Discussion Groups / ESL Teaching / July 2004

Students and employers should be reminded that people with English and
American accents understand each other without difficulty, which implies
that the differences in accent between them are quite small.  A student
learning English needs to be able to do the same thing, and so he needs
exposure to both accents.  Which accent he choses to learn is a separate
issue, but unless he's already a very advanced student, his own foreign
accent will mask any American or British pronunciation features he may
have learned.

It has been remarked to me that students who like the U.S. will claim
that the American accent is easier to learn and understand; students who
like the U.K. will claim that the British accent is easier to learn and
understand.

Also, if employers or students are going to be that picky, then one must
ask them _which_ American accent or British accent they
prefer--especially in the latter case, since British has several accents
of nearly equal prestige.  For American, the General American English
spoken by the bulk of North America is the usual choice (and that's
what's usually available as well, since most Americans and Canadians
speak it).

I would have some reservations about teachers with very strong and
exceptional regional accents, such as cockney or a strong Deep South
accent.  Not too much of a problem for beginners, perhaps, but it would
rapidly become one as they advance.  In these exceptional cases, perhaps
the teacher should consider learning a more standard pronunciation (it's
easier for him than it would be for students).