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April 2005, Week 1

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From:
LLTI-Editor <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 5 Apr 2005 16:32:23 EDT
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--- Forwarded Message from Duncan Charters <[log in to unmask]> ---

>In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2005 00:49:04 -0500
>To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum
<[log in to unmask]>
>From: Duncan Charters <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: #7860 One accent or multiple accents?

>My question: Is it useful to show students all different accents
>of one same language when starting to learn that language or
>different accents make learning a more difficult task?
>
>Regards,
>
>Emma Fernandez
>
You can make the case either way on this one, and will find plenty of
people who will argue on either side. Personally, I stress listening
comprehension from the beginning and like my students to be aware of the
varieties of Spanish. As I am British and trained in the Castilian Spanish
of Spain, I go to great lengths to expose my students to authentic language
from different areas of Latin America as well as the U.S., since these are
usually more relevant to them. I think it serves students well not to be
completely thrown by hearing a Spaniard or an Argentinian speaker if they
have heard only "standard American" or Mexican Spanish in their classes and
materials.  Spanish as a spoken language is not represented by only one
dialect. I regularly model more than one so they become used to hearing the
distinctions.

The other side of this is that it can indeed be confusing, and if you model
one accent, the students can then use that as their initial model for
speaking. Many teachers believe students should not mix dialects at the
beginning, but choose one for their own speech. However, would you want to
force them to choose a dialect that is not as relevant to their needs?

You can expect to take extra time if you have students listen to more than
one dialect from the beginning.  However, the fact is that today, because
of the demand to expose students to a range of authentic language and its
diversity, publishers increasingly provide just what you found in Hola
amigos. The Destinos video program, the BBC's Suenos which has video
segments filmed in Spain and several Latin American countries, and most
other materials make that choice consciously.  It certainly works more
easily in Spanish if you choose to do that than it would for English.
Where would you stop?  British, American (which dialects?), Australian,
Indian...  "English as a lingua franca" dialects between non-native
speakers?  If you teach Spanish, you can be grateful your life is not that
complicated!

Duncan





Dr. Duncan Charters
Professor, Language Department
Principia College, Elsah, IL 62028-9799
Telephone: (618) 374-5252    Fax: (618) 374-5465
E-mail: <[log in to unmask]>




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