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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:
Wed, 6 Apr 2005 15:19:35 EDT
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--- Forwarded Message from "Steve & Laura Spinella" <[log in to unmask]>
---

>From: "Steve & Laura Spinella" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: "LLTI-Editor" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: #7860.2 One accent  or multiples accents? (!)
>Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 14:56:24 +0800

I think this relates to LLTI in that we must select (or screen) authentic
materials for language learning. In the case of Spanish, there [used to be]
two main standards that educated speakers seem to gather around--Latin
American Spanish and Madrid Spanish. It would make sense to pick one as a
focus for beginning students.

In the case of Chinese, there is Beijing and anything else. Chinese teachers
can sometimes mistakenly assume that Chinese as spoken on the streets of
Beijing is standard Chinese. This is not really the case. Rather, there is
an international standard which includes the most educated speakers in
Beijing, then there are local variants, including "Beijing Huar"
(Beijing-style talk like Texan English) such as the Texas/Mexico case John
describes.

Of course, since Mexico (lead by Mexico, Distrito Federal) is the biggest
country with Spanish as its official language (isn't it?), a case could be
made that its standard becomes or will become an international standard of
greater practical importance than Madrid. Pragmatically, Univision as the
biggest Spanish TV network (isn't it?) may be a keeper of the international
standard as John also suggests.

Following on that, TV/movies may be a good standard. Using Chinese as an
example, I do not hear "Beijing Huar" or "Taiwan Hua" in the translated
movie sound tracks for movies like Mulan, the Incredibles, Tarzan, Stuart
Little, et al. [Sometimes regional accents may be used for effect for a
particular character, especially a less educated or culturally sophisticated
one.] Books present a mixture, but generally head toward a single educated
standard as well. Educated speakers from Taiwan are told in Beijing that
they have a very clear accent, of which educated speakers with regional
dialect contamination are envious.

My two cents, Steve

Dr. Steve and Laura Spinella, Sarah, Joey, Robby
Ta Yi Street, Lane 29, #18, 2F-1, Taichung 404, TAIWAN
011 886 4 2236-6145, of 2236-1901, fx 2236-2109, cell 9 2894-0514
USA: 9685 Otero Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80920, 719.528.1702, cell
719.640.1261
TEAM, PO Box 969, Wheaton, IL 60189, 800 343-3144
<www.team.org.tw/spinella>, <www.team.org.tw/ccg> <[log in to unmask]>
<[log in to unmask]>

----- Original Message -----
From: "LLTI-Editor" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2005 4:32 AM
Subject: Re: #7860.2 One accent or multiples accents? (!)


> --- Forwarded Message from John Madden <[log in to unmask]> ---
...> Hi all,
>
> Good question!
>
> I think that for beginners, comprehension is hard enough without
> dealing with multiple accents, so choosing materials that feature
> speakers with accents relevant to the students would be best. That is
> to say, here in Texas, I'd choose Spanish speakers with clearly
> pronounced Mexican accents, say localized to Mexico, D.F., or Texas,
> if we need a "standard." I might also look for accents such as one
> might hear on Univision -- perhaps Cuban or Cuban-American.
>
> For intermediate students and higher, I'd expose them to the various
> accents in Spanish or any other language. I think learning to deal
> with accents is part of learning the language, but I'd reserve it for
> after the first lessons.
>
> -- john
>
>
> At 3:24 pm -0400 4.4.05, LLTI-Editor wrote:
> >--- Forwarded Message from "Emma Fernandez" <[log in to unmask]> ---
> >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?

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