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mangotango
Joined: 24 Apr 2015
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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 3:52 am Post subject: Discrimination towards accents |
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Hello everyone! I posted this in the general discussion but thought I would post it here, too.
I am from the North of England and have been teaching in Korea for a while.
I am wondering if anyone has, or knows of anyone who has been discriminated against within an EFL environment because of their accent? And what the preference seems to be? |
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happyinhenan
Joined: 01 Feb 2015
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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 3:20 pm Post subject: |
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Yes. I find Americans make a big deal out of it as well and never Canadians in my experience.
Koreans find any English accent outside the one Tom Hanks speaks a challenge.
With accents, you just need to change the words more than the accent for that is what confuses people 'mithering/bothering' for example, students attune to the accents after awhile and it is good that they do because all learners need to attune to as many accents as possible in regards their target language.
The preference depends where you go in the world, some places don't have a preference but the Koreans certainly do. Nothing wrong with that as there are places where the learners prefer British accents - Russia is one such place. |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 3:28 pm Post subject: |
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It's mostly about the speed you talk and the words you use. I knew a guy from Glasgow who I struggled to understand outside the classroom but he never had any problems while teaching. |
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Sector7G
Joined: 24 May 2008
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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 3:48 pm Post subject: |
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happyinhenan wrote: |
Yes. I find Americans make a big deal out of it as well and never Canadians in my experience.
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Just curious - in what way do Americans "make a big deal" out of it? Do you mean that they brag about it?
Anyway, I would think that by now preferences would be sorted out in the hiring process. I doubt that a school would hire someone with a UK passport, and then be surprised and/or disappointed that he spoke with a British accent once he got to Korea. |
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happyinhenan
Joined: 01 Feb 2015
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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 8:23 pm Post subject: |
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Sector7G wrote: |
Yes. I find Americans make a big deal out of it as well and never Canadians in my experience.
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Just curious - in what way do Americans "make a big deal" out of it? Do you mean that they brag about it?[/quote]
Some do and some don't. I find that a fair number of Americans will comment on something they have seen on British TV 'Oh yeah, I didn't understand a word they said on Eastenders on BBC America' or they will nod like a simpleton and exclude you out of the conversation - I think that is more of an 'arsehole' attribute than them being American - some Americans are fine with accents other than their own.
Some Brits can be arsey about other British accents, especially the ones who think they are a cut above. A Brit will have you boxed off within five seconds of opening your mouth if you are a fellow countryman. It isn't just Americans - Irish, Kiwis, Aussies, South Africans and Canadians - never had a problem. |
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isitts
Joined: 25 Dec 2008 Location: Korea
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Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 11:10 pm Post subject: |
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happyinhenan wrote: |
Koreans find any English accent outside the one Tom Hanks speaks a challenge. |
"Jenn-ay." |
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Sector7G
Joined: 24 May 2008
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 5:12 am Post subject: |
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isitts wrote: |
happyinhenan wrote: |
Koreans find any English accent outside the one Tom Hanks speaks a challenge. |
"Jenn-ay." |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 5:47 am Post subject: |
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A Canadian wrote: |
I find Americans make a big deal out of it as well and never Canadians in my experience. |
Yes. Canadians are so much more polite than Americans and the way they manifest this is by letting everyone know they are more cultured and well mannered than their neighbors to the south. This is a kind and wise thing to do. Telling others of their faults will let them know what they are doing wrong so they can improve. |
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happyinhenan
Joined: 01 Feb 2015
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 7:20 am Post subject: |
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World Traveler wrote: |
A Canadian wrote: |
I find Americans make a big deal out of it as well and never Canadians in my experience. |
Yes. Canadians are so much more polite than Americans and the way they manifest this is by letting everyone know they are more cultured and well mannered than their neighbors to the south. This is a kind and wise thing to do. Telling others of their faults will let them know what they are doing wrong so they can improve. |
I am not Canadian, I am British.
Who is saying they are more polite, all that is being said is that Canadians don't melt down when they meet someone who doesn't speak with a 'neutral accent' and you never hear a Canadian say they 'don't have an accent' and you folks bang on about Koreans referring to everyone being a 'foreigner' even when abroad.
There are loads of Canadian jerkoffs as well as British - and yes, Americans too. Most of my mates in TEFL have been American but a lot of Americans I have met have been imbecilic beyond all reason. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 7:29 am Post subject: |
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Wow. Canadians are more polite (in this area). |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 7:35 am Post subject: |
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OK, enough of me commenting on Canadians as if they are overly nationalistic and / or indirectly bragging while pretending to be humble. It just gets on my nerves to listen to Canadians talk about how they are more cultured and more open mined than Americans (because that statement in itself is bigoted). And now I am doing it myself. Since no Canadian on Dave's has done that lately, I should shut up. My apologies everyone. There are good and bad people in every country. There are loads of good guys in Saudi Arabia I'm sure (even though from looking on the outside the culture sucks). I'm going to try to not be such a jerk from now on. (It's just a reaction to the d-baggery I've encountered from Canadians, but I shouldn't generalize.) There are loads of cool Canadians as well. I / we shouldn't make an issue out one's citizenship. |
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isitts
Joined: 25 Dec 2008 Location: Korea
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 8:05 pm Post subject: |
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happyinhenan wrote: |
Koreans find any English accent outside the one Tom Hanks speaks a challenge. |
He must have dropped his California accent and picked up a Midwestern accent so he could be better understood. |
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ToySurprise
Joined: 11 Apr 2015
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 8:11 pm Post subject: |
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As for previous comments, I'm from the U.S. I don't think everyone else has an accent and that I somehow lack an accent - far from it.
I don't make a 'big deal' out of my way of speaking, or anyone else's way of speaking, for that matter.
I tend to listen to what people say, not how they say it.
Almost all of my friends from the U.S. also think this way. I know very few who think otherwise, especially among my educated friends who have traveled... of which, thankfully, there are quite a few.
Yes, there are idiots in the U.S., and we avoid them, as any sane people do; or maybe we just recognize they haven't had the opportunity to widen their view yet. Perhaps they could broaden if they had the right opportunities.
As was mentioned (and, really, should we even have to say this anymore on this site?), ignorance is not geographically specific, no matter how much we'd like our preconceptions and prejudices to be validated by one or a dozen limited examples and anecdotes.
As for the OP's comment, I do think some Korean employers (though, of course, not all) tend to discriminate against some people from the U.K. based on how they speak. You see it in the preferences placed in the ads sometimes.
I've seen with my own eyes that people from northern England, Scotland, and Ireland with stronger accents are perhaps discriminated against on occasion, more so than people from southern England, the U.S., Australia or Canada.
Of course, I don't think it's fair or useful for schools to do this. The ideal English program in my mind would teach a variety of dialects and accents, not just one supposedly "neutral" English, whatever that means. This goes without saying. |
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isitts
Joined: 25 Dec 2008 Location: Korea
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 8:23 pm Post subject: |
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happyinhenan wrote: |
Koreans find any English accent outside the one Tom Hanks speaks a challenge. |
That's just a rope o'smoke. Old Uns got the Smart. They mastered sick and seeds, they make miracles and fly across the sky. |
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happyinhenan
Joined: 01 Feb 2015
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 8:31 pm Post subject: |
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isitts wrote: |
happyinhenan wrote: |
Koreans find any English accent outside the one Tom Hanks speaks a challenge. |
He must have dropped his California accent and picked up a Midwestern accent so he could be better understood. |
Did you look up the works of David Crystal?
Send him an email about your claim that the Midwestern accent is 'mythical'
He will be interested in your findings. |
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