Banter Speech & Language

Sydney speech pathologists helping adults and children speak for themselves.

Accent

Embrace your accent and speak clearly – lessons from a Global Investment Bank

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We use the term “accent” in at least a couple of ways:

  • the sounds and pronunciation used by a “native” to speak their first language, e.g. when we say that someone from Sydney is speaking English with a broad Australian accent; or
  • the way a non-native speaker pronounces a second language, e.g. when we remark that a man at the post office in Melbourne is speaking English with a very thick French (or Chinese, or Spanish) accent.

As we’ve said before, everyone has an accent, and – despite what some people might have told you at school – none are inherently better than any other.  But different accents of English provide us with a source of endless anxiety and debate.  For example, consider:

  • this report about New Zealand kids picking up American accents from watching too much US television;
  • the well-known phenomenon whereby some Australians “put on” fake English accents on arrival from England (the so-called “Heathrow Accent”);
  • the controversy about Meryl Streep’s Evil Angels;

  • the thousands of videos and blogs on the web decrying and celebrating regional accents, often comparing them unfavourably with standard British or US English.

What these examples prove is that many people are both: (1) sensitive, even defensive, about their own accents – treating them as a crucial part of their individual and national identity; and (2) easily amused by others’ accents.  Accent bashing is kind of like the old saying: it’s a tragedy when it happens to me, and a comedy when it happens to you.

When I worked for a US Investment Bank in Hong Kong, I loved listening to all the different accents swirling around me.  I remember on a global compliance call, once, we had people from Mumbai, Beijing, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Cleveland, Dallas, Boston, Sydney, Auckland, Dublin, Barcelona, Paris, Tokyo, London, Dublin, Frankfurt and the Netherlands.

We all spoke to each other in English.  And, because we were used to talking to people from other countries with different dialects of English and accents, we all made allowances to help each other out.  For example:

  • we spoke a little more slowly, with pauses between sentences;
  • we spoke a little more loudly than normal to overcome the background noise and to increase the clarity of our speech;
  • we emphasised key words by stressing them, and repeating main points; and
  • we supplemented our discussion with written materials and illustrations.

Not once did it cross anyone’s mind to change their accent to “match” anyone elses.  But every single speaker made some changes to the way they normally spoke to make themselves understood.

Some professionals working for multinational companies and expats who’ve just arrived in an English-speaking country like Australia need some help to learn how to “internationalise” their English when talking to locals and others from different backgrounds.  If you are concerned that your accent (or dialect) is getting in the way of your work or social life, we can help you.  But we’ll respect your accent and won’t try to change who you are!

Related articles:

Image: http://tinyurl.com/lx7qltz

Banter Speech & Language Banter Speech & Language
Banter Speech & Language is an independent firm of speech pathologists for adults and children. We help clients in our local area, including Concord, Rhodes, Strathfield and all other suburbs of Sydney’s Inner West.

Banter Speech & Language is owned and managed by David Kinnane, a Hanen- and LSVT LOUD-certified speech-language pathologist with post-graduate training in the Spalding Method for literacy, the Lidcombe and Camperdown Programs for stuttering, and Voicecraft for voice disorders. David is also a Certified PESL Instructor for accent modification.

David holds a Master of Speech Language Pathology from the University of Sydney, where he was a Dean’s Scholar. David is a Practising Member of Speech Pathology Australia and a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP).

Which kind of English is the best? (Hint: none of them)

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Three men and a lady meet in a bar

Some (ahem) 20 years ago, when I was a youngster backpacking through Ireland, I bumped into a young Texan couple at a bar.  They were in the midst of a furious argument with a Glaswegian barman about which of them spoke the most “proper English”.

“I can’t understand you at all,” drawled the Texan gent.  “Your accent is too weird.”

“Back at you,” replied the barman gruffly, in full brogue.  “Your accents are something shocking.”

“Accents!?” screeched the Texan lass, outraged, and perhaps a little tipsy.  “What are you talking about?  We don’t have an accent!”

I roared with (Australian-accented) laughter, incurring the ire of all three.  I couldn’t help myself.  It was all too silly, arguing about Texan, Glaswegian and, eventually, Australian-accented English in Ireland, without an Englishman to be seen (they were all at the beach in Sydney).

Is it raining in Spain, Brown Cow?

