In 1995 I was teaching English in a language school in London. Part of my job meant that I had to be observed by the director of studies. In my first observation at the school, the lesson went very well. It was a group of about 15 adults from various countries: Germany, Japan, Brazil, Italy and Spain. I sailed through my lesson plan. I even made the students laugh a few times. I was totally sure that I had nailed it. Wrong.
Once the students left the class, I noticed that the director of studies wasn’t smiling. I knew that we had a few minutes for feedback before the next lesson started, so I made my way over to him to sit down. He looked at me with a serious expression on his face and said. “You know that in Manchester and most of the north of England, we pronounce the word ‘b-u-s’ as /bʊs/ not /bʌs/.” I swallowed hard and sweat began to break out on my forehead.
During my lesson I had done a very theatrical session ‘drilling’ the word ‘bus’ with the group (drilling is the technical word for repeatedly practicing the pronunciation of a word over and over again). I had insisted that the students drop their jaws as they said the word to get that open vowel sound. I corrected anyone who dared to say it without the jaw drop – as the Spanish and Italians tended to do. I had basically corrected any of those students who had said the word like my boss – a native English speaker from Manchester.
It was then that I realized that he was right. In many parts of the UK, that open vowel sound is not only is few and far between, but it hardly exists. So why put so much focus on it?
Luckily the rest of the feedback was good, but I have always remembered that conversation and witnessed over the years this insistence on forcing a southern English accent on many of our unsuspecting students. Nowadays both academics and English language learners are talking about this. Should native speaker accents be the goal – and if so, which ones? For me, it is a relief to be having these conversations and here I will tell you why.
Should native speaker accents be the goal? The short answer is no
English is the most widely spoken second language in the world. With approximately 1.5 billion people speaking English as a second language, it far outnumbers the 400 million native speakers. People learn English for various reasons—career advancement, travel, education, or simply to connect with others globally. It’s the go-to foreign language for people all over the world.
So, is it really necessary to speak like a native?
The short answer is no. What’s more important is being clear and understandable. Pronunciation only becomes an issue when the way you say it is so far from the way it ‘should be said’ that it becomes unrecognizable to the listener. One clear example of this is the pronunciation of past simple regular verbs. Most verbs (the ones that don’t end in a ‘t’ or ‘d’ sound) do not have an extra syllable in the pronunciation, even though ‘ed’ has been added to the end.
For example, the word talk is one syllable. To put this in the past tense we add ‘ed’ to the verb. However, we do not add an extra syllable: talk = 1 syllable ➡️ talked = 1 syllable
As far as pronunciation is concerned, if you add a syllable to this verb, it is then that the pronunciation is so different from how it should be pronounced, that it means the listener probably won’t understand, whether they are from Helsinki, Tokyo or Manchester.
Research indicates that there is an optimal age for acquiring a second language in a manner that closely resembles native pronunciation, often referred to as the "critical period." Generally, this critical period is believed to end around the age of seven. Beyond this age, while it is still possible to learn a new language fluently, the likelihood of speaking it without an accent diminishes significantly.
An Italian flight attendant, a Japanese marketing manager, a Finnish shop assistant, a Spanish waiter, and a French tour guide all use English for their jobs. Their main goal is to communicate clearly with a diverse audience. In these situations, the focus should be on effective communication rather than trying to erase every trace of a foreign accent.
This does not mean that we should abandon all hope of working on pronunciation, while having an accent can be seen as exotic and exciting, if it hinders communication it becomes a barrier.
So, is it necessary to speak like a native?
While speaking like a native might be an admirable goal for some, it is by no means a necessity for effective communication in English. Pronunciation matters only to the extent that it affects clarity and mutual understanding. Our goal is to be understood and to understand. That’s why focus on pronunciation is important.
The rich tapestry of English accents around the world and within countries like the UK itself demonstrates that there is no single "correct" way to speak the language. Unless you are a spy needing to infiltrate a native-speaking English community without detection, you do not need to have the unrealistic goal of trying to get rid of your accent.
Instead, embrace the diversity of accents spoken by the other 1.5 billion people around the world. Speaking English is a means to communicate with people wherever they are from, Sydney, Calcutta, Warsaw, Rome or Bilbao. As long as you get the right bus to the right place using English as a vehicle, you have triumphed.