2 April 2026: Accents - what we have in common and what makes us unique.

Accents: What we have in common and what makes us unique.

By Isabelle Schafer, International Coordinator, Institute of Education, University of Worcester

'I am from Mumbai, India. Hearing someone with this accent reminds me of home, my people, my family. It brings back memories of me growing up, travelling in the crowded trains to college. Overall, it reminds me of good times!'

- Trainee teacher

The quote above, written by a trainee teacher enrolled in an Initial Teacher Education Programme at the University of Worcester, England, illustrates that we tend to form positive associations with our accent. Our accent is unique to us; we combine consonants with vowel sounds differently when we say the word ‘path’, and we sometimes put the stress on different syllables, such as the word café, depending on where we grew up and where we live. Some of us may have an English accent in French, a Mexican accent in Spanish, or a Nigerian accent in Mandarin.

Accents are an important part of our identity, but they are not always viewed in a positive light. Baratta (2023, p.507), for example, discusses bias and discrimination towards accents in schools in England, particularly those associated with blue-collar workers. This issue is not unique to England, and Chakraborty (2017, p.59), in a study conducted in a Higher Education setting in the United States, reports that accented speech from neighbouring countries or from nations perceived to have higher economic status is generally viewed more positively by listeners. Listeners also make an instant judgment on what speakers look like, and Cushing and Clayton (2024, p.7) discuss how ‘race, class, and language’ are interconnected. Individuals are susceptible to judging accents based on how different they are from their expected norm, on perceived features of a background, and on their worldviews. This is significant because this may lead some listeners to draw hasty conclusions about a speaker’s level of intelligence, level of proficiency or competence, and to discredit speakers’ contributions. Those issues are exacerbated if speakers are from the Global South.

We are fortunate to have trainee teachers in our schools from around the world. Some are native speakers of international languages, and may well have the specific accent of the place they are from. Is this accent somehow wrong?

How do we create safe and empowering spaces for trainee teachers on placement, regardless of their accent?

Can we reflect on our experiences of working with trainee teachers who have a different accent from ours?

How do we encourage our trainee teachers to view their linguistic diversity as an asset rather than a barrier?

What strategies can we use to increase bias avoidance rather than accent reduction?

Last year, one mentor noted:

‘If they feel worried about their accent when speaking to the class in English, remind the class that they have an accent because they are fluent in a second language - English.’

Consider the following (made-up) trainee teacher scenarios, and possible answers:

‘There are gaps in his subject knowledge, and he often teaches the pupils the wrong pronunciation.’

Possible answer: The trainee teacher might need to work on their subject knowledge. Alternatively, consider that the trainee teacher’s pronunciation of words, or specific sounds, is correct, but different from the mentor’s expected norm. The trainee teacher could be encouraged to highlight pronunciation differences to pupils and explain why those differences exist.

‘There have been times in lessons when the trainee teacher has not understood what the pupils have said and vice versa, so it has been a journey for everyone.’

Possible answer: Pupils and the trainee teacher are finding it difficult to tune in. The trainee teacher should be reassured that they and pupils may need a bit of time to get used to each other’s accents. Pupils could be asked to repeat what they said, and the trainee teacher could be advised, at the beginning of the school placement, to script their classroom instructions and explanations for clarity.

One of the greatest benefits of working with internationally educated trainee teachers is the opportunity to engage in meaningful intercultural mentoring conversations. These partnerships invite both school mentors and trainee teachers to reflect on diverse educational practices, question established norms, and thoughtfully examine their own assumptions. Effective intercultural communication is a shared responsibility, rooted in mutual respect.

References

Baratta, A. (2023). Varieties of “standard accents” among teachers in contemporary Britain. World Englishes, 42(3), 507-522.

Chakraborty, R. (2017). A Short note on Accent–bias, Social Identity and Ethnocentrism. Advances in language and literary studies, 8(4), 57-64.

Cushing, I. and Clayton, D. (2024). Teachers Challenging Language Discrimination in England’s Schools: A Typology of Resistance. Journal of language, identity, and education, 1-16.