Arizona law worries non-native educators
Advocacy groups and many stakeholders say targeting teachers who speak in accented English is unfair
By Maya T. Prabhu, Assistant Editor
Read more by Maya Prabhu
Some Arizona teachers fear for their jobs as a result of a new policy seeking to reassign teachers who speak with heavy accents.
Many Arizona teachers who learned English as a second language or who speak in accented English, and who are educating English language learners, are worried about their job security after word spread about the state education department’s suggestion that those educators with heavy accents be reassigned.
Recent media reports state that the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) has mandated that teachers whose spoken English it deems to be heavily accented or ungrammatical must be removed from classes containing students who are learning to speak English.
Reports quote ADE officials as saying that the intent of the initiative is to ensure that students with limited English have teachers who are highly qualified in fluency of the English language.
“The teacher obviously must be fluent in every aspect of the English language,” Adela Santa Cruz, director of the ADE office that enforces standards in classes for students with limited English, said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. An eSchool News request for comment from ADE was not returned by press time.
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and its Arizona affiliate issued a joint statement expressing the organizations’ disappointment with the department’s recommendation.
“For decades the field of English language teaching has suffered from the myth that one only needs to be a native English speaker in order to teach the English language. The myth further implicates that native English speakers make better English as a second language or English as a foreign language teachers than nonnative speakers of English, because native English speakers are perceived to speak ‘unaccented’ English and understand and use idiomatic expressions fluently,” the statement read.
Some say the myth does a disservice to those who have been trained to teach English but are not native English speakers.
“Does Arizona prefer a native speaker of English with no training in education [or instruction], or would they prefer someone with an accent who was trained as a teacher?” asked Michael Pasquale, director of the graduate-level TESOL program at Cornerstone University in Michigan.
“But even native speakers have varied accents all over the U.S. The way it’s been reported, [the definition of 'accent'] is very vague,” he said.
Educators also are not aware of the criteria used to judge a teacher’s fluency, said John Segota, director of advocacy for TESOL.
“We’ve not been able to identify a set of assessment standards that are being used to evaluate teachers. It seems to be individual people making assessments,” he said.
Evaluators reportedly were instructed to audit teachers on things such as comprehensible pronunciation, correct grammar, and good writing.
Officials said Arizona teachers who are deemed to speak with too heavy an accent or without proper grammar will be able to take classes or other steps to improve their English.
Some vendors offer accent reduction software, programs that many TESOL educators say may be able to help with certain areas, but might not be much help overall. Pasquale said it’s nearly impossible for a nonnative English speaker to completely lose an accent as an adult.
The TESOL/AZ-TESOL statement said ADE’s policy is also troubling from a political standpoint.
pameladooley
May 25, 2010 at 1:48 pm
My husband speaks with a heavy accent but he is a natural English speaker…just Cajun!
pameladooley
May 25, 2010 at 1:48 pm
My husband speaks with a heavy accent but he is a natural English speaker…just Cajun!
computerhead
May 25, 2010 at 2:28 pm
The three Arizona measures establish a pattern.
Think Mississippi 1948. South Africa 1968.
The rationalizations smell the same to those who
have a non-white field of experience.
computerhead
May 25, 2010 at 2:28 pm
The three Arizona measures establish a pattern.
Think Mississippi 1948. South Africa 1968.
The rationalizations smell the same to those who
have a non-white field of experience.
computerhead
May 25, 2010 at 2:40 pm
When he leaves the governorship Arnold Schwarzenegger won’t be able
to get a job in Arizona. Even his Kindergarten Cop credentials will be to no avail when the Accent Police catch up with him. :–)
computerhead
May 25, 2010 at 2:40 pm
When he leaves the governorship Arnold Schwarzenegger won’t be able
to get a job in Arizona. Even his Kindergarten Cop credentials will be to no avail when the Accent Police catch up with him. :–)
mwigen67
May 25, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Just curious what you have to say about teachers with heavy southern or northeastern accents. Should they also not be allowed to be Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages? Their accents may impede the learning of students in “correct” pronunciations and both of those areas (as all other areas of the U.S.) have many idiomatic expressions of their own that are not used elsewhere in the country, making the phrase “understand and use idiomatic phrases fluently” rather useless. I don’t use nor understand many idiomatic phrases from the south, but I am a native English speaker with a college degree. Since I am white and from the Pacific Northwest, I assume I am what they are looking for in Arizona, but my Southern-speaking, teacher-trained nieces would not qualify due to their “heavy accents,” though they are fluent in the use of southern idiomatic phrases. Let’s think about this, Arizona…
mwigen67
May 25, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Just curious what you have to say about teachers with heavy southern or northeastern accents. Should they also not be allowed to be Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages? Their accents may impede the learning of students in “correct” pronunciations and both of those areas (as all other areas of the U.S.) have many idiomatic expressions of their own that are not used elsewhere in the country, making the phrase “understand and use idiomatic phrases fluently” rather useless. I don’t use nor understand many idiomatic phrases from the south, but I am a native English speaker with a college degree. Since I am white and from the Pacific Northwest, I assume I am what they are looking for in Arizona, but my Southern-speaking, teacher-trained nieces would not qualify due to their “heavy accents,” though they are fluent in the use of southern idiomatic phrases. Let’s think about this, Arizona…
Sinclair
May 25, 2010 at 8:09 pm
Without knowing all of the parameters of the statements, etc, therefore only responding to this article, I must say that as an educator with an MA in TESOL, certification to teach several languages in the K-12 environment, I have no problem with the requirement that ELL learners be taught by professionals with “comprehensible pronunciation, correct grammar, and good writing”.
