Progress

Being a conversation circle facilitator this semester has been a surprisingly fun experience.  As the weeks went on, meeting with my group felt less like a school assignment and more like hanging out with friends.  I consider that a success for my circle; the goal of my group appeared to be to practice conversation in English, and because of the friendships formed between us, I think that goal was achieved.  I felt a big breakthrough moment occur when my group was working on book-binding: It would be silent as we concentrated on measuring out paper and sewing pieces together, and then Xin or Kyle would break the silence by asking personal questions to Jamie or me.  This was different from the beginning, where we would all sit in the coffee shop and have directed conversations.  Here, while we were making books, Xin and Kyle would begin talking unprompted by Jamie or me.  I think this shows that they have become much more confident with English speaking throughout the semester.

From being a facilitator, I have become a better listener.  I have also become more open to people who have different backgrounds and experiences than I have had in my life.  I think this will help me if I pursue a career in education because it will remind me to understand the goals and experiences of my students, therefore allowing me to help them in the most effective way.  I have learned quite a bit about the importance of language and of verbal communication, and that different cultures interpret aspects such as tone of voice or silence in different ways.  This knowledge will be useful for me as I interact with new people throughout my life.

Re: Pronunciation and Second Languages

I find the idea of English pronunciation classes being discriminatory a very interesting one.  I would agree with what was said in class and in the article about intelligibility being the most important goal when correcting or learning pronunciation with a non-native speaker.  That being said, I think it is also important to recognize that there currently exists stigma in many ways against those who speak with an accent, especially a strong one which may be intelligible but require extra effort to understand when compared to a native English speaker. (It's also interesting to note the difference in, for example, American reactions to different accents in English- British, Scottish, Australian, French, Italian, and other "Western" accents are frequently considered sexy or intriguing, while accents of ESL speakers from most other parts of the world are not seen in as glamorous a light).  Correcting this stigma is important, but will take time- for students looking to find a job next year, they may want or need a pronunciation class that can help them move past the stigma (perhaps unconscious) of potential employers, etc, associated with a strong non-native accent.  Since the classes are voluntary and it wasn't a group of international students who filed the complaint, it would seem that the students affected either do not feel that their identities are threatened by a pronunciation class, or place a higher priority on the potential gains from assimilating their pronunciation than they do on avoiding this linguistic assimilation.  

While there are delicate questions to consider here, I feel that the focus should be on reducing stigma among native English speakers towards others, on increased foreign language learning among native English speakers (which provides the best opportunity to appreciate how incredible it is that so many people learn English as a second language and then take classes, work, etc, in that second or third or fourth language), and on conversations about protecting other languages as English becomes increasingly common worldwide. Taking course options away from English learners does not, in my opinion, further these goals in a productive way. 

Why Teach Pronunciation?

Only when reading Brinton and Butner (2012) did it occur to me, that some people would think that teaching proper pronunciation would cause uneasiness to the point of considering it a form of racial discrimination. 

Being a teacher of English in the Philippines, I see to it that I rectify, directly or indirectly, students’ 'mispronounced' words because in my understanding, they are learning the English language; hence, they should also learn the sounds of English (its properties, including patterns of stress, rhythm, and intonation, etc.) in order that they may be understood once they speak. Let me make it clear that the term ‘mispronounced’ here refers to an entirely different pronunciation of any of the sounds of a word, thereby producing confusion as to what word has been referred to, consider the example 'set - seat - sit', because a mispronunciation of any of the vowels here will, of course, imply a significantly different meaning. Let me also make it clear that English teachers never teach students to compromise their native language, even if English is the world’s lingua franca, a language that opens global opportunities. Rather, we subtly instill to students to acquire a sense of communicative competence, which means that they should establish credibility in speaking both L1 and L2 (with accent that’s deemed appropriate for every language). 

Personally, as a language teacher as well as a conversation facilitator, it is but ETHICAL and necessary to teach proper pronunciation, including accent. 

But first, the definition of ‘accent’ and the gauge to which we consider ‘correct’ pronunciation should be as clear-cut as possible to people (teachers and learners). Derwin and Munro (2010) in Brinton and Butner (2012) made a very precise definition, one that does not at all discriminate any language, saying that "accent is the degree to which an individual’s pronunciation differs from a given local variety”. This tells us that language is an intricate system, not isolated, used by a web of people coming from different cultures and social strata; hence, it has varieties. So having an accent does not mean that you are speaking a language that is ‘inferior’ to a language that is ‘superior’. Accent only highlights how unique people and languages are. So having an accent is not bad at all!

Abercrombie (1991), Gimson (1989), and Derwing and Munro (2010) in the same article, however, have all purported the importance of intelligibility in speech, which is generally the degree to which the listener would be able to make sense of the speaker’s utterance. I believe the basic goal of every communicator is to convey a message. It would be tragic, of course, if a mispronounced sound and a hardly recognizable accent will impede the receiver in understanding the message. It is then given that if you are trying to acquire a language in order to communicate, then try to achieve an accent that will be intelligible to the person you wish to communicate with.

Crystal's (2003) theory about the three circles has proven that varieties of English are real since more and more people, coming from different linguistic communities, learn and use English everyday with every possibility of changing the language (its sounds, maybe even contributing their own lexemes, etc.). This gave rise to other Englishes such as Konglish (Korean English), Chinglish (Chinese English), Spanglish (Spanish English), among others. However, being communicatively competent means that one should be sensitive to know that producing something in either of these Englishes might be an obstacle in communicating with a native speaker of English, then one should opt for a pronunciation that IS COMPREHENSIBLE by the receiver, not necessarily sounding like real native Americans because after all Americans have varied accents as well.

I have always been an advocate for teaching correct pronunciation in the language classroom because the students need this. As a language teacher, and now, a conversation leader, I think I owe it to my students and to my Chat Cafe participants, that I teach them the correct articulation of sounds. They enroll or sign up for this because they deem this necessary in their careers or in any other personal or official transactions they may be stuck into. It empowers them. makes them compete with the rest of the world. 

Yes, accents are intimately tied to speaker identity and group membership (Levis, 2005 in the same article); but teaching students how to properly articulate sounds and try to sound intelligible to most speakers of English does not mean that you are eradicating students’ cultural identity, rather, it paves the way for students to be more appreciative of multiculturalism.

Visiting Other Chat Circles

This week, I had the exciting experience of visiting another conversation circle.  Just like my group, Alison's circle had one boy and one girl looking to practice their English.  However, her group dynamic was different than mine; the girl predominantly did most of the speaking, while the boy seemed shy and did not volunteer to speak except when spoken to.  I can see how having a quieter group member could potentially be a challenge, because I was unsure if he wanted to speak up more or if he enjoyed simply listening.  In my group, the every member participates equally; however, that might be a result of the group members being friends before this semester.

The meeting was fun; both members seemed very knowledgable about American pop culture, talking about American movies and podcasts that I had never seen or even heard of.  Fun fact- we discovered that while Americans say "cheese" when smiling for a camera, the Chinese say a word that sounds like "cheese" but actually means "eggplant."  We also learned another small difference between cultures: while Americans pronounce the events of September 11th as "nine eleven," the Chinese refer to it as "nine one one" and were momentarily confused when they heard us say "nine eleven."  It was interesting to see how the conversation flowed and see how other circle dynamics work.

Meeting with other conversation circles was a beneficial experience because it allows me to compare the activities of my group to the activities of others.  It reassured me that my group seemed to have similar ideas about conversations and that we are going in the right direction in terms of group dynamic and group activities.

The Importance of Pronunciation

After reading The Ethics of Pronunciation Teaching by Brinton and Butner, I was able to recognize the importance of pronunciation teaching, but also the ways in which it may be a sensitive topic. At the University of the Fraser Valley in British Colombia, a complaint was filed with the Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Office that the term "accent" was discriminatory, and also protested against the use of the terms "L1 (first language)" and "L2 (second language)" as well as "native speaker" and "non-native speaker". The article explains the definitions of different terms, such as accent and intelligibility and comprehensibility. What interested me most was the responses from the "Etcetera Listserv" participants, as well as the research base, all of which supported pronunciation teaching and said that it was beneficial to non-native speakers. For example, one response said that "students are choosing to take this elective course due to a perceived need" which I think is very valid. If students find it beneficial and are seeking it out themselves, I think it should be available to them. Additionally, there was a comment that "the goal of pronunciation is accent addition, not accent eradication". I don't think anyone's intent is to try and eliminate their knowledge of their primary language, or to affect their identity in any way. I think it is beneficial to receive help with pronunciation when learning a new language, and will be helpful when communicating with native speakers. Another response I found interesting was when someone wrote, "I would argue back, if pronunciation ought to be cut, shouldn't also grammar courses, or any other language courses that might promote 'correctness' or regularity of use, because such a course would be promoting the elevation of one language variety over others?" I think this is very interesting because it points out that there are many things that could be considered "incorrect". However, where do you draw the line on this delicate situation? If it is beneficial to students and they are seeking it out, is it really "incorrect"? Is it even "unethical" in the first place? Who gets to decide? In the conclusion, the authors say, "Ultimately pronunciation classes such as Butner's provide a great service to second language learners and are a potential source of empowerment rather than a source of discrimination, as alleged in the complaint directed to the UFV Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Office," and I would agree with this statement. I believe that they are much more empowering than discriminating, and that they should be available to students.

In terms of my own conversation circle, I feel like we don't focus on pronunciation much. We are often just chatting about various topics, and I find myself correcting students occasionally, but not very often. I think it's helpful just to practice in an informal setting, but I could think about ways to incorporate pronunciation practice if that is something they are interested in. I would also be interested to see if they have taken pronunciation classes before or think that they would be beneficial. From my experience living in Spanish speaking countries, I have never taken classes, but appreciate when I get to practice with native speakers and am corrected on my pronunciation. Recently I was having a conversation with a native Spanish speaker in Spanish and he told me my grammar was perfect but I had an "accent". I was somewhat disappointed. After learning and practicing it so long, it is still so obvious that I am it is a "foreign" language to me. In my opinion, I think pronunciation practice would be beneficial and as the authors said, empowering.