We All Have Accents

Dr. Elena Pirovano The University of Melbourne

Our world has become very interconnected. There are more speakers of English as an additional language than speakers considered to use a standard variety of English.  I am one of them, and since living in English-speaking countries, I’ve been asked many times: Where does this lovely accent come from? It tells me that I don’t sound ‘English’ when I speak ‘English’…whatever this may mean for my interlocutors.

Sometimes, this question comes from people genuinely curious about my origins. Other times it is a subtle, and perhaps unconscious, expression of an ideology around language use that privileges standard and native forms as superior. 

Over time, I have had a few interesting experiences as a result of my accent…

My accent makes me recognisable. Like that time I called an anonymous phone number found on a Community Board about buying a doll house for my daughter…and on the other side the seller recognised me as a parent at the school; my accent gave me away immediately (before even stating my name!).

My accent may cause some misunderstandings. Like when I was doing a spelling task with my daughter, and she was perplexed at the word bought: did I mean bought or boat? They sound the same with my accent (luckily, I could put it in a sentence for context!)

My accent can be misinterpreted. Like when the software I used to transcribe my PhD interviews transcribed <Trump language> every time I used the word <translanguaging>.

My accent exposes me to some questioning. Like the multiple times I’ve been asked where I’m from and I’m never sure they want to know my origins (is it my accent?) or where I live.

Initially, I thought that my English was not good enough. But I’ve changed my mind.

Reflections on accent and communication

As an active learner of English in adulthood, I have mainly focused on my desire (and need) to communicate effectively, from going to the doctor to talking to my children’s teacher, from finding a job to travelling. To be honest, the accent matter was completely irrelevant for a long time, the time needed for me to start ‘hearing’ and then ‘recognising’ accents. I grew up studying a little British English at school, then I moved to the US as an adult where I was exposed to American English. Now I am immersed in Australian English plus all the Englishes of people I communicate with on a daily basis. And I am always bringing ‘my’ accent into the mix.

Reflections on accent and identity

Accents are embedded in my way of speaking: my accent when I speak Italian clearly identifies me as someone from the north of Italy; my accent when I speak English immediately positions me as a ‘non-native’ speaker or a speaker of a non-standard variety. For a long time, I felt embarrassed with my accent and how it was perceived. But recently, I came to agree with this quote:

The world is not owned by English; English is owned by the world.

Lin et al., 2002, p. 295-296

Speaking English for me has been an incredible journey full of challenges and opportunities. One of these amazing opportunities has been to become a teacher, a ‘teacher with an accent’.

Reflections as a teacher with an accent

My experience as a ‘teacher with an accent’ spans primary school to university. From a deficit perspective, my accent could be seen as an issue: perhaps my students do not understand me, perhaps I’m not clear enough, perhaps I can’t be a teacher.

However, in my interactions with students, I have soon learnt that any misunderstanding or non-standard pronunciation could be dealt with collaboratively. Communication is a two-way process, and meaning is negotiated and co-constructed among interlocutors. So I shifted my perspective from a view of accents as a deficit to a view of accents as resource.

Indeed, my accent, as any accent in the classroom - teacher and student alike - could enrich the learning experience. For example,

Students, either with ‘native speaker’ accents or not, have the opportunity to experiment in the safe space of the classroom. By critically and creatively using their meaning-making skills, they practice and learn how to adapt to the conversation and ensure reciprocal understanding.

Teachers with an accent can be a model for students, helping them to realise that having an accent does not prevent becoming an accomplished professional or a teacher.

Exposing students, at any level of education, to a variety of accents may contribute to raising awareness of varieties beyond standard pronunciation and promote intercultural understanding.

Accents also enable critical reflection and push us to focus on making our communication clear and improving the clarity of our speech.

I have now made peace with my accent(s) and by sharing my journey I hope other ‘teachers with an accent’ may be able to recognise and leverage it as a resource in their own context and, at the same time, acknowledge the variety of accents of their students. And guide them to ‘own’ their English.

Reference

Lin, A., Wang, W., Akamatsu, N., & Riazi, A. M. (2002). Appropriating English, expanding identities, and re-visioning the field: From TESOL to Teaching English for Glocalized Communication (TEGCOM). Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 1(4), 295–316. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327701JLIE0104_4