Reflection 5 - Accent ; Is it Matter?

What is an Accent?  It is a way of speaking typical of a particular group of people and especially of the natives or residents of a region. We have accents based on where we come from. It is hard to deny that we speak English without any accent especially if we are EFL learners. But, just because it is hard to deny, it doesn’t mean that we can’t speak English like a native speaker. Remember! Practices make perfect!

Is it necessary for having native fluency?

My friend, Lizi from class 3A said that having native fluency is not important. Having proper pronunciation is important. Because as I said earlier, we can’t deny our regional accent. Lizi said that as long as the listener understands what we’re talking about, native fluency is not important.

Absolutely for me, it is necessary. Because in the future, we’re gonna be English teachers. I mean, I want to be the best role model for my students and I hope in the future they will be good native speakers. I think by having native fluency, I will pronounce a word more properly and clearly to my students rather than with my regional accent. 

But also in some cases, the regional accent can be a flaw. For example, Sundanese. Most Sundanese pronounces the word “Fire” as /paɪər/ instead of /faɪər/ because they can’t pronounce /f/. It also proves that we can’t deny the difference between native speakers and us because that language is not our mother language. 

So, even though I prefer for having native fluency but I don't judge people who speak English with their accents. We have to be proud of having our regional accent but also don’t forget to practice and practice to be good speakers as natives.