African English – Accent and Dialect Seminar

We have developed various role-playing workshops especially designed to deal with the most common dialects in the English speaking world. This workshop focuses on the African English accent.
The sound and content of the African-English accent as with all accents has been formed and shaped from the influence of local languages. Problems occur when English speakers are only familiar with their own local ‘accent’. This local accent could be Oxford English. If the speaker is only used to the sound of Oxford English then African-English will present many problems and challenges.
We have therefore developed a role-playing seminar to unravel the complicated sounds of African-English. It is only important to understand the accent, NOT to speak English with this accent. In order to be understood the world over either a standard Oxford English accent or an East coast American accent would suffice.

Components of Seminar:

The key components we employ for the BEA African English – Accent and Dialect Seminar would be:
1.    A top trainer born with an African-English accent.
2.    Multi-media material using the African-English accent:
a.    Audio material Mp3’s + transcription of this
b.    Video material + transcription of this
c.    Other Text read out by trainer in an African-English accent
The audio and video material has been sourced from the internet using authentic speakers of this African-English accent. The material contains dialogue of a business-orientated content, suitable for staff working with Indian colleagues. Situations in the work place such as a discussion about an email or a teleconference situation.


All of the multi-media material will have transcripts. This is crucial to the success of the seminar because the root of most problems in understanding the accent lies in the misinterpretation of the intended meaning.
It is therefore extremely important that the learner fully understands through written forms what is being said.
It also only possible through these written forms to explain what lies behind ‘special’ regional words or phrases which could be culturally different or warped regionally.
Only a trainer that understands these cultural differences and morphing of the Oxford English accent, can explain what it actually meant.
These are aspects that only a ‘local’ can explain and interpret so that the learner can understand correctly and so respond correctly.



Methodology:

At the start of the seminar the trainer would explain basis principles:
1.    Why the understanding of the African English accent is problematic
2.    The basic differences in sounds between a standard Oxford English Accent and the African English accent.
3.    The form of the seminar and how to improve understanding.
4.    Role-Playing

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