Listening to Dialects

Everybody wants to learn “American” English

• Let’s listen to some American English. (From the PBS documentary American Tongues)

1. Tangier Island, Virginia2. Kentucky (Southern, Appalachian) MidwesternTexas

Discuss the following questions with your partner:1. Which of the 3 dialects was easiest (hardest) to

understand?2. Which of the 3 areas/dialects have the following

traits? A. Have boring, plain speech with few idioms. B. Like to tell long stories and have casual chats. C. Like to beat around the bush before getting to the point.

• Let’s watch a few more videos. CajunCajun Chef

• Gullah

Listening to Different Englishes

1. Listen to the following passage. Dictate what you hear.

2. Check your dictation: Please call Stella. Ask her to bring these things with her from the store: Six spoons of fresh snow peas, five thick slabs of blue cheese, and maybe a snack for her brother Bob. We also need a small plastic snake and a big toy frog for the kids. She can scoop these things into three red bags, and we will go meet her Wednesday at the train station.

3. Listen to the same passages again and guess the dialect.

Homework in the Speech Accent Archive or IDEA

1. Visit the speech accent archive website (or the IDEA site). Choose 2 or 3 dialects you are interested in.

2. Listen to the passage several times. Make notes on noticeable characteristics of the dialects. For example, do they change certain sounds? is the dialect easier or harder to understand than other dialects? Do they make certain grammar or pronunciation errors?