Accents

Teaching and Assessing Speaking Skills

Subject Area: MA TESOL
Rationale:
English language teachers have the responsibility to teach the language in a clear and meaningful
way but also the wider responsibility to ensure their students understand the use of the language
in various contexts. Future teachers must understand the issues and behaviors students will face
when using their English in the real world.
Module Learning Objectives Addressed:
The complex issues surrounding native and non-native speakers attitudes towards native
and non-native accents
Current research issues and debates in the area of pronunciation teaching
Objective: The student will be able to:
Understand potential native speaker perspectives on ESL speakers accents
Resources:
Hu, G. & Lindemann S. 2009. Stereotypes of Cantonese English, Apparent native/nonnative status, and their effect on non-native English speakers perception. Journal of
Multilingual and Multicultural Development 30(3), 253-269.
Procedures:
Anticipatory set:
Begin the session with a review of the Lindemann article which all students were
assigned to read before class. Ask for any specific questions, concerns, or any
difficulty students had in reading it.
Procedure:
Interactive PowerPoint presentation with regular prompts/pauses for discussion.
Slide 3: In general NN NNS interactions, it is often the easiest option to blame
the NNS for any conversational problems, when similar problems may exist
amongst native speakers. Have students think of examples of when this may
happen. Have students discuss this with their partner for a few moments.
Slide 5: Mention own experience as a native speaker. Because of my unique
position in the course as the only native speaker provide an opportunity for students
to ask me questions from that perspective.
Slide 7: Ask for examples of when they have been or have experienced prejudice
because of the NNS accent issues. Again, short discussion with partner but then
wider discussion with whole class.
Closure:

 Discuss again how this key information relates back to the Lindemann article. Ask for

any further questions. When complete, finish with a final summary of the material.
State that slides will be available on the VLE if they missed or did not understand any
aspect of it and wanted to review the information independently.
Assessment:
Will assess whether learning outcomes have been met through:
Observing pair discussions
Whole class discussion