Work /
Interview at a Callan School [204]
Sometimes when I'm bored I do an entire lesson in a Jamaican accent or maybe a Welsh / Pakistani accent. The students never notice though, even when I put on my kilt and red hair and do a Scottish accent (like Russ Abbot's 'Jimmy').
They are taught Queens English, which no one speaks. Do you hear that in London or Manchester? cos if you do, i doubt you use ur ears.
But most non natives will be using English to communicate with other non-natives. Why should they be concerned with sounding good in Manchester?
The fact is that The Queen's / BBC English is the most widely-accepted British English accent because, right or wrong, it does carry some sort of prestige value. Even in the UK, just about everyone can understand BBC English but local dialects cannot understand each other - a thick Glasgow accent is just as impenetrable to someone from Cornwall, Newcastle or London. BBC English on the other hand is understood all over the world because it is a standard.
Hiring a Native and asking them to drill students in their own dialect or accent is a waste of time. What are the students meant to do when they go on to another teacher with a completely different accent? No, even though Polish teachers have a lot of faults, I can't count their pronunciation among them - sure, they might sound artificial but most are clear and most importantly, 'accent neutral' if I may be so bold.
The point of mid atlantic is to help the student fit in... wherever they go.
Good idea, but you run the risk of old Radio 1 DJ jokes