Return-Path: <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id i2BFwsI13566; Thu, 11 Mar 2004 10:58:54 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 10:58:54 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <00a801c40783$de00ef90$6401a8c0@pp200> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Dottie Shattuck" <dottie@shattuck.net> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-ESL:10007] Re: Fw: Diversity in staffing X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1158 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 2793 Lines: 74 I can't resist asking -- what is the "correct" accent? Maine, S. Carolina. Ohio, W. Texas, Boston, etc (in the US) or 1 of the UK's various "English accents"? __ | \ |__ / ottie dottie@shattuck.net ----- Original Message ----- From: <ttweeton@comcast.net> To: "Multiple recipients of list" <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2004 10:09 AM Subject: [NIFL-ESL:10006] Re: Fw: Diversity in staffing | Why then is it so essential to have native speakers of | English perceived as being the most valid teachers of | the language? On what grounds | | A correct accent is essential in my opinion to teach any language.I have a friend who teaches ESOL with a very heavy Spanish accent, She is not clearly intelligible in her pronunciation and her emphasis is on the wrong syllable many times. I, my self, wouldn't want to learn a language from someone who wasn't a native if I had the choice. | Tanya Tweeton GED and ESOL | Fort Lauderdale, Florida | > Maria, | > | > Thanks again for another sensitive and well thought | > out response. I was taught English in India. I grew up | > speaking English, Hindi and Marathi (and understanding | > Punjabi, Gujarati and Malvani) almost simultaneously. | > And as Americans have pointed out, I *DO* have an | > accent. An Indian accent from western India, and a | > strong British pronunciation. Everyone has an accent. | > | > ESOL for me is similar to the FLE classes my son had | > to take when he started school last year in France, | > which is Francais Langue Etrangere, or French as a | > Foreign Language. What matters is communication. The | > difference between high school language lessons and | > ESOL to me is the difference between learning Language | > as a subject (and thus no real emphasis on speaking or | > communicating or learning the living spoken language) | > and learning a spoken living language. ESOL to me, | > represents the latter. We hear this all the time, "I | > had five years of Spanish/German/French in school and | > still can't speak it." That to me is a subject. And | > more often than not, we are taught this by non-native | > speakers of the language. | > | > Why then is it so essential to have native speakers of | > English perceived as being the most valid teachers of | > the language? On what grounds? Seems more of a | > sociopolitical thing to me, rather than something | > based on research or inquiry. Should it not be mastery | > of the language and the ability to teach it well be | > the reason we hire teachers? | > | > regards, | > Ujwala Samant | > | > Director | > Learning for Life UK | > | > | > | > | > | > __________________________________ | > Do you Yahoo!? | > Yahoo! Search - Find what you’re looking for faster | > http://search.yahoo.com | |
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