Accent and empathy

A recent study in Israel seems to indicate that how we feel about the speakers of a language, or the culture, will influence our accent. The article talks about our language ego as a factor that limits our ability to imitate another accent.

I have always felt this to be the case. To learn a language is to imitate some of the behaviour of another group. You have to act as if you are one of them. I know that I do. As I said in my book, when I speak Chinese I see myself as Chinese, when I speak French I am French etc.

Now, if I did not  like the Chinese or the French or whomever, I would resist imitating their behaviour. I do not like them all, nor do I have to like everything about them but I have to find something to like. I have to want to join their group and be one of them. I have to see that as a desirable and worthwhile thing to do.

If I felt that my own linguistic or cultural identity was important to me, so important that I could not leave it, even temporarily, I would subconsciously assume that I could not imitate another accent, and would not really try.

It is not enough to practice making certain sounds. You have to dive into the role of being someone else. You have to feel comfortable doing it. That means not translating comfortable sayings, and turns of phrase from your own language. It means forgetting who you are, linguistically and culturally. No one is interested. 

Every time I hear someone say, "we (nationality) have trouble speaking English", I know that person is just talking about  him or herself.

Comments

[Daniel Reiter]

Very good blog Steve. I would also like to add that I think speaking in a good accent is a matter of showing respect for the language.

[Steve Kaufmann]

Daniel, I prefer empathy. It is possible to respect a culture and not like it. It is rarer to like a culture and not respect it. Language learning needs to engage the emotions. We need to like the language we are learning. Respect is really not what it is about.

[Meathead Jones]

Steve said: "To learn a language is to imitate some of the behaviour of another group. You have to act as if you are one of them."
---

True.

And let me just say: if I ever do learn Spanish, I'm going to act as if I were MEXICAN.

[chris/blindside70]

I don't get it. I also don't get why you felt the need to capitalize Mexican.

[John Fotheringham]

This is an extremely important (and often overlooked) component of mastering a foreign tongue. The impact of one's ego on language learning (or any skill-based endeavor for that matter) is huge. Most foreign language learners fail because they are afraid of making mistakes, afraid of being considered a failure, and afraid of losing their identity; all 3 of these are products of the ego.

[Mark Chapman]

This is something I've noticed many times over the years. And I agree completely with John Fotheringham's comment on ego.

[Meathead Jones]

Chris said: "I don't get it. I also don't get why you felt the need to capitalize Mexican."
---

LOL. Of course, if you got the second part then maybe the first part would also cease to befuddle your brain?

Doh. That is so often the way, isn't it?

[Alex Case]

I was going to leave a comment on the last post asking for more pieces based on research and here is one without even having to ask (although it would be nice to have some straight from SLA and linguistics journals too, made understandable for us obviously)

The most interesting case is English. As English increasingly has no connection to native speakers will that limit people's attempts to perfect their language (or indeed make such a thing impossible with no obvious model to aim towards), or will a internationalist and proficient non native speakers serve as even better models (as they are more copiable)? There should also be less resistance to English once its connection to hated nationalities (by some people) has faded away.

Personally, I have also found the native speaker model (or at least taking an interest in the cultural products of a particular nationality or nationalities with things in common) useful in my later language studies and I think it has a major role to play for most higher level learners of English. To give just one example, how is it possible to make high level classes interesting without slang and other idioms, and how can you include those without some basis on native speakers.

This is presently one of the most controversial issues in English teaching, and is likely to become even more so.

[Mitch]

Steve,

I think motivation is more important than empathy. I've used this example before: There were prisoners of war and camp inmates who learned German well enough to pass as natives after escape. They probably had zero empathy for their hated guards, but their motivation was incredible--survival. The same goes for spies.

I think that motivation (and that can be empathy or any number of factors) trumps everything.

[Street-Smart Language Learning]

The study sounds like an interesting lead, but hardly convincing at this point. My full thoughts are here.

[Milan]

It's easy to say than do. I have tried so hard to speak Cantonese with the best local accent I can do. I haven't spoken English in years, nor do I watch English TV. However, no matter how much listening and speaking I do, I still sound foreign.

I see myself as 100% local Hong Kong person. So much that I even think of myself as a Chinese man. Though I sound 100% foreigner even after saying 1 word :(

[Steve Kaufmann]

Alex, In my experience, most people studying English use native speakers as their model. On the other hand I am not a fan of teaching slang, in any language, since it is hard for a non-native speaker to use appropriately.

Mitch, I agree about motivation, but a motivation based on liking some aspects of the culture is usually stronger than the motivation of wanting a better job or wanting to pass a test. The prisoner of war situation is a little special. I still think those prisoners had to see themselves as Germans to achieve their goal.

Milan, I have heard you in Cantonese and you are awesome. The empathy or willingness to see yourself as one of "them" does not mean that you will achieve native like fluency, just that you will do very well, and you do. I never aspire to perfection, and so am never disappointed.

[Kevin Geoghegan]

- Every time I hear someone say, "we (nationality) have trouble speaking English", I know that person is just talking about him or herself.

Well I wouldn't agree with that entirely. There does seem to be pronunciation difficulties that are nationwide. For instance, it's well known (and the subject of many jokes) that the Japanese and Chinese have difficulty telling the difference between 'l' and 'r' in English. I agree with the language ego theory, but I still think that careful listening to (lots of) native speakers is the most crucial factor in achieving a good accent.

[Alex Case]

"I think motivation is more important than empathy"

I was thinking, but forgot to write in my overlong previous comment, that empathy could just be seen as a type of or element of motivation

"I am not a fan of teaching slang, in any language, since it is hard for a non-native speaker to use appropriately"

hardly seems worth studying Spanish past a certain point if you don't learn how to swear!

[Igor]

The development of a good accent

It is true that studies of immigrant children show that those who begin second language acquisition before puberty tend to develop native accents and those who start later typically do not. It is also true, however, that many who start later develop excellent accents, very close to native, and many who start foreign languages young do not. For example, "heritage language" speakers, those who speak a minority language at home (e.g. American-born Chinese living in the US) often speak the heritage language with an accent, even though they have been hearing it and speaking it their entire lives. In addition to age, another variable appears to be at work, what Smith (1988) calls "club membership": we acquire the accents of the group we feel we are a member of, or feel we can join. This explains why children do not talk exactly the way their parents talk - they talk the way their friends talk. (Accent may be a result of a reluctance to talk in a certain way, not a lack of competence. For speculation, see Krashen, 2003.)

from
Dealing with English Fever

Stephen Krashen
In: Selected Papers from the Twelfth International Symposium on English Teaching. English Teachers' Association/ROC, Taipei. (2003)
Taipei: Crane Publishing Company. pp. 100-108.

[Igor]

Yeaaah, we can use HTML tags in the text!
Like it like it like it like it like it

[~H]

Steve, great blog entry. I agree. This was probably one of the hardest things I've had to overcome as a beginner.

You don't even have to dislike a culture. In fact, you might like it. It's still quite easy to think of yourself (or them) as an outsider. I've realized that learning a foreign language is something very intimate. New words gradually become a part of you. In some cases, it might even influence your way of thinking. You have to come to terms with that and be comfortable with it.

I think also, you can't be afraid of commitment. You have to be willing to think of the new language as something you'll have with you for the rest of your life.

[Anglu Kalbos]

I totally agree. At the time some Ukrainian people was thinking I am Ukrainian. But I'm not. I just imitated what I heard :)