Job Discussion Forums

TeresaLopez · Joined: 18 Apr 2010 Posts: 601 Location: Mexico City

I beg to differ with whoever said she won't be able to tell the American, British or Australian accents apart. This is one of the biggest problems my Intermediate students have - especially the Australian accent. If she is going to the US, I would focus on US English. Even though the TOEFL is for university programs, it is pretty well know universally - far more than the British tests. I wonder why she thinks she needs it, though, it will be pretty obvious in a job interview that she either does or doesn't speak English. Depending on the kind of job she wants, and where she is living, English might not even be needed, and being Bi-lingual might be what gets her the job, not the fact that she speaks English. Do you know what kind of job she is going to be looking for? And where she is going to be living? Personally, I think teaching her to recognize accents she won't likely encounter has the potential to confuse her more than anything.

Isla Guapa · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 7:40 pm Post subject:

Thanks for your post, Teresa. I�ll bet the Australian accent is the most difficult for your students because most likely they've never heard it in person or in movies or on TV. Is their problem telling the accents apart or actually understanding them?

My student now has an IT job in Mexico which requires her to use English on the phone constantly with her bosses in the U.S. I imagine that she expects to find a similar job when she eventually joins her novio in the U.S.

johnslat · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 7:50 pm Post subject:

Dear Sasha,

Has anyone ever made a parody of these tests?

Jose: �Ay, caramba! - this water, she is so cold, so fast. Can you see Texas yet?

Juan: Si, don't be such a sacat�n, Jose. Keep swimming. We must get to the other side before the Border Patrol comes.

Where did this conversation probably take place?

A. In an English as a Second Language class

B. South of the border, down Mexico way

C. In a bathtub

D. Getting their kicks on Route 66

What does Juan imply?

A. That the eyes of Texas are upon them

B. That Jose needs to grow a set

C. That they have an appointment with the Border Patrol

D. That the US immigration laws need to be reformed.

Regards,
John

Sashadroogie · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 7:56 pm Post subject:

Dear TeresaLopez

I was the poster who said that students usually can't tell the accents apart and I stand by that. True, test-takers can have listening comprehension problems, but that is, more often than not, due to limited vocabulary or grammar structure, especially at Int levels and lower. The effects of accent are minimal, especially if the test-takers have taken a test-preparation course beforehand. The accents in test materials are never extreme. In point of fact, I'd say it is students' teachers who usually find it hard to cope with the shock of, gasp!, a non-American accent. The students usually do fine. They don't need to recognise accents - just to understand what is being said, by whomever.

And to say that TOEFL is universally far more well-know_ than "British" tests is to assume that what may be true in the Americas also holds true in the rest of the world.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 7:59 pm Post subject:

Isla Guapa · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 8:34 pm Post subject:

johnslat · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 8:45 pm Post subject:

"TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) is the most widely used international test of English skills, with 4 million test takers world wide. TOEIC measures the ability to answer multiple-choice questions after reading and listening to English. The TOEIC test was developed by ETS, the same firm that developed the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). TOEIC is used mostly by corporations and is particularly popular in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. It is growing in popularity in Europe and elsewhere. TOEIC has the advantage of being inexpensive, objective and fast. It is reasonably accurate.

TOEFL is used to test university students and covers a wider range of vocabulary than TOEIC. TOEFL has multiple-choice questions similar to TOEIC, but also tests writing and speaking ability. This means that TOEFL takes longer to write and to correct and therefore is more expensive. The evaluation of writing and speaking adds an additional dimension to the TOEFL English expression, but makes the test more subjective. IELTS, put out by Cambridge University in the United Kingdom is similar to TOEFL in scope and method."

http://www.thelinguist.com/en/en/library/item/20614/

Sashadroogie · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 8:56 pm Post subject:

johnslat · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 9:51 pm Post subject:

Dear Sasha,

Well, there ARE Tasmanian devils down there.

G'day, mate,
John

Sashadroogie · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:23 pm Post subject:

Dear Johnslat

Fair dinkum matey, but they are almost extinct.

Isla Guapa · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:58 pm Post subject:

TeresaLopez · Joined: 18 Apr 2010 Posts: 601 Location: Mexico City

TeresaLopez · Joined: 18 Apr 2010 Posts: 601 Location: Mexico City

Demonized? I don't think anyone did that. I want and expect my students to be able to understand a variety of accents, just as a native speaker would. I don't know why it is assumed that I am American, I am Mexican/Irish. And just for the record, I LOVE Australians, I just can't understand them sometimes. I also can't understand people from South Carolina, or Cajuns. I don't think they are demons either.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 7:40 am Post subject:

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Teresa seems to be saying that she has no accent but the people on BBC do ! Something strange there.