I had a lovely reflective post planned about the reluctance of using technology by some of the teachers where I work and what I had learned from this about myself as a manager and how this would affect my future tech implementations at future places of work but that all changed on 20th July when the BBC posted an article on Americanisms.
Wow- talk about opening up a whole world of hate. Now I must say that I have biased interest in this topic.I am married to an American, and I have witnessed open mocking of her accent and choice of words by British teachers when we were teaching in Poland. This went beyond the banter of gosh don't you sound funny to quite blatant derisory attacks. We have lived in the UK now for close to 5 years, and she has experienced this with colleagues at work who see now problems with repeating what she says back to her in the most obnoxious mocking imitation of her accent. Like some sort of Jim Davidson or Stan Boardman 1980s entertainer. Just for parity they also have mocked my Northern Accent, but well you know you are all right you are one of us- don't take it personally
The question I always ask (and unfortunately do still need to ask) is would you do that to a colleague from India (Jade Goody anyone?)
People are shocked that I would even ask the question...
If you replaced America with another country it soon becomes puerile and racist-
so what is your favourite Indianism? The way they pronounce Manchester is just funny- What about those Turkishisms? It drives me crazy when they can't pronounce kebab properly Ad nauseam...
So after careful thought I waded into twitter and got stuck into the debate. What an eye opener. I do recommend looking at the hash tag Americanisms and you will see that the English (not British really) are quite happy to chant along to all this hatred.
An example here:
What kind of word is "gotten"? It makes me shudder. Julie Marrs, Warrington
To "medal" instead of to win a medal. Sets my teeth on edge with a vengeance. Helen, Martock, Somerset
Helen if you are reading this (I am sure you won't be!)please don't watch the Olympics next year and thank you for that wonderful turn of phrase to set your teeth on edge with a vengeance. Must remember that one.
Never mind all the other problems in the world happening at the moment -
Train station. My teeth are on edge every time I hear it. Who started it? Have they been punished? Chris Capewell, Queens Park, London I am sure the Daily Express have already started an inquiry into that one.
I am not surprised by these feelings but I am surprised by the BBC - especially with their close connection to the British Council and what they stand for.
The best post in response to this was at Language Log
Sadly it is telling that there is a disclaimer on comments stating that:
Comments are closed because the British would start posting more of their hate speech here, and Language Log doesn't allow that.
Bit of a long rant but I feel better now. Hope to post that reflection on technology soon.
Oh dear! Really hope that you do feel better - so sorry to read about this.
ReplyDeleteLook forward to your reflection on reluctance as i can identify with this problem!
Fiona
Thanks Fiona. Rant over:) I am formulating this post this week on reluctance and looking forward to reading any response you post.
ReplyDeleteI also found some of the language used in that BBC article a bit over-the-top. As you say, people are often ignorant as to where certain terms originally came from or where they are actually used (e.g. my family's hometown in Staffordshire where ain't is a commonly heard expression).
ReplyDeleteI have to say the vitriolic reactions cut both ways though. In my time in Turkey, I have observed it is the American teachers who usually have an issue with certain British English terms. Complaints about 'having to' adhere to a British English-based coursebook are common as are condescending remarks like "what do you mean you left it in the boot of your car?"
The British/Canadian/Australian/Irish etc teachers I've come across generally have a more open attitude to the differences in vocab, grammatical structures, pronunciation and spelling. Maybe I've just been lucky in that sense!
Very good points and yes I agree it does go both ways. I wonder if this has something to do with student expectations and current materials. In a previous position, I have had students request not to be taught by a Canadian teacher as they thought that branch of English was in some way inferior! I tried to explain about Kachru's ideas of inner circle, outer circle and an expanding circle and who they would probably be using English with in the future, but the student was having none of it. They wanted British English - whatever that really means.
ReplyDeleteThe market leaders of course books very often have a unit solely on American English and normally it is set up as a comparative lesson - not sure this helps much.
Great final point. On the whole it is rare to find an insular teacher and I hope your good luck continues on that sense. Thank you again for a great response.