Those teachers who “speak with too heavy an accent or without proper grammar” should not be teaching our ELL children their improper language skills. If my pronunciation in any of the languages I can teach is off, I work to improve it. I also personally refuse to teach a level higher than I personally have.
How do children learn except by mimicking, practicing, etc? Yes, the way that this process came about probably could have been done better. Yes, there are those who are justly unhappy with the new law. But we are talking about our children and for them there is no do over. These teachers are being given the opportunity to improve, which is what every educator should do.
Dr. S Sinclair,
MA:TESOL, MSA, EdD
Sinclair
May 25, 2010 at 8:09 pm
Without knowing all of the parameters of the statements, etc, therefore only responding to this article, I must say that as an educator with an MA in TESOL, certification to teach several languages in the K-12 environment, I have no problem with the requirement that ELL learners be taught by professionals with “comprehensible pronunciation, correct grammar, and good writing”.
Those teachers who “speak with too heavy an accent or without proper grammar” should not be teaching our ELL children their improper language skills. If my pronunciation in any of the languages I can teach is off, I work to improve it. I also personally refuse to teach a level higher than I personally have.
How do children learn except by mimicking, practicing, etc? Yes, the way that this process came about probably could have been done better. Yes, there are those who are justly unhappy with the new law. But we are talking about our children and for them there is no do over. These teachers are being given the opportunity to improve, which is what every educator should do.
Dr. S Sinclair,
MA:TESOL, MSA, EdD
dw
May 25, 2010 at 11:54 pm
Why are “heavily accented” and “ungrammatical” in the same sentence? Good grief! I speak English with a distinctly heavy accent–it’s called Texan. I am an English teacher. If anyone bothered to listen to the the ADE rep on the news, it is NOT the accent. It has to do with being ungrammatical. Teachers, how many of you work in a building with someone who butchers the English language?? Is it too much to expect an English teacher to be grammatically correct? The very people who are crying, ‘Foul!” are the very ones who do not truly understand what is going on in these issues. Please, please know the facts before you bestow your opinion on the rest of us. Thank you.
dw
May 25, 2010 at 11:54 pm
Why are “heavily accented” and “ungrammatical” in the same sentence? Good grief! I speak English with a distinctly heavy accent–it’s called Texan. I am an English teacher. If anyone bothered to listen to the the ADE rep on the news, it is NOT the accent. It has to do with being ungrammatical. Teachers, how many of you work in a building with someone who butchers the English language?? Is it too much to expect an English teacher to be grammatically correct? The very people who are crying, ‘Foul!” are the very ones who do not truly understand what is going on in these issues. Please, please know the facts before you bestow your opinion on the rest of us. Thank you.
andrewmason
May 26, 2010 at 1:03 pm
I’d hate to point out the obvious, but EVERYONE speaks with an accent. An accent is simply a regional pronunciation of a language. Most often, an accent has to do with where one learns their native language. Direct instruction is only one factor in speaking a language. People also subconsciously pick up accents over time just from listening to the prominent accent in their area. A person’s accent is not set in stone. Of course, it will always retain traces of the original accent.
So what constitutes a “strong accent”? And what is the “proper accent”? Since we’re speaking about the English language, one might logically assume that the proper accent would be an English one (which one of the various regional accents is up for debate, but my money is on the BBC standard). In this case, very few people in the United States are qualified to teach English and the majority of Americans need to relearn how to speak.
I agree that teachers should be able to teach their students proper grammar and spelling as these skills are lacking even for many students who speak English as their first language. Still, even what constitutes proper English spelling, grammar, and language is rather fluid as all languages evolve over time. Words, expressions, and even grammatical structure change. Just look at Shakespearean play or a Victorian novel for proof. However, teachers must teach the current grammar structures. This s not too hard to ask, but this may mean updating teaching practices and teacher knowledge.
