How can a non-native speaker of English expect other non-native speakers to speak or write in perfect or flawless English? I don't. I am not a purist and I always believe that nobody is perfect, not even native speakers can claim perfect knowledge of the international language. We know that language is alive and it evolves everyday, so.
English, as is true with other fellow Filipinos, is only second language to me. I learned the language when I first went to school but it was so easy to learn it because by nature English is so built that it comes out handy like a laptop that you can carry or use anywhere.
Later in Grade V I discovered the beauty of reading and that was when my interest in the language reached its peak. I read voraciously and English became my favorite subject back then. It was so easy to get good grades in the subject and so I thought maybe this was where my future career lay. Pursuing a degree leading to the further study of my favorite subject became a matter of course.
As an English teacher now I know it is next to impossible to expect perfection from students. Minor problems in grammar and pronunciation may be overlooked in favor of communication which is the end-all of language learning. Developing the students' interest and confidence in using the language is one agendum that English teachers need to accomplish first and foremost.
Let our students speak and use the language naturally without being bogged down by technical difficulties. As soon as they have acquired this good habit of using it wherever they are inside the campus, then you can move higher. But first, help them get started.
1 comment:
In fact most foreigners do not really pay a lot of attention with how people speak their English. Am not sure but it is how i see it. but that does not mean we are tolerating folks in speaking some kind of broken english. it is really good to inculcate confidence among students. I hope most teachers are sensitive to that need.
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