face expressions, posture, eye movement, and gestures may say an entire different thing. The tone a person makes a statement can also have an effect of the meaning of the
Although English is the official language of Australia, Australia's multicultural society has created many subcategories of Australian English. It can be broke down to different groups based on the ethno-cultural groups such as Lebanese English or Greek English as well as Indigenous English. However, Australian accents comprehensively were separated into broad, general, and cultivated varieties (ABC, 2016). General accent represent the most common accents and it is natural and less strong. Conversely, Broad accents are correlated with working-class speech and are quite strong, but cultivated accents are partly close to British English.
An accent refers to the sounds that are present in a person’s language, while variety is a version of a English that is special to a particular region or area. Aboriginal Australians have their very own variety of English known as Aboriginal English. This involves its own names and characters as well as rules of grammar.
Listening is a vital element of communication and it is very much different from hearing sense of human. A meaningful communication requires both a good listener and a speaker. However, the effect of a listening style may vary depending on the occasions and situations a listener is in. Sometimes, speaker exhibit ineffective style such as defensiveness, ambushing, pseudo-listening, stage hogging and selective listening in their communication tracks.
Students may have pronunciation difficulties with linking of ‘should go’ / / as the vowel sound turns from strong to weak when linked to other words. (Ph)