Iran (IMNA) - However, there are several situations that might make communication between two individuals more difficult; for example, take into account the participants' respective native languages. It is well known that non-native speech is more difficult to comprehend than native speech, which can lead to misunderstandings.
The speed at which a part of speech may be accomplished through communication is slowed down when speakers do not have common linguistic roots.
It is evident that non-native speech differs from native speech on a number of levels, including speaking rate and the way that individual sounds are spoken. It may be more difficult for native listeners to understand non-native speech due to all of these auditory characteristics. Similar to how other kinds of hearing impairments might influence perception, consider how challenging it can be to hear speech at a noisy cocktail party.
People assume a lot about someone based on their speech, whether or not they are aware of it. People can infer a person's socioeconomic background and/or geographic origins from certain characteristics, such as a distinctive twang or lilt.
Many of us struggle with being able to communicate clearly in a foreign language. Delivering a message in a language other than your first language is frequently required if you're a newbie to a country in order to access essential services, perform well at work, earn excellent grades, and integrate into society. However, it's likely that speakers of various native languages have various difficulties communicating well.
Foreign accents frequently draw unwanted attention since listeners may easily pick them out. Previous studies have demonstrated that even untrained listeners can distinguish between native and non-native speakers after hearing speech that is only 0.03 seconds long, played backward, or in a foreign language.
Regardless of a person's mother tongue, the linguistic variables that contribute to accented speech are extremely similar. For instance, vowel and consonant mistakes always make speakers seem accented.
For adults learning a language, sounding like a native speaker is impractical and, maybe, undesirable owing to identity-related concerns. Accordingly, the majority of linguists concur that the key to effective oral communication is for learners to be easily accessible or comprehensible to their conversational partners.
English teachers can focus on the most important features of speech their students need to communicate effectively by separating the elements of speech that are necessary for understanding from those elements that may be obvious or annoying but do not really obstruct communication.
Instead of trying to lessen their accents, pronunciation education for non-native English speakers ought to concentrate on making their students easier to understand by facilitating conversations with partners.
Despite the fact that listeners are sensitive to accents, language instructors and scholars are increasingly in agreement that striving to lessen a learner's accent is an inappropriate objective. This is mostly due to the fact that one does not necessarily need to sound like a native speaker in order to properly integrate into a new community or perform professionally.
We also should keep in mind that mispronunciation may lead to some sort of racism. Linguistic racism needs to be tackled head-on at the educational level.
Teachers need to be strategic about having ongoing conversations about linguistic variety as a type of diversity and educating English native language learners about how language-related biases affect communications and opportunities.
On an individual level, speakers of English as a first language can make their English more accessible. They can slow down and avoid inside jokes and idioms, for instance. They can talk less in meetings to give more space to non-native speakers, while also allowing non-native speakers to chair meetings and set the tone for communications. They can also pay attention to body language and improve their listening skills, for instance, by seeking out popular culture featuring varied groups of people and thus varied ways of communicating. With greater exposure, the brain becomes better at understanding differently accented speech. Overall, everyone can become more aware of language-related biases.
In the end, instructional materials and teaching strategies should include the elements that are most crucial for assisting learners in communicating more successfully based on their native language background.
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