Accents and Learning

The state of Arizona recently decided to test and evaluate all teachers on their English fluency. Those who are deemed to have thick accents, incomplete fluency, or who speak ungrammatically are going to be removed from classrooms in which students are still learning to speak English. The idea is that students learn what they hear and Arizona does not want its students learning accented or improper English. There are many controversies involved because even to begin with it is difficult to define fluency. Also, many of these teachers are experienced educators. Many people feel that this is another manifestation of the prejudices that exist against immigrant populations in the United States.

In another article from the Washington Post, Valerie Strauss writes about a study done in Israel that found that students learning a language learn best when taught by someone with the same first language, and thus the same accent. It turns out that these results apply to all learning, not just in language. The study showed that it often takes too much energy for a student to try to understand the foreign accent of the teacher and then have to learn the material in addition. This is a lot for a student to process at one time.

This study completely refutes the premise of Arizona's new language learning initiative. The majority of the teachers instructing language learning classes in Arizona are Hispanic and are teaching Hispanic students. Thus, they have the same accent and presumably this will be the easiest way for them to learn in the classroom.

I have definitely experienced this throughout my primary education. Several times I had math teachers who were native Mandarin speakers. It was often difficult to understand their accents. I always had to make an extra effort to understand what they were saying even before I considered the material being taught. It just added an extra level of concentration and effort that otherwise is unnecessary. In this respect I feel that my personal experience matches up with the results of the study.

I think it is clear that Arizona is making a mistake. The lawmakers should definitely look at this study before they implement these new measures to "safeguard" the learning of their English language learners. Clearly their aim is to help students be as successful as possible in the classroom. This is an admirable goal, but the state of Arizona should reevaluate their methods to make sure that they are truly working to accomplish the goal they have set forth. Otherwise, particularly under these new mandates, many well qualified teachers could be pushed out of their jobs for no reason, while in fact they are the best equipped to teach this student population.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703572504575213883276427528.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/learning/accented-teachers-may-be-bette.html