When using an authentic audio or video it is important to use only ‘native speakers'.
Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons.
When I was 16 years old (and that was a long time ago:-) I travelled to the USA for the first time. I lived in Florida with a host family for two months during the summer. At school I had only heard my teacher speaking "British English", we only heard "British English tapes" (yes, tapes!) and our book only had British people in it. Well... the first week was a nightmare. I had good grades at school, I was one of the best students and I felt as if I knew nothing of English. I could not understand a single word, I remember just nodding and not having the slightest idea of what they were telling me. Eventually, the situation slowly changed and I started to understand things. But the end of the summer my study vacation in the USA was the best experience I had ever had in my life. When I got back to school in September my teacher wondered what had happened to me, because I had an "American accent" and I guess she did not really like it. The reason why I am telling this story out of my own experience is because that was the moment, when I was 16, when I realised that the English language had different features. Yes, it was still the same language, but people spoke English with different accents and even used different words for the same things (I remember asking to HAVE A SHOWER and my American host mum asked me where I wanted to take it- thinking I wanted to buy a shower to take back to Italy). When I became a teacher I remembered those years and I remembered how I felt. So I decided not to make the same mistake with my students. I chose to teach them English and expose them to as many accents and as many different people as possible. At school they have me as their primary English teacher, then they have a teacher from London and one from America for conversation. Last year we welcomed volounteers from Sri Lanka and this year from Australia. At school we invited people from other countries and asked them to talk about their life and experience and do it in English. I would love for my students to learn a language and be able to understand it and speak it everywhere, no matter where they are or who they are talking to.
It is a great story. And it could have happened in my childhood, too :) You seem to be lucky to be working in an environment of like-minded professionals who share the belief that there is so much more to learning the English language than learning to pronounce and understand RP.
ReplyDeleteWhat an important story - thanks a lot for sharing it! I learned English the same way - and it wasn't until the 80's, I think, that an American accent was accepted in school - and then you had to use it always and consistently. Now students are judged by their ability to communicate clearly in whatever accent they have got.
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing story! That reminds me of my personal experience when I travelled to Liverpool. It was my first time visiting England.. Well, I remember having a similar nightmare! I couldn't understand a thing because in Liverpool speak with this beautiful Scouse accent. If it never happened to be exposed to it's sounds there would be no way to understand the locals (at least in the beginning..) I think that those experiences help us become better teachers!
ReplyDeleteGreat story, and interesting to hear how your own experience has influenced your teaching. It's true for native speakers listening to other native speakers as well, my mum, who's British, sometimes has real difficulty understanding American TV shows - she tried to watch The Wire but had to give up because she couldn't follow what they were saying.
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