Anyone as old or older than me will remember hearing about old fashioned elocution schools. Stuffy places where young ladies (and the odd gent) would go to learn to speak “the Queen’s English” while learning about table settings.  Like Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, they would sit or stand up straight, sometimes balancing books atop their heads, aping upper class matrons and pompous men of letters while intoning such useful phrases as:

“How now brown cow.”

or

“The rain in Spain falls mainly on the Plains.”

It seems ridiculous to us now.  But, back in the day, speaking proper or “Standard English” was seen by working class people as a prerequisite to join the professional and upper classes and to enjoy upward social mobility.

Language and Civil Rights

Flash across the Atlantic and forward in time to 1979.  Judge Charles W. Joiner of the United States District Court for the East District of Michigan brings down his decision in Martin Luther King Junior Elementary School Children et al. v Ann Arbor School District.

The case was brought on behalf of a group of African American students alleging (amongst other things) that the school district violated Federal laws by not taking into account the home dialect of the children in the provision of their education. The judge agreed holding that the district was obliged to identify children who spoke “Black English” and to use that knowledge to teach such students how to read Standard English.  Specifically, he found that:

  • the language of “black English” has been shown to be a distinct, definable version of English, different from standard English of the school and the general world of communications. It has definite language patterns, syntax, grammar and history;
  • “Black English” was not then an acceptable method of communication in the educational world, in the commercial community, in the community of the arts and science, or among professionals; and
  • instruction in standard English of children who use “black English” at home by insensitive teachers who treat the children’s language system as inferior can cause a barrier to learning to read and use Standard English.

No dialect is superior (regardless of what your teachers told you).

Cases like the Ann Arbor decision and quaint descriptions of elocution schools illustrate that the type or dialect of English you use can affect your civil, social and economic rights and, to some, point to your social status in society.

Creep forward to 1983.  After much debate,  the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) publishes a very sensible position statement on social dialects.  It states that:

  • the English language is composed of many linguistic varieties or dialects;
  • no dialect of English is a disorder or a pathological form of speech or language;
  • as Standard English is the dialect used by government, the mass media, business, education, science and the arts, some non-standard English speakers may find it useful to have access to the use of Standard English; and
  • speech pathologists may provide elective services (i.e. at a client’s request) to non-standard English speakers to help them speak Standard English.

International Standard English?

With globalisation, English has become a major international language of business and politics.  Many different dialects of English (or “Englishes”)  are now used in different countries.  In the Asia Pacific region for example, we have Singlish, Tinglish,  Hinglish and other dialects of Indian English and Chinglish, to name but a few, as well as various dialects of Australian English (including Aboriginal, Broad, Standard and Cultivated Australian English) and New Zealand English.

Just like the term “Black English” as used in the US, many terms for English dialects used in the Asia Pacific region come with negative overtones suggesting that, somehow, they are “less pure”  or correct.   And, just like the term “Standard English” is used in the US, the UK and Australia to describe the language of government, commerce and science, we now use “Global” or “International English” to describe an (as yet not fully realised) standardised version of the language used by political, business, academic and other leaders when communicating within multinational corporations and organisations and across borders.

Helping people who want help

In line with ASHA’s position statement on dialects, Banter Speech & Language’s view is that:

  • speaking a dialect or “heavily accented” version of English is not a speech or language disorder requiring treatment; and
  • if, for professional, business or social reasons, you want to speak a more standard form of English to help you communicate with others – whether it be Standard Australian English or a more “internationally acceptable” dialect of English than you currently use – we will help you.  But we’ll also respect your “home” dialect.

Key source: ASHA Position Statement on Social Dialects.

Related articles:

Images: http://tinyurl.com/lbv87qz and http://tinyurl.com/lc4kdz2

Banter Speech & Language Banter Speech & Language
Banter Speech & Language is an independent firm of speech pathologists for adults and children. We help clients in our local area, including Concord, Rhodes, Strathfield and all other suburbs of Sydney’s Inner West.

Banter Speech & Language is owned and managed by David Kinnane, a Hanen- and LSVT LOUD-certified speech-language pathologist with post-graduate training in the Spalding Method for literacy, the Lidcombe and Camperdown Programs for stuttering, and Voicecraft for voice disorders. David is also a Certified PESL Instructor for accent modification.

David holds a Master of Speech Language Pathology from the University of Sydney, where he was a Dean’s Scholar. David is a Practising Member of Speech Pathology Australia and a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP).