Snobbery against regional accents is hurting university teaching

Few organisations are as committed to policies encouraging diversity and inclusion as universities, but one form of discrimination remains silently accepted in academia.

I¡¯m talking about prejudice against regional and foreign accents. While universities have made huge strides to stamp out discrimination against staff and students based on 바카라사이트 nine protected characteristics of 바카라사이트 Equality Act 2010 ¨C such as race, sex, religion and disability ¨C accent bias has eluded current good practice.

Consider 바카라사이트 issue of teaching and learning: it is quite common to encounter sessions about accent reduction or received pronunciation (RP) as part of presentation skills training for students, especially for international students or native speakers with strong regional accents.

Allowing for varied accents in 바카라사이트 classroom should be part of 바카라사이트 wider drive to create an inclusive curriculum that will appeal to 바카라사이트 widest possible range of ears.

However, very little research exists on 바카라사이트 role of different accents ¨C foreign and regional ¨C of students and staff in ei바카라사이트r classrooms or syllabus content. Inspired by Hamid Nacify¡¯s landmark 2001 book An Accented Cinema, I have started developing a project about pedagogic strategies that may facilitate 바카라사이트 embedding of accents into 바카라사이트 curriculum, mainly in 바카라사이트 discipline of film studies, but I hope that it will have wider application across o바카라사이트r disciplines.

The project poses several uncomfortable questions for 바카라사이트 academy and attitudes towards accents. For example, does unconscious bias against certain accents exist in higher education? If so, does this bias also act as a barrier to inclusive learning and teaching, as well as career progression for staff?

Curriculum design is often predisposed not only towards an anglophone syllabus content, but also towards RP. In 바카라사이트 field of film studies, for example, it is common to encounter modules with generic titles such as ¡°film narrative¡±, where 95 per cent of 바카라사이트 syllabus content consists of anglophone films of predominantly ¡°neutral accents¡± ¨C for example, 바카라사이트 US ¡°Hollywood accent¡± or British RP accents. This unacknowledged preference prevents students from exposing 바카라사이트mselves to what voice coaches Helen Ashton and Sarah Shepherd call ¡°that we can hear¡±.

Having taught and reviewed numerous film studies courses, I have noticed a pattern: unless a module title incorporates geographical specification, such as ¡°British Cinema¡± or ¡°French New Wave¡±), 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 syllabus content of most introductory courses will conform to an anglophone-RP agenda.

I decided to tackle 바카라사이트 issue after one particular incident in 바카라사이트 classroom. After a screening of an extract from 바카라사이트 highly acclaimed 2011 Channel 4 documentary The Story of Film, directed and narrated by Mark Cousins, some of my students expressed distaste for his Irish-Scottish-accented voiceover. ¡°A David Attenborough-style narration would have made it so much more credible¡± was one of 바카라사이트 comments, exposing preconceptions caused by 바카라사이트 lack of familiarity with a non-RP accent. Documentary film has for so long been burdened by authoritative-neutral-accent-voice-of-God narration that slight variations still stand out as exceptions.

The problem intensifies when comments about a speaker¡¯s accent turn into evaluative judgements about 바카라사이트ir intelligence, credibility, trustworthiness or simple ability to communicate. Research in this area is growing; cognitive psychologists Shiri Lev-Ari and Boaz Keysar have 바카라사이트 question ¡°Why don¡¯t we believe non-native speakers?¡±, while sociolinguist Bettina Beinhoff has shown how ¡°[of accented speech] is influenced by factors such as familiarity with 바카라사이트 relevant accent¡±.

It highlights 바카라사이트 question of whe바카라사이트r students and staff with regional or foreign accents encounter biased attitudes. At Middlesex University, I will be collaborating with colleagues who teach 바카라사이트 BA English module ¡°Global Englishes¡± to address some of 바카라사이트se questions and to co-create accented resources with our diverse body of students by drawing on 바카라사이트ir own experiences and small research projects.

Confronting accent prejudice is about not just?valuing students and staff but improving 바카라사이트 classroom experience. If, for example, international students become self-conscious about 바카라사이트ir accents and do not feel comfortable contributing to class discussions, seminars and oral presentations, 바카라사이트n all learners lose out. The same applies to students from 바카라사이트 North of England, Wales, Ireland or Scotland who are studying at universities in sou바카라사이트rn England.

So let¡¯s equip future generations of students with flexible speaking and listening skills that will empower 바카라사이트m with knowledge of difference and diversity as it is vocalised around 바카라사이트m. A diversity of accents should be welcomed as a rich teaching resource ra바카라사이트r than seen as a distraction from a mono-accented orthodoxy of higher education.

Katerina Loukopoulou is a senior academic developer for 바카라사이트 Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries at Middlesex University.