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Dear Reader,

I could intro my way into this email by telling you it's currently snowing here in England after it has rained literally (and I don't use the word literally lightly) every single day since the beginning of the year, in what Secret London has aptly called rainfall of Biblical proportion.

However, I won't do that, of course. Instead, let me tell you I've received all your emails about the new oral exams and we're doing our absolute best to add more live sessions for the upcoming weeks. There are a few places left on some of the sessions, and we have added a few more: you can book them at this page¹.

Now, you may have opened this email for a variety of reasons. Off the top of my head: you're used to it, you didn't have anything better to do, you were hopeful that something good would come from it. Or maybe you opened it because you read about my "BCC interview".

This is a misnomer in some way because what I did for the BBC was more of a "script-based video assessment"; however, this expression didn't exactly roll off the tongue for a newsletter subject line. But yes, last week I did a sort of interview for a job at the BBC... and because my mind can never just shut up, the experience prompted a whole lot of reflection on the topic of "Standard English", my own English, and the insecurities we have as teachers.

So, buckle up for a story, another story, a bit of research about the power of "Standard English" and an acknowledgment of how this impacts me as a teacher, as a trainer and as a parent.

In the spirit of the Winter Olympics: ready, set go² 🏁

The first story: a BBC interview

A little while back, I applied for a (part time, I'm not leaving you anytime soon) job at the BBC. It was one of those things you do knowing full well they're... not going to happen. A good hint came from the fact that LinkedIn showed me 100+ other people had applied.

Anyway, against all odds, I got through the first stage of recruitment. To move to the second stage, I was asked to go through a video-based assessment in which I had 10 minutes to prepare followed by 10 minutes to read a script on video.

It was certainly an experience, but the main thing that got me thinking was that the script was to be read in "Standard British English"... and what that did to me as I prepared for it!

First, I proceeded to listen to all sorts of BBC content on my commute. The pros: I learned a lot about a variety of topics because they have some seriously top notch content; the cons: I looked like a proper idiot repeating words alone in my car. Second, I looked up all the things that are wrong in my pronunciation, including, rather ironically, my pronunciation of the word pronunciation. Third, I thought about my British friends, realised they're all northern and only one of them speaks what might be classed as BBC English, very realistically considered calling him to ask him to "make me sound posh", ultimately saw the light and decided against this.

You may be wondering: why all the fuss, Chiara? A legitimate question, whose answer goes back to: my villain origin story.

My villain origin story, or: the non-native who could sometimes "pass"

I'm not really a villain, nor am I a fan of talking about myself per se, but I think it can be illustrative in this specific case. My origin story as the teacher and trainer I am now is, I guess: I'm not a native speaker of English. I get asked this question sometimes because for some people, I can "pass" for a native speaker.

I can confirm: I'm not one. I do have what you might call a good ear for languages, however. In research, this is called foreign language aptitude and there is evidence showing that aptitude influences achievement.

Besides my ear for languages, I spent a good chunk of my adult life in the UK, especially in the Midlands and in Yorkshire. This, I believe, has influenced my accent. You may or may not have noticed it if we've ever spoken or if you've watched one of my video-lessons, but one notable feature is I pronounce words like cut or fun with a sound that sounds a lot like /u/, rather than /a/. If you want to hear more about the differences in UK accents, I recommend this lovely and entertaining video:

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Now, you may think that sounding like a native (to some people, at least) is a plus. And it is to some extent; however, it is also a double-edged sword. Because as a teacher and trainer, does my value end there? And given that different people perceive accents differently, when am I native enough? But also: not all accents are the same. And I'm certainly not a good