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Gregor · Joined: 06 Jan 2005 Posts: 842 Location: Jakarta, Indonesia

This topic came up in the non-job related board.
Do you think that it's important to be consistant in your use of English in the classroom regarding the dialect you use (stick consistently to the grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and any other differences that come up), or is it OK (even preferable?) to mix and match?

I encountered one American teacher on a thread and have encountered a few British and Australian teachers in real life who adamantly stick to and insist on the standard that they grew up with.

While I see the point, and while I'd be the first to admit that my own approach is lazy, I would disagree with that attitude. I mix them up myself quite a lot these days, having had much more exposure to British English than American (I'm from the U.S.). Also, the students themselves are getting mixed signals. They can watch British or American TV or movies, and many American movies feature British actors using British English with absolutely no trouble between the two forms. Their (mostly Chinese) teachers have the two hopelessly mixed up, anyway.
I think that if a lot of native teachers were to do what I do and mix them up like this, eventually what might emerge (in another 1 or 2 hundred years) is a true International dialect.
But I digress. As for the classroom now, what do you think? Try to maintain the integrity of your dialect or let them mix (in the context of teaching English in a foreign country, NOT teaching in Britain, the U.S. or something like that - this is STRICTLY for teaching in, say, China)?

P-T · Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 10:29 am Post subject:

Though I don't mix 'n' match myself, I don't correct my students either. I really don't think it matters as long as it's English they're speaking & writing.
Neither lazy nor pedantic, it's just accepting the inevitable. And besides, I find there are much more important issues to address.

LeiShan · Joined: 13 Sep 2005 Posts: 41

I don't give a flip if they call it a truck or a lorry, garbage or trash, etc. However, as I teach high schoolers preparing for the University Entrance Exam, I do make sure they know the answer the test maker wants.

Girl Scout · Joined: 13 Jan 2005 Posts: 525 Location: Inbetween worlds

They are going to encounter people who use many different dialects. They need to be prepared to understand and do business with people who come from many different countries. I think they need to be exposed to a variety of dialects.

I currently mix and match in my classes.

yamahuh · Joined: 23 Apr 2004 Posts: 1033 Location: Karaoke Hell

Having spent 17 years in England and 22 in Canada I can't even keep them straight myself. I definitely mix 'n' match. I spell colour, honour and favourite with the 'u' but I call rubbish 'garbage' and say kilOmetre instead of kilometer.Case in point was today where, coincidentally, I was teaching a class these exact same distinctions.
The fact is that FT's come and go in these kids' lives, the next one could be from Australia, America, England ..who knows? So basically I tell the kids that however they want to pronounce the words is fine. They can use British English or N.American English vocabulary or pronunciation as long as it's clear, understandable and is unmistakably English; regardless of accents or geographical variations.

Don McChesney · Joined: 25 Jun 2005 Posts: 656

I find that for some reason my students either speak with an American accent, or a British one, and each prefers the one they use.
I don't fully understand why this is so, but in teaching, I use both spellings and word differences, and try to get them to understand, if they like the American spelling/words, use them consistantly, and the same for the Brit/English ones.
I prefer they learn both styles, but to try to be consistant with them.

tw · Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 3898

I tell my students variations in pronounciation, e.g. "hot", as well as different terminologies, e.g. "elementary school" and "high school" (American) vs "primary school" and "middle school" (British).

bubblebubble · Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2005 3:49 am Post subject:

exposure is important and i do tend to mix them up. of course, i'll highlight the differences. the students seems to enjoy it. for good ice-breakers, it's always fun to draw comparisions between British and American English... students enjoy it and do try to speak in different accent.

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

I don't go out of my way to teach "British" English because I'm not, well, British. I never use the word "lift" or "lorry" in my daily conversations and I'm certainly not well-versed in British idioms.

I made a point in a different thread several weeks ago, so I'll repeat it: There are certain "set" words for objects or actions in our lives. An elevator is really an elevator and "lift" is just a local slang for it. If you look in a Webster dictionary under "lift", are you going to find the definition of an elevator? I haven't checked, but I'm guessing not. My advice is to be up on local slang words if you come across them in your teaching materials and point out these words to your students while reinforcing the actual word in which they refer:

"In your reading, students, you come across the word 'lift'. This is a common British expression for ELEVATOR. A 'lift' or ELEVATOR is the enclosure you get into, press a button for the floor you want to go to, and it takes you there." (and then teach them proper manners on waiting until the elevator is empty before trying to cram onto it!).

Babala · Joined: 28 Jan 2005 Posts: 1303 Location: Henan

yamahuh,
Sorry I had to say this but Canadians also spell colour, honour etc.. with a u. It's Americans that do not.

Don McChesney · Joined: 25 Jun 2005 Posts: 656

I've often wondered what you call a 'lift' or 'elevator' that is going down'
A 'descender' or a 'lower'. ? To descend in an elevator is an oxymoron.
What about an escalator, surely not a de-escalator!!

nolefan · Joined: 14 Jan 2004 Posts: 1458 Location: on the run

I tend to focus on fluency. I don't really care about the accents or the lingo as long as the students can express themselves.

For the advanced levels, I tend to be a bit more anal-retentive and I'll ask of them to express the same thing/feeling in multiple ways.

yamahuh · Joined: 23 Apr 2004 Posts: 1033 Location: Karaoke Hell

shenyanggerry · Joined: 02 Nov 2003 Posts: 619 Location: Canada

I tell my Ss that the difference between the prestige accents of Britain and America are much less than the variations in regional dialects. A person with a 'good' British accent will always be understood. So will a person with a 'good' American one.

I then tell them the difficulties I had trying to understand the shop steward from the plasterer's union that I'd struck up a conversation with in a pub in Edinburgh, Scotland.

JDYoung · Joined: 21 Apr 2003 Posts: 157 Location: Dongbei

I tell them they are all to learn Canadian English as we speak a mixture of British and USA. Actually, I try to point out anything particular that they may need to know if they are planning to study in a particular country and I have any knowledge that may help them.

Did a wonderful English Corner once on the differences between Canada and the USA with an American teacher. The audience loved it when we got into an intense discussion of "To u or not to u" in favourite and the difference, if any, between check and cheque.