LINGUIST List 3.589

Sat 18 Jul 1992

Disc: Accents in the Classroom

Editor for this issue: <>

Directory

1. Vicki Fromkin, Re: 3.576 Accents in the Classroom
2. "Ellen F. Prince", Re: 3.576 Accents in the Classroom

Message 1: Re: 3.576 Accents in the Classroom

re accents: my son pronouned the initial vowel of ORANGE, the color
with an /a/ like I do, and with an /o/ like his California peers. Vicki F

Message 2: Re: 3.576 Accents in the Classroom

i just wanted to point out that, at least in new york city 30 years ago, one
couldn't teach if one had a 'speech defect'. a cousin of mine was rejected
because her /l/'s weren't clear--exactly the same problem that barbara walters
has and that hasn't seemed to hinder her... and it goes without saying that
children do NOT 'pick up' speech defects that they hear in others, whether in
peers or parents or teachers (the apocryphal story about how castilian got its
intervocalic fricative notwithstanding).