Your accent is not a disorder

During one of the lessons about language acquisition, one of my course mates whispered into my ears- “sometimes I don’t understand what she is saying.” referring to the lecturer who spoke English in a different way. 

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Several weeks ago, I had to call the internet service provider.

On the other hand, the automated voice: Hi, this is Telstra helpline. Please explain the reason for your call.

Me: Hi, there is a problem with my internet connection. There is no green signal on the modem box.

Automated voice: we have not received any input.

Me *very slowly*: My internet is not working.

Automated voice: sorry, we are unable to process your request.

Me: Dei!! INTERNET DA!! INTERNET DA! INTERRRRRRRNET.

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In both instances, it was not a matter of confusing input that hindered effective communication. Indeed,all of us spoke the common language- English. It wasn’t an issue of ‘I didn’t understand or it didn’t understand”. It was the way we spoke that made it sound incomprehensible to the other party.

Accent.

According to the American Speech Language Hearing Association, accent is identified as a unique way that speech is pronounced by a group of people speaking the same language. Accents exist even in the animal world, with goats and pigeons sounding differently depending on where they live. Regional accents explain why an individual from New York is likely to sound much different than someone from Mississippi. And that applies to everyone around the world. Growing up in a multi-lingual society like Singapore, my accent is created, re-shaped and influenced by the many languages I hear and speak.

Can accents be acquired?

For instance, a Singaporean couple aged 35 migrates to Australia. Their child born here, because of the exposure to the local linguistic environment, acquires the Australian accent naturally. However, the couple may not sound like a  native-Australian even after decades of living in this country.

Researchers discovered that there is a critical period in language learning. This period refers to the capacity to acquire language before a particular age and in a particular time period. Once children attain puberty, they have more difficulty learning a language. The brain looses its plasticity after puberty and that makes it challenging for people after puberty to acquire fluency in second language or sound native-like. Even if this is a theoretical concept, we have seen and talked to people who have picked up the accent successfully, to some extent, after the critical period. So how does that happen?

We all want to be effective and competent communicators. In the theory of language accommodation, we call it convergence. When we speak and the other party do not seem to understand, we start sounding like them so that successful communication takes place. I used to be one of those ignorant people who have made fun of foreign-return people who spoke with an accent. It was not that they wanted to show off, but it was a strategy that they had to use in order for them to survive on a foreign land.

We know accents exist and it can be acquired in varying degrees of success if we want to.

So all is well right? So what is the issue now?

There seems to be a potential problem with leaning towards one standard accent in any country that welcomes so many diverse cultures and nationalities.

On a surface level, it may seem like Karl is discriminating a group of people. He is desperate to get help as soon as possible. It does cause frustration on both sides when we don’t comprehend what the other person is saying.

“I want to talk to an Australian about my problems in my house.”

We should not assume that the Filipino or that Malaysian isn't an effective customer service officer. I got connected to one of them, they took note of the issue and a technical guy was sent to my house a week later. 

“I want to talk to an Australian”  emphasizes the fact that he wants to speak to someone who would be able to understand what he is saying. In this shrinking world where boundaries are blurred and with the increasing influx of people migrating to several countries, there would be people around us who are going to speak in different accents.

The “accent issue” may become a real anxiety buster for anyone. We may even be a part of a vicious circle of the linguistic shame! It did, to me, to some extent. In the initial days in Australia, it did crush my self-esteem a little especially me being a student in the linguistics programme and yet I have to repeat the word ‘internet’ 3 million times over the phone. It becomes even more confusing when people actually compliment you, “hey Singaporeans speak very good english but…”

So should I speak slowly?

Should I change the intonation?

Should I start extending vowels?

Should I widen my jaw further when I speak?

Have we thought about why, even though no one in our closest circle speak with an American accent, yet we are able to understand and enjoy Hollywood films and pop-songs?

Have we thought about why, even though not many in our country  speak with an Indian-accent, yet we are able to understand and appreciate the interviews given by Bollywood stars?

Have we thought about why, even though we have no close association with British accent, yet we are able to comprehend every single word Prince Harry said in his wedding vows?

Familiarity.

We have gotten ourselves familiar with these specific sounds/accents. Exposure of films, songs, youtube, other forms of media that celebrate and endorse certain accents have made us familiar to those particular sounds.

Your accent is not a disorder.
Your accent is not an embarrassment.
Your accent is not a dishonour.

That course mate who had issues following how the lecturer spoke, eventually started recognizing the way the lecturer sounded and in the final week, she told me, “hey not too bad now. I can understand her now.” The more you expose yourself to the various ways of spoken interaction, the more familiar you become. In fact, getting familiar with how different people sound,certainly, activates your brain to listen attentively and eventually, it enables the brain to process more varieties of  the language.  A friend of mine told me how he was still trying to comprehend Vietnamese speaking English, but that he could completely get what English-speaking Koreans say because he has stayed in Korea for few years.

I would not even label this as a solution. This is not solution. This is not even a problem. This is not tolerance. This is acceptance. It is about familiarity. And for that to happen, we have to give ourselves space and time.

During a whatsapp conversation with a friend about accents, he said “I find it hard to have to consciously decode while listening and having to maintain a conversation at the same time.”

Bro, it is not going to be easy. It is not going to be achieved overnight.

But what is embracing diversity without accepting for how they speak?

This is why we need more people like Sashi Cheliah to show us the way. As much as he is an asset to the culinary world, he is indeed doing much more to the linguistic world. He, communicating in a way he is natural at, is a massive stepping stone to get people familiar to the way he speaks. That Singapore flavour that he adds not only to his dishes, but to every word he says, is a feast to everyone who wants to celebrate diversity. Every accent in the world needs its own recognition and opportunity. We need to hear more people speak comfortably in their own accents. We need to hear more language varieties on media.

So Karl, let’s not neglect someone’s way of speaking just because we aren’t familiar with it. The mass majority of us speak in a way that identifies in the world we have come from. We should not succumb to pressure to lose our identity and our accent because it is no different from asking dark skinned people to use skin whitening creams to look like brighter and whiter just because the society values this supposedly-accepted symbol of beauty. 

Remember, we’ve done enough damage to beauty standards. 

Let’s not pressure the Filipino or the Malaysian to speak in a way that they aren’t going to acquire in milliseconds. By doing so, we are unknowingly accepting the notion that one accent is more favorable and superior to the others.

Recently, I started volunteering at a homework club for school-going kids of migrant families.

The 16-year-old boy, who has been in Australia for the past 3 years, asked me, “ what is it mean by how this book is written?”

I, “ did the writer use the word I?”

“Ah..yes..”

“that means it is first person narrative.”

He typed the answer on the computer- ‘first percent”

“no, not percent. person. First person narrative.”

I spelt the word out for him- ‘p.e.r.s.o.n’

He went, “Oh…barson..okay okay…” and he correctly typed ‘person’.