Unit 10: Accents & Immigration

Activity 1 Topic 1
The recordings of various dialects are interesting to browse through. In the first website, with the maps and flags, there were some predictable accents (like those in North Carolina and Arkansas). However, there were also some surprising accents, like the one in New Orleans. The recording from the native-born New Orleans resident didn’t sound like the accent that is typically associated with that region, which may indicate that her upbringing was influenced by people who were not natives of southern Louisiana. The ku.edu website was more thorough, and had various accents from each state. This is interesting to see how even within states there are pronunciation differences. The one downside is that the differences between accents was not as easily identifiable as in the website that had transcribed the excerpts into IPA; with that resource, one could follow along and see exactly where divergent occurred (for example, where one dialect had a ‘shwa’ where another did not). The language trainers game was challenging, but mostly for non-US accents. I got all of the American accents, and most of the British ones, but none of the non-Anglo accents. This is interesting, as it indicates a bias towards the NS accents, at least for me.
Activity 1 Topic 2
I think the interaction between immigration attitudes and their effect on the classroom is highly dependent on the learning environment. In the US, I taught in the Bronx, which is the most ethnically diverse county in the country. It was common knowledge that we had undocumented students, but it never an issue, probably because anyone who teaches there knows what the environment is before they accept the job. It’s almost like the ‘we,’ as seen being discussed by the psychologist in the ABC videos, is redefined from the get-go. In fact, the white teachers are the ‘others’ in that borough. We were advocating for all of our learners’ needs, regardless of perceived immigration status. And we did accept a ‘standard English’ when teaching and modeling for our students (Topic A) who typically spoke urban English (O’Grady, p.499) or Spanglish (p.501). But I imagine the situation is more precarious in places where immigrants are a small minority. In certain environments, the ‘we’ may be more rigid and students who are perceived to be immigrants may not be accepted immediately into this construct. I imagine that ELL teachers in these contexts would be a greater focal point for frustrations that other teachers may not have anticipated (in the same way that Special Ed teachers are sometimes resented by mainstream teachers as the special needs of their students increase). Overall, though, I think that the vast majority of teachers in all parts of the country are interested in teaching their students and simply want the tools necessary to do so. Now, I have to add something that was not in the original question. How would my own feelings impact my classroom, vis-à-vis immigration? Minimally, since I don’t feel like I am an INS officer. I teach whoever the school says is in my classroom. If a student asks me my opinion, I would defer to non-class times just as I do about any personal issues (abortion, politics, etc.)
Activity 2
One of the strongest ways sites like the PBS website can benefit educators is to help illustrate the effects of language beyond sheer communication. We all live with accents and dialects every day, but seldom stop to think about the role that language plays when intertwined with ethnicity, gender, education, etc. Discussing these elements of language in class will not only enlighten learners as to the origins of certain dialects (like the working theories behind the development of AAE) but will also raise awareness as to how these dialects affect status and opportunity today (like with the experiment of using different speaking patterns over the phone). And this research is also a great jumping-off point for discussing pragmatic contexts (such as the ‘Have you had a bowel movement today?’ example, being appropriate in a doctor’s office, but few other places).