Accented teachers may be better for English language learners

The Washington Post
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/learning/accented-teachers-may-be-bette.html

A new study on how well students learn second languages from teachers with accents suggests that Arizona may be making a mistake by trying to remove heavily accented Hispanic teachers from classrooms filled with Hispanics trying to learn English.

School districts in Arizona are under orders from the state Department of Education to remove teachers who speak English with a very heavy accent (and/or whose speech is ungrammatical) from classrooms with students who are learning to speak English. Officials say they want students who don’t know much English to have teachers who can best model how to speak the language.

I wrote the other day about the difficulties in determining just how deep an accent has to be to be considered a problem, but here’s another side of the issue.

According to a new research study conducted in Israel, students learn a second language better from a teacher who speaks in the same accent as they do.

The study, published in the Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, said that students learning from a teacher with the same accent have an easier time understanding the material. They don’t have to spend time trying to understand the English in a different accent.

According to one of the report’s co-authors, Psychology Professor Zohar Eviatar, the concentration a student would have to summon to understand English in a different accent is considerably greater than if the student were a native English speaker.

In Arizona, that would mean that Hispanic kids studying English would learn better from teachers with Spanish accents.

The research, conducted at the University of Haifa, has implications not just for second language acquisition, but for how well students learn new subjects, Eviatar said.

The study was performed by researchers from different backgrounds. Dr. Raphiq Ibrahim is an Israeli Arab with an Arabic accent; Dr. Mark Leikin hails from the former Soviet Union and speaks with a Russian accent; Eviatar is a fluently bilingual Hebrew-English speaker. The team was both personally and professionally curious to know more about the accent effect.

Full text of this article available online at:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/learning/accented-teachers-may-be-bette.html

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 135 countries. Get your FREE E-book, “If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.

71 % of US Workers Are Learning Another Language to Increase Their Job Marketability

Additionally, 94% Believe Bilingual or Multilingual Skills Will Make an Employment Application More Competitive

PHOENIX, AZ--(Marketwire) - During the recent economic downturn, job seekers are learning another language to make themselves more competitive against other applicants submitting for the same positions.

In a recent survey of 300 respondents, 71% of US workers have begun learning another language to give them an edge against competing applicants. Additionally, 94% of respondents believe that learning another language makes someone more marketable and can positively impact earning potential.

As companies expand and grow their international relations, bilingual and multilingual candidates are increasingly in demand by employers. According to the survey, 67% of respondents communicate regularly with someone who predominantly speaks another language in their current or most recent position. Additionally, 59% applied for jobs in the past year that required a moderate knowledge of another language.

Language learning continues to be a growing market, as evidenced by recent findings from executive recruiting firm Korn/Ferry International, which cites that 31% of executives speak two languages and 20% speak three.

(1) Success Magazine also reports that bilingual workers earn $5,000 - $7,000 more in salary a year than solely English-speaking employees.

(2) The survey was conducted by Auralog, the pioneer of integrating advanced speech recognition technology with language learning. Auralog's award-winning TELL ME MORE® language-learning solution offers an engaging, culturally-immersive learning experience.

"As the world gets flatter, companies grow more global and span numerous cultures and languages," said Christophe Pralong, Auralog's North American vice president. "Job seekers need bilingual and multilingual skills to be competitive and succeed in this new business environment."

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About TELL ME MORE® powered by Auralog

Auralog is a world leader in language learning solutions and publisher of the award-winning TELL ME MORE solution suite. Auralog incorporates over 20 years of language empowerment experience, full training support services and advanced technologies including speech recognition, video, role play and spoken language tracking into the TELL ME MORE suite of language learning software programs. With offices in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and China, Auralog has more than 350 employees and provides services globally to more than 10,000 organizations and over seven million learners. Users of TELL ME MORE include consumers, primary, secondary, higher and adult education institutions, home school users and businesses of all sizes. www.tellmemore.com

(1) http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2009/01/26/why-it-pays-to-be-bilingual
(2) http://www.successmagazine.com/Invest-In-Youand-Your-Earnings-Potential/PARAMS/article/326/channel/22#

Contacts:
Katie Eakins / Erin Hall
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619 677 2700

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 100 countries. Get your FREE E-book, “If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.