Traductorado de Inglés

Facultad de Derecho
Universidad de Buenos Aires

Lengua y Lingüística Inglesa II – Cátedra Parini

Comisión 3112

TP3- For/Against Essay

Teaching English and its

Accent Diversity

Lourdes A. Chahbenderian Picco

40.511.069

FECHA
07/06/2018
 Teaching English and its Accent Diversity

How accents are incorporated into the teaching of English has been a topic of debate
over the past decades, with advocates supporting the education of the tradition of
accents and opposers maintaining a more conservative posture.
On the one hand, firstly, English is always changing, and therefore, teachers must train
their students to be ready to face those changes. Reading and listening exercises are the
perfect method to expose them to different accents from a very early age. Nowadays,
the internet is filled with resources. For instance, there are tons of videos, newspapers
and articles from countries where English is an official language. Having students
interact with these materials since they are very young will help them understand that
English is not just what they learn in the classroom, but much more significant and
variant.
Secondly, accents are brimming with culture hence their teaching is more than relevant.
Students should know that English goes beyond the royalty of England. Each accent
comes with its background culture, becoming an identity for speakers. Teaching this
will not only help students learn more about the language but also how to respect the
cultural diversity it carries. Being aware of the different cultures and ethnicities that
speak English will open students' minds and will make them more tolerant of
heterogeneity.
On the other hand, it would be impossible to teach the accents of the more than fifty
countries where English has an official status. Which one to choose? People support the
idea that teaching just a few of the most popular accents would be unfair and
discriminatory, so they pursue teaching Received Pronunciation and Standard English.
It is needless to say how confusing accents can be for students who do not have an
advanced level, and who do not manage RP correctly. The differences in pronunciation,
punctuation and even vocabulary could make students feel overwhelmed and doubt their
previously acquired English level.
What is more, teaching the diversity of accents requires spending much time searching
for the audiovisual materials and planning the classes. It is not correct to demand
teachers to spend time on these things while asking them to stick to the course syllabus.
Furthermore, the materials and resources needed to teach accents properly demand a
significant expense, which majority of English schools are not able to afford. Why
should schools be put through all this trouble when exams boards remain incredibly
conservative? Most of the non-English speaking students sit for Cambridge or Oxford
exams, where RP is needed to pass the speaking part.
To sum up, accents represent a great deal of the English Language. In order to teach
them, teachers should be highly trained, not only in the pronunciation but also with the
culture involving each particular accent. In my opinion, knowing about different accents
can be very useful, however being exposed to them from an early age can make students
confused about how they are supposed to talk. So the perfect balanced would be to let
them know that accent diversity exists without leaving the RP as the primary accent of
the lessons.