How to Overcome Accent Discrimination at Work
You've put in the hard work. You've practiced and perfected your language skills over years of diligent effort. You can express yourself fully, and understand everything other people say to you.
Yet still, you're facing discrimination at work - accent discrimination. Let's explore why in this age of multiculturalism we're still facing this challenge and how it can be overcome.
What is Accent Discrimination?
Accent discrimination is nothing new, and it's important to understand it doesn't just happen to people who speak English as a second language.
Sadly, some English speakers are just as judgmental of other English accents as they are of foreign ones.
The basic concept is that when people hear an accent different from their own, they start to make judgments. These include assumptions about the culture, religion, social background and class of a person.
Why Are Accents an Issue?
The brain takes more time to process foreign accents. This is understandable, due to differences in pronunciation, stress patterns and other linguistic features we may not be familiar with.
Problems come when people make negative assumptions about others because of their accents.
Is Accent Discrimination Legal?
The discrimination element comes in when you are treated differently from native speakers in the workplace. This is illegal.
There have been language discrimination cases in the US, which have resulted in large payouts, including one $500,000 compensation package awarded to an Iraqi employee who was discriminated against in Arizona.
Can You Change Your Accent?
The great news is yes, you can!
You need to be clear about your goal here - many people feel self-conscious speaking their second language because of a strong accent.
When this accent interferes with everyday communication at work or in life, it's a barrier to fully enjoying life in your new country.
Your goal here is not to lose your identity - just to be easy to understand.
How to Do It
As always with language learning, the answer is practice, practice, practice.
However, that doesn't mean going it alone and just trying by ear to improve your accent. This approach probably won't lead to success. Instead, you need professional guidance from experienced accent tutors.
Video classes and training materials are also very helpful. They can help you to understand not only how the accent sounds, but also how to form the sounds correctly yourself.
These days, online tutoring can be a powerful tool to help you improve. Small group tutoring is a great start, and 1:1 targeted work with a tutor is the gold standard.
They will enable you to identify things to work on you never even realized you needed help with, and will give you tools to overcome them.
Overcoming Accent Discrimination at Work
Accent discrimination is not fun, and you should not have to put up with it.
There are legal options available to you if you face ongoing accent discrimination in the workplace. However, it may be possible to resolve this locally with your human resources department.
But if you, like many people newly working in the US, feel that you would like some professional pronunciation training, then we have just the package for you. Learn more about our Pronunciation Pro packages today!