Does Accent makes any difference in teaching ?

Question

I am from INDIA and I am planning to pursue my career in teaching I am trying to improve it but I am really concerned abt teaching children in proper way.

Answer 1

Accent makes a huge difference. I had a college professor from Kenya and couldn't understand a word he said. Parents would have issues with lack of communication with teacher, as most doctors are now from India (can't understand them either).

Answer 2

accents make a difference, but as long as you practice speaking clearly, you should be fine, just make sure you speak with confidence and don't mumble or talk to the floor, speak directly to the class, and as clear as possible, you should be fine :)

Good Luck!  

Answer 3

it depends on how thick your accent is. i would recommend that you take some english language courses and imitate the way newscasters speak english on american television.  

Answer 4

There is an excellent Math teacher in my school who came from India.

Initially nobody understood her because of her accent. But she is very proactive. She attended local English lessons and mingle more with the locals to pick up our colloquial use of English and even some local jokes!

Now, we realise that she was a diamond in the buff.. She's a great teacher!

Answer 5

In my experience, accent makes a world of difference to the student.  There are Americans in different regions that are hard to understand, much less a foreigner whose primary language may not be English who attempts to teach it.  I have had teachers in Math, not English who were Indian or Libyan and both were very difficult to understand simply because of accent, not because they were bad teachers or didn't understand the material they were teaching.  

Answer 6

Someone talked about the possibility of "going into the classroom ignoring one's own accent" as if it was a real reason for other people to not understand. Every linguist knows that only those who listen cannot ignore accents as accents can only be heard!!! It is a biased opinion just to tell other people that "they should be careful about their identity, their accent, the way they speak"!!! I think it would be a piece of advice that could maybe be given to all speakers in the world even me!! But this piece of advice would never help a new teacher already in demand of "teaching children in a proper way" for everybody knows that it is usually children who are the best in discriminating sounds. So I say to the asker of the question about accent that the accent is a characteristic of our personality and of course it makes a difference in teaching as for any teacher, whether foreigner or not, like the way we think, the way we conceive things and all that makes us human beings. What is very important is what another answerer said about "being oneself" in every situation, going on learning how children learn, and going on learning how adults teach, going on refusing anyone to intimidate with unrealistic pseudo-psychological issues. Another "weird argument" being that "children would not be motivated if a foreign teacher entered in a class with arrogance"!!! Only someone who believes that can say that, but who has ever seen that? It is, again, a pseudo-psychological piece of advice that has no real reference except in pseudo-pedagological educational advisers'lounges!! With children, adults can hardly be "arrogant", especially when they are teachers, even foreign teachers!!!! Hope it helps!

Answer 7

Accent is only makes a difference if your students can't understand you.  My daughter's 7th grade math teacher was from India and she had no problems understanding her.  English speakers have so many different accents, Boston, New York, Southern US, British, New Zealand, Australia, Irish...we usually have no problem understanding each other.  

Answer 8

Over the years I have worked with teachers with slight accents whom the students claimed not to be able to understand at all, and with those with strong accents who were much loved by the students.  It seems to come down to this: if you recognize that you have an accent and therefore might be difficult to understand, make sure that you compensate by being willing to explain things in multiple ways, spend time with students so that they can learn to understand you, and in general, acknowledge that this may be a problem for them and be willing to help them understand you.  If you go into the classroom ignoring your own accent, or with an arrogant attitude that "I am the teacher and therefore they will just have to learn to understand me," they will not be motivated to try.  

Answer 9

Accent is not a problem unless your students cannot understand what you are saying.

Answer 10

your accent is what your students should like about being in your class....however you should take time to ask about slang that they use when they are speaking to each other....or give them a list of terms to be used during the class and begin by letting them teach you how they think it is pronounced....that way when you say it using your accent they know how it is going to come out everytime you say it...this could be good icebreaker for young people who could use your accent as an excuse for them not learning.....encouraging them to correct your pronunciation is also a way to keep them focused on what you are teaching....