Language accent and speed-TESOLinChina

Language barriers have become one critical issue that captures the concern of many language teachers and learners   in consideration of the influence on   language acquisition. When I was in China, I thought my English level was not too bad. But after going abroad for learing, I found it was not so easy to adapt to the English learning environment. Numbers of people think over theissue about what is the causes and how to solve it. My view is that the elements including language accent, speed and culture are the main reasons that lead to this issue. In this short thesis, I will explore the language barrier from the elements of language accent and speed.

In the first place, the difference of language accent causes language barrier to a great extent. When I studied at the University of Nottingham in England, many of my professors were people from all parts of the areas in England, and they more or less speak their native dialects. As is known to all, dialects are quite different from the official language, which is reflected in the pronunciation of words and the intonation of speech. As a result, when we were having class and communicating with the professors, it was inevitable that we did not understand what they says.

What also needs to be mentioned is that the accent issue might exist in everyday life. The most common thing is that when some students order food in foreign restaurants. Here is an example of myself. Once I was eating in a restaurant and the waiter asked me if I need a cup of Latte. I only heard the sound stress [ti:], thinking she asked me whether I wanted "tea", then I said yes. When it was served, I realized that I had misheard it. Every country or even every region has its own unique language accent, which is a special identity formed by the continuous evolution of this area since its birth and development. It carries a kind of historical brand, and it is difficult for people to change their accent in a short period of time (Richards and Rodgers, 2014).

Another cause leading to this situation is related to a fact that the speed of speech. The teacher speaks very fast in class, and there are many professional vocabularies that students can not understand. So it is very limited for learners to catch up with the teaching contents in one class, which may makes them troubled. It is claimed that the main reason of this kind of language barriercan is due to the learning purpose (Lightbown and Spada, 2006). When learning English at home, students have the very strong learing purpose that they eager to achieve high score in the English exam by learning words and grammar, however, through the test of practice, this kind ofmechanical knowledge learning can not meet the needs of the whole English teaching and communication (Lightbown and Spada, 2006). This kind of teaching can not help students to do the actual English knowledge reserve to a great extent.

So, how to deal with this issue? When it comes to accents, we can't change someone's accent, but we can change our ability to hear. If someone is familiar with the accent of the relevant country, listening ability will be able to improved to a large extent (Catford, 1987). The way to understand the accent is to listen to the local native English broadcast or communicate with native speakers actively, which enhance the language corpus input (Williams and Burden, 1997). We can compare the similarities and differences between local phonetics and what you have learned. In the continuous listening accumulation, the local accent may be understood.

In terms of language speed, the speed of speech is mainly reflected in acquiring the key words by ears. In fact, half of the words we use when we speak are meaningless. If we can pick up key words as we listen to a conversation, we can largely understand the main ideas. The key point of a sentence shows on nouns. Therefore, when we communicate with others, we should learn to focus on the nouns of the discourse (Lightbown and Spada, 2006).

In this part, I'd like to show some additional advice to language learners to overcome the language barriers in classroom languages learning. First, take class notes carefully. When the teacher explainsthe difficulties during the class, you can write down the key points of each lesson in your own notebooks. As the saying goes, a bad pen is better than a good memory. Second, take tutorial lessons and homework seriously. You should treat your homework seriously in each class, which canconsolidate your knowledge and deepen your understanding in the process of writing homework.Third, attend "Mutual Aid Meetings". To help students adjust to the new environment successfully, the school might organize "mutual aid groups" and invite young teachers or senior students to help freshmen who have difficulties in their studies. Fourth, one should cultivate your own learning ability and dare to speak the language in public. What`s more, in addition to the book knowledge, one should learn how to think and complete different tasks in using native thought. Because the difference between languages is actually the difference of cultures in various countries. The culture element will not be covered in this article.

To conclude, the language barriers are a big issue containing composite factors which calls forcombined efforts. Only through specific analysis of personal characteristics and local special circumstances can a better solution be given.

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