Recently on a forum for teachers of English as a foreign or second language, one person had this to say about accents.
Why would you want to reduce accent? Accent
is good. It reflects differences in culture, background etc. Why would anyone
want all English speakers to sound like people of Mexican ancestry? I understand
that pretty soon, the majority of Americans will be of Hispanic origin. However,
we should still preserve the Midwest accent,
the New York/New Jersey accent, the Bostonian accent, the Southern accent and all
other accents. As long as people can understand each other, it is good. If some
cannot understand accents beyond a very restricted region, we should work on training
them to understand a multitude of accents as well as other languages.
and this
Proper enunciation and accent reduction are different things. The
former relates to intelligibility, the later refers to elimination of
cultural traits. Talking about accent reduction gives students the
idea that their cultural group doesn't' speak properly.
I do not agree and had the following to say.
Very few language learners do not want to emulate the pronunciation of
some native speaker group. That is the model, whether it is achieved or
not. Very few native speakers of a language do not react more
positively, at least initially, to a person speaking in a familiar or
native accent, even though in time this initial impression can be
overcome.
So it is not necessarily helpful to pretend that learners do
not want to reduce their accent nor that it is unimportant. It is
useful to tell learners that they should not be unduly preoccupied
about their accent, but to suggest that it does not matter is not, in
my view, a good idea.
One of the best ways to reduce an accent is to listen
repeatedly to a limited amount of content. Repeating along, with an
emphasis on rhythm and intonation is particularly helpful. It can also
be helpful to memorize short paragraphs and repeat them often.And of
course it is important to relax and not worry about one's accent even
as we try to improve.
I
am not American, but If and when people with Hispanic ancestry become
the majority in the US, most of them will likely speak English with the
same accent as their neighbours and fellow citizens of other different
ancestries.
I find that this politically correct attitude "your accent is part of your culture" is patronizing towards new citizens of the United States who are trying to speak like everyone else. I know that I make mistakes of grammar and of pronunciation when I speak another language. I does not bother me. However, I do not pretend that my incorrect way of speaking is just " a cultural trait". To speak like a native is still the ideal, even though I cannot achieve it. Speaking the way I do is not a "cultural trait". I do not believe that those people who speak another language well are less able to represent their own culture. I believe this is just another example of politically correct "feel good" nonsense.
Interestingly the vast majority of English teachers responded to this original post by strongly agreeing. No wonder the immigrants do so poorly.