Obviously this policy is ridiculous. If this country is going to be a multi-cultural one, the people must accept that there are going to be a number of different accents to it’s native language. It seems awfully suspicious to me. One might be led to believe this might have more to do with issues of immigration than anything else.
andrewmason
May 26, 2010 at 1:03 pm
I’d hate to point out the obvious, but EVERYONE speaks with an accent. An accent is simply a regional pronunciation of a language. Most often, an accent has to do with where one learns their native language. Direct instruction is only one factor in speaking a language. People also subconsciously pick up accents over time just from listening to the prominent accent in their area. A person’s accent is not set in stone. Of course, it will always retain traces of the original accent.
So what constitutes a “strong accent”? And what is the “proper accent”? Since we’re speaking about the English language, one might logically assume that the proper accent would be an English one (which one of the various regional accents is up for debate, but my money is on the BBC standard). In this case, very few people in the United States are qualified to teach English and the majority of Americans need to relearn how to speak.
I agree that teachers should be able to teach their students proper grammar and spelling as these skills are lacking even for many students who speak English as their first language. Still, even what constitutes proper English spelling, grammar, and language is rather fluid as all languages evolve over time. Words, expressions, and even grammatical structure change. Just look at Shakespearean play or a Victorian novel for proof. However, teachers must teach the current grammar structures. This s not too hard to ask, but this may mean updating teaching practices and teacher knowledge.
Obviously this policy is ridiculous. If this country is going to be a multi-cultural one, the people must accept that there are going to be a number of different accents to it’s native language. It seems awfully suspicious to me. One might be led to believe this might have more to do with issues of immigration than anything else.
twinkie1cat
May 26, 2010 at 6:50 pm
I speak Deep South, Georgia. Last week someone in another state asked me what a “washhouse” was when I said I needed to go. That is what we call a laundromat in Atlanta. I am a teacher with 3 degrees and close to 30 years of experience, but if I went to Boston or New York I would be described as having an “accent”.
This policy is nothing but an attempt by Arizona to further stigmatize people from other countries. They are nothing but Republican bigots akin to the sodomites whom God destroyed for not welcoming strangers. Next they will say that the teachers who teach Spanish must speak English as their first language and may speak Spanish no better than Peggy on “King of the Hill”.
The governor of Arizona and her cronies are no better than the racists who enforced Jim Crow or the silly little sorority girls in my classes in college who said they “just couldn’t understand the “colored children’s” accents.
To pameladooley: Cajun is a beautiful and fascinating language and accent. It has taken a while but I am getting used to the silent “c” and the really odd, to me, pronunciations.
America is not a melting pot. It is a salad bowl. Every ingredient contributes to the flavor. If it was all lettuce it would be bland and tasteless. There is no room for in America is bigots and racists. Arizona needs to secede. It is getting out of control when it gets down so low as to harm teachers and students.
twinkie1cat
May 26, 2010 at 6:50 pm
I speak Deep South, Georgia. Last week someone in another state asked me what a “washhouse” was when I said I needed to go. That is what we call a laundromat in Atlanta. I am a teacher with 3 degrees and close to 30 years of experience, but if I went to Boston or New York I would be described as having an “accent”.
This policy is nothing but an attempt by Arizona to further stigmatize people from other countries. They are nothing but Republican bigots akin to the sodomites whom God destroyed for not welcoming strangers. Next they will say that the teachers who teach Spanish must speak English as their first language and may speak Spanish no better than Peggy on “King of the Hill”.
The governor of Arizona and her cronies are no better than the racists who enforced Jim Crow or the silly little sorority girls in my classes in college who said they “just couldn’t understand the “colored children’s” accents.
To pameladooley: Cajun is a beautiful and fascinating language and accent. It has taken a while but I am getting used to the silent “c” and the really odd, to me, pronunciations.
America is not a melting pot. It is a salad bowl. Every ingredient contributes to the flavor. If it was all lettuce it would be bland and tasteless. There is no room for in America is bigots and racists. Arizona needs to secede. It is getting out of control when it gets down so low as to harm teachers and students.
twinkie1cat
May 26, 2010 at 6:55 pm
I was once under an adminstrator who spoke straight up Ebonics. She had been promoted because of her looks. I guess Arizona would be glad to have her because she was an America and they want people to think their law is not racist.
twinkie1cat
May 26, 2010 at 6:55 pm
I was once under an adminstrator who spoke straight up Ebonics. She had been promoted because of her looks. I guess Arizona would be glad to have her because she was an America and they want people to think their law is not racist.
twinkie1cat
May 26, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Changing your accent is not “improvement”. It is just change. I am frankly tired of news anchors who appear to be from nowhere. Why should teachers have to sound the same.
Meanwhile, also change the standarized tests to reflect regional dialects and experiences. Southern children know about bayous and hurricanes, not mountains and snowsuits.
twinkie1cat
May 26, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Changing your accent is not “improvement”. It is just change. I am frankly tired of news anchors who appear to be from nowhere. Why should teachers have to sound the same.
Meanwhile, also change the standarized tests to reflect regional dialects and experiences. Southern children know about bayous and hurricanes, not mountains and snowsuits.