HowtolearnEnglishwell--VantageMisconceptionⅡIfIwanttolearnAmericanEnglish,IshouldlearnformanAmericanteacherormyEnglishwillnotbeunderstoodwhenIgototheU.S.A.IhaveseenmanygoodteachershereinChina,bothexpatriatesandChinese,runintoproblemsbecauseofthewaymanystudentsjudgetheiraccents.Studentsbelievethatthebestchanceofspeakinglikeanativespeakerisbyhavingthatidealaccent.Iftheteacherhasanaccentthatisnotformthetargetcountrythatcertainstudentswanttogoto,theyareeitherrebuffedorrejected.Partofthemisconceptionstemsfromignoranceofthedistinctionbetweenpronunciationandaccent.Pronunciationinvolvesthestress,rhythm,intonation,andphoneticsoundsthatfacilitatecommunication.Anaccentisthedistinguishablesetofsoundsthatderivesfromculturalorregionalphoneticpatterns.Accentsareessentiallyhabitsformedataveryearlyageandverydifficulttochangeaftertheageofsix.ThishasbeenverifiedbyresearcherswhostudiedthetongueandmouthpositionsofIsraelichildrenatanearlyageof5-6,andfindthatevenafterheavyimmersioninAmericanEnglishforabout10years,theirmouthandtonguepositionschangeverylittlewhenspeaking,andthustheiraccentschangeonlyslightly.Inotherwords,forgetabouttryingtochangeyouraccentinayearortwo,itisjustnotgoingtohappen.Pronunciationcanbechangedandimproved.Accentsareentrenchedandneednotbechanged.ThereisnoshortageofsuperbEnglishspeakersandwritersinmynativecountry,Canada,whohaveexcellentpronunciation,butheavyaccentsfromtheircountriesoforigin.Infact,twogreatIndo-CanadianwritersMichaelOndaatjeandRohintonMistybothhaveslightnon-CanadianaccentsinEnglish,butareBookerPrizewinners.DowesaythattheirEnglishissubstandard,becausetheyhaveaccents?No,itwouldbeabsurdtomakesuchasuggestionsincetheirpronunciationisexcellentandnoonehasanytroubleunderstandingthem.AsImentionedearlier,pronunciationisnotthesamethingasanaccent.ItellmystudentstogiveuptheirhopeofdevelopinganAmericanaccent,sinceitisveryunlikelytohappenunlesstheystayinAmericaoveraverylongperiod,andeventhen,thearestilllikelytoretainsomepartoftheirChineseaccent.Anaccentisparofyourcharacterandheritage.Thatisnottosaythatthestudentshouldn’tdevotetimetoimprovinghisorherpronunciation.Astudentshouldfocusonthosepronunciationaspectsthatmaketheircommunicationmoreeffective,nottryingtomoldtheiraccentintoanother.Developingpronunciationskillsthatareuniversallylearntisamuchmoreworthypursuitofyoureffortsthantryingtocopyanaccentthatisunnaturalforyourtongueandmouth.
