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Reminds me of a couple college professors I had that had accents so thick it made just following along extremely difficult. It's sad to have to spend more time trying to comprehend what the professor is saying instead of devoting that energy to grasping the concepts being taught.
Having an accent does not mean that the teacher cannot be understood. I have had teacher's in school who have had Brit and french accents, they could be understood quite well, this story seems to be more sensationalized. She had to do an interview for her job and any subsequent interviews, she passed those.
Not once in college did I have an attractive female teacher with a French accent.
uh huh. We should probably deport her then until she learns to speak English the PROPER WAY!
Well, considering it is the dominate cultural language, you would think a little respect for such would be considered? I mean, while learning to speak mandarin, I made extreme effort to get the accent correct. It seemed rather insulting to learn it and then hack it all up with guttural enunciation and I don't even teach it. So don't you think that if they are going to teach it, they should at least be able to speak properly? How can she correct people on enunciation when she can't even do so herself? Do you think this is unreasonable? Why?
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Originally Posted by Kyusslives
It's god damned hilarious I see these people posting in the illegal immigration section deflecting accusations of racism with the excuse that they aren't racist because they HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH LEGAL IMMIGRANTS. Page bookmarked for reference.
Some may be as you accuse, but many are not. I have no problems with legal citizens, they are Americans. I have a problem with people who come here illegally as the action itself is a disregard for our laws.
This isn't an issue though of legal, illegal, it is simply an American teaching English who can not properly enunciate the words. If this were simply a random person outside of such, I might not have a problem (depending on if they were in a position that required a lot of communication and if that poor enunciation complicated things). The issue isn't where the person comes from, but the job they do (teaching English) and their ability to properly teach it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kyusslives
The funniest part is that she probably has a better grasp of the English language than a good portion of the posters here.
That may be, but then the issue was never about the construct of the language, but the ability to enunciate it. If your claim is that she can enunciate better, well... that would be a wild assumption considering that you haven't heard anyone here speak.
The thread title is blatantly misleading and inflammatory.
It isn't a matter of the teachers not having mastered the English language, it's a matter of their accents. Good grief!
Funny this reminds me of a story my Dixie hubby told me about how his first wife, who is also a southerner, applied for a job as a DJ of a local country radio station in New Hampshire. She was turned down because she had a southern accent.
So does this mean that transplants from Jersey also can't teach in AZ? I mean they sometimes say "anuder" instead of "another" too y'know.
The thread title is blatantly misleading and inflammatory.
It isn't a matter of the teachers not having mastered the English language, it's a matter of their accents. Good grief!
Funny this reminds me of a story my Dixie hubby told me about how his first wife, who is also a southerner, applied for a job as a DJ of a local country radio station in New Hampshire. She was turned down because she had a southern accent.
So does this mean that transplants from Jersey also can't teach in AZ? I mean they sometimes say "anuder" instead of "another" too y'know.
My question would be, if your husband was turned down for a DJ job due to his accent, why aren't these teachers being let go? It must be legal to do this, right?
Good heavens, if you can keep someone from spinning records because of an accent, teaching children to speak correctly should surely be just cause for dismissal.
If this school quits teaching art, will they have the art teachers teaching science?
The thread title is blatantly misleading and inflammatory.
It isn't a matter of the teachers not having mastered the English language, it's a matter of their accents. Good grief!
Funny this reminds me of a story my Dixie hubby told me about how his first wife, who is also a southerner, applied for a job as a DJ of a local country radio station in New Hampshire. She was turned down because she had a southern accent.
So does this mean that transplants from Jersey also can't teach in AZ? I mean they sometimes say "anuder" instead of "another" too y'know.
DJ's don't teach English, though it may be a problem if the person couldn't enunciate clearly to allow them to be clear. A radio presence requires some manner of clear speech so people understand them. Are you saying you would hire a person who is difficult to understand to be your DJ for your radio station? Please reason why you would if that is the case.
What it means is that ANYONE who can not properly enunciate the language should not be teaching a course IN the language. Seems pretty reasonable don't you think?
DJ's don't teach English, though it may be a problem if the person couldn't enunciate clearly to allow them to be clear. A radio presence requires some manner of clear speech so people understand them. Are you saying you would hire a person who is difficult to understand to be your DJ for your radio station? Please reason why you would if that is the case.
What it means is that ANYONE who can not properly enunciate the language should not be teaching a course IN the language. Seems pretty reasonable don't you think?
In the case of my husband's then-wife, I've heard her speak and I have no problem understanding her. I can't believe that New Englanders are so insular that they would have had a hard time understanding her either.
As far as hiring a DJ who is difficult to understand, I wouldn't do so, but there is a radio station not far from here ("The Point") with a DJ that I have a hard time understanding because of her thick Irish accent. They are wildly successful so obviously I'm in the minority with my opinion.
As far as these teachers go it did not sound like anyone was having trouble understanding them. The gripe was that they had accents. If English is the language spoken in the home, the kids are not going to pick up the teacher's accent.
Maybe I'm a bit sensitive but as a second generation American I grew up with accents and foreign languages all around me. I would hate to think that either one of my parents would have been denied a career because of their accents. How strong does the accent have to be? Can you quantify it? Does it reach a point where you disqualify someone merely because they have a faint accent? It sounds like a slippery slope to me.
Maybe I'm a bit sensitive but as a second generation American I grew up with accents and foreign languages all around me. I would hate to think that either one of my parents would have been denied a career because of their accents. How strong does the accent have to be? Can you quantify it? Does it reach a point where you disqualify someone merely because they have a faint accent? It sounds like a slippery slope to me.
I did read the article.
Can you construct a sentence where it would not be obvious from the context of the conversation which is meant? I can't. I mean, no one just blurts out "Tony l***ves here," it's always embedded in some kind of exchange.
And while we're at it, I recall a day many years ago when I was driving on the LBJ freeway through DFW atrying to get to the home of a friend in Plano. I called him from a payphone at a gas station and a friendly Texas state trooper overheard the conversation and decided he was going to help out a damsel in distress. I didn't ask him for help but he insisted on describing how to get to my destination in minute detail. I swear I did not understand a WORD that big smiling trooper said to me but I didn't have the heart to tell him since he was being so nice.
Just sayin' there's accents and there's accents.
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