Teach English in Shilianzi Zhen - Linyi Shi

As I embark on my journey of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages(TESOL), one issue persistently weights on my conscious. Within the realm of English Language Teaching (ELT), there is no denying that one of the most complicated things English professionals are bound to encounter is the assessment of students’ oral proficiency. This is especially true when the learners are not speaking English as their mother tongue. How can we assess non-native speakers? What criterions should we take in consideration when we rate their speaking performance? It is undeniable that comprehension should be the top priority when we deal with speaking (or probably any type) assessment and in order to be ‘comprehensible’ in speech, one might need to master fluency, accuracy, coherence, and so on. Nonetheless, is ‘comprehensibility’ truly enough? Among all the issues regarding English oral assessment, one of the most debatable would be what is considered ‘good’ pronunciation/accent. Since Kachru (1992) proposed his classic concept of ‘World English,’ in which the present state of English has shifted immensely. English is now seen as an ‘international language’ or world’s ‘lingua franca’ and is mostly utilized to serve both intra- and international communication (cited in Jindapitak, 2013.) Since the ownership of English transpired from the so-called ‘native speakers’ to non-native ones, thus came the end of the ‘native fallacy era,’ where learners should aspire to communicate like those who use English as their mother tongue. Due to this paradigm shift, English Language Teaching has changed in all aspects: methodology, practices, and so on. This idea that ‘you don’t need to sound/write like a native to get the message across,’ of course, will change how professionals should evaluate English learners immensely, especially when it comes to speaking assessment. The difference between accent and pronunciation is mentioned in various literature. Munro and Derwing (2011) mentioned (in their various studies of oral production and its ‘intelligibility’) that generally, ‘pronunciation is the way in which someone articulates each word. It involves how you shape your mouth, where you place your tongue, and how you aspirate on various parts of the word. Accent, however, is basically a pattern of pronunciation or speech, often tied to the way the same letters would be pronounced in a different language altogether. Your accent or dialect, thus, is usually based on what country or region you are from. When compare with pronunciation, communication is seldom misinterpreted with accents that do not follow the native norms. Hughes (2003) proposed that in order to assess speaking, accuracy in terms of pronunciation, not accent, should be graded. Oral production is acceptable as long as it does not impede communication and sounds clearly intelligible despite the influences of students’ first language. Nevertheless, even Munro and Derwing (2011) admitted that even accents/dialects have their own intelligibility level when it comes to listeners’ perception. Although it is against the idea of World Englishes, mentioned above, we cannot change the reality that English learners, whether they acknowledge the fallacy of having the so-called native speakers’ pronunciation or not, are still ‘anchored to the ideology of having a native speakers’ pronunciation and accent.’ As the result, what they expect of themselves (Jindapak, 2013 & Khamkhien, 2010) or their teachers (Alseweed, 2012) in terms of speaking assessment, they want to sound like an American or a British as much as possible. And who could blame them? As the workplace is becoming more globalized and English is being used, it is shown that having certain types of accent indeed determines whether you will succeed in the initial interview or not (Deprez-Sims & Morris, 2010.) I believe that writing off the possibility of including the native- normed accent/dialect or pronunciation would be unrealistic since evaluating speech often entails race and identity. When students’ perception of English speech is looked into, it is undeniable that social acceptability plays some part in their expectations. Need analysis on what the students want should not be neglected entirely because, in more ways than one, ACCENT DOES MATTER. It is true that administrative sectors of every intuition should not stick to the notion of English as a Native Language, but I see unrealistic expectations in telling some students (or their parents) to believe otherwise. I do, however, see that offering students a separated pronunciation course is necessary (since incorrect pronunciation will indeed obscure comprehension) and perhaps, an elective course in native pronunciation/accent for those who truly need it will not hurt anyone. In that particular course, differentiation of accent and pronunciation should be stressed so the students would know that although what they aspire is not neglected, it is perfectly alright for them if they cannot attain it. References: Hughes, A. (2003). Testing for language teachers. (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Outside readings Alseweed, M. A. (2012). University Students' Perceptions of the Influence of Native and Non-native Teachers. English Language Teaching, 5(12), 42-53. Deprez-Sims, A., & Morris, S. B. (2010). Accents in the workplace: Their effects during a job interview. International Journal Of Psychology, 45(6), 417-426. Khamkhien, A. (2010). Teaching English Speaking and English Speaking Tests in the Thai Context: A Reflection from Thai Perspective. English Language Teaching, 3(1), 184-190. Munro, M. J., & Derwing, T. M. (2011). The Foundations of Accent and Intelligibility in Pronunciation Research. Language Teaching, 44(3), 316-327.