Tricks of the Ear
Listening through Accents
What It Is
Over the course of this program, participants will boost their proficiency in an increasingly important skill: learning to hear different cultural voices in order to decode the articulation, intonation and grammar patterns of speakers from Latin America, Russia, Somalia and Southeast Asia. Through a variety of dynamic activities, including sample videos, participants will learn to explore and use new listening techniques to help overcome stereotyped reactions, decrease ambiguity, and increase listening confidence.
Objectives
Participants will:
- understand the stereotypical connotations of a variety of accents
- learn why particular accents sound the way they do to the English-speaking ear
- be able to identify what problems different cultural listeners might have decoding native English speech
- practice hearing correctly through accents
Why You Need It
As old-school as it might seem, a manager’s first line of communication with her direct reports is through actual speech. As the workplace increasingly fills with the sounds of a multitude of nations, misunderstandings and frustration related to both speaking and hearing happen almost daily, worsened by stereotypical associations with particular accents. A manager striving to build an inclusive, respectful workplace realizes the need to clearly hear all voices for what they are—the utterances of individuals with something to contribute.
Listening strategies – Stereotypical assumptions = Tricks of the Ear
