Thread: Accents in the classroom...

Okay... so I had a debate with a friend cause we were filling out teacher evaluations. I was being very blunt with my feelings, and I think I came off as a racist bitch.

Maybe I am... maybe I'm not.

So here's my question to you: What do you feel about a teacher with a HEAVY accent?

Unfortunately, one of my biggest requirement is a teacher has to have good English. At least in the US where the unofficial but somehow official language in the nation is English. All too often I've had brilliant teachers, but they can't articulate. My biggest problem is somebody with a HEAVY accent.

Sure, it's not there fault. But if I hear something wrong cause you can't speak, you don't deserve to be a teacher.

I can't stand it! I don't pay an arm and a leg to attend a class where the professor/TA who cannot speak English. I've had teachers with accents mumble the entire class. I've had teachers with such poor pronunciation that the entire class just stares in confusion at her on a daily basis. I've had teachers who fuck up pronunciation so badly that I half wanna laugh. [ex: everytime my teacher says "omega" he sounds like "oh my god."]

So maybe I'm too blunt. But do you guys feel the same way? What defines a good teacher for you? Are accents a problem for you?

Meh... maybe I'm so against this cause I know with practice you can break out of an accent. That's what my mommy did...

My sister has the same problem. The problem with this is that it'll be hard to learn if you can't understand what they're saying. Leading to failing grades.

I have some teachers with heavy accents, but to be fair, they do teach language classes, and I've found that it actually doesn't really matter. They mostly rely on Powerpoint or whatever for lessons so it isn't like I don't know what they're saying. I do think that teachers should at least be able to be understood by the class, university or not, but I don't think they need to sound as if they were born-and-raised in the country you live in (if they weren't). If it becomes a problem to the point that you can't learn, then obviously that's not a good thing, but I don't mind at all if you can understand most of what they're saying or it doesn't really matter.

Well, of course it would be bad if you can't understand what your teacher is saying. I think that it's a fair requirement that a teacher must be proficient in the language in which he or she is lecturing.

And cpr, you're not racist if you point out a problem in a constructive manner. That's what evaluations are for after all.

I will be racist - I don't have problem with english language - we have lot's of Ukrainian working here and not all of them use Polish word correctly - let's just simplify - some words sound similiar but mean something totally different, so it's kinda funny to hear "Divide your sister by two" or something like that.

Originally Posted by AtrumIncendia

My sister has the same problem. The problem with this is that it'll be hard to learn if you can't understand what they're saying. Leading to failing grades.

O RLY?
I think this was the whole point of the thread, no?

accents can be a problem, but I once had a teacher who didn't speak French at all... That was quite troublesome

I think dialect may be a bigger problem than accent. Here in Latin America each country has its own dialect(s), and even if a person is considered to speak good Spanish in its country, it may be a problem in another. I've had teachers from Chile, Colombia, Cuba, and Mexico and at times I've had problems trying to understand what they meant with the use of some words. On the other hand, I've never had problems understanding their accents, even if I do not like some like the Cuban or Mexican accents for example.

Anyway, I do think teachers should be fluent at the language they are supposed to use. Otherwise, students may have problems understanding, and even worse, there may even be a lack of respect toward the teacher.

O_O I have never expirenced this problem...

I would suppose I would be annoyed if it was to the point where I couldn't understand but if it's just a matter of taking a second to sort through what the teach said then I guess it wouldn't be that bad...

It can if he tells the world so bad it could

a) Make the word sound similar to word which is pronounced quite similar but means something different, hence bringing a lot of confusion

b) Speaking a language that badly that whole sentence is not understandable and you can't make any of it.

Also it's very tiring to concentrate all the time on understanding on 'what he wanted to say' and not on 'what is he talking about' - if on whole lecture you were only concentrating on understanding the words but not the meaning, it's just a wasted time.