TEACHERS DISCUSSION FORUM
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#1 Parent Bavarian bier - 2011-04-05
Re Accept Black People...

You shouldn't try and teach learners

Shouldn't is the key here, but it is China, and well, Chinese teachers seem to be ignorant of the hyperbole most Western FT's spew out...

#2 Parent Tom - 2011-04-05
Re Accept Black People...

Chinese people among the educated classes who discriminate against foreigners on unreasonable grounds of pronunciation that is not perfect, So, beware!

Yep, you are right. Britain itself has a wealth of wonderful accents.

#3 Parent Foxy - 2011-04-04
Re Accept Black People...

Many Americans and English people speak good English, The Queen's English, although maybe with a slight accent across the pond and in Scotland.

I agree more or less with what you say, but please allow me to add that the vocabulary used by FT's should encompass few informal words, as defined by an advanced English learner's dictionary. One might put it in another way by saying that EFL should be taught using only English spoken by well-educated native speakers of English as opposed to that uttered by youths who left school in the West with little or no formal educational qualifications.
However, the Chinese regard Beijing Chinese as standard Chinese both in terms of pronunciation and vocabulary, more so the former. Accent snobbery looms large here among educated Chinese. Naturally, they try to apply the same approach they have to Chinese, to English. Yet they fail to realize that well-educated native speakers of English can understand one another easily irrespective of which Western country they have originated from, whereas in China there are huge local differences in local Chinese dialects and accents, which apply to the educated classes too, causing a general lack of oral comprehension among Chinese people living across the length and breadth of the country! Another problem is that the Chinese generally prefer to listen to English spoken beautifully, and if an FT doesn't or cannot speak so, he (or she) may be subject to a backlash. There are many naive and arrogant Chinese people among the educated classes who discriminate against foreigners on unreasonable grounds of pronunciation that is not perfect, So, beware!

#4 Parent Tom - 2011-04-04
Re Accept Black People...

As for speaking 'standard English' I'm puzzled - what is that? There are a whole range of 'Englishes' even in a single country. Boston English may be different from Alabama English (BTW, it's not allowed to buy a dildo in that place according to obscenity laws - conservatism ...?) Birmingham UK English may be different from Brighton UK English and so on. China is a land of contradictions, which is what makes the place more interesting to me.

All sounds open-minded, albeit total nonsense. Many Americans and English people speak good English, The Queen's English, although maybe with a slight accent across the pond and in Scotland. You shouldn't try and teach learners to speak the way some do in the Bronx, Alabama, in Glasgow slums or in Uganda, otherwise they will not be understood properly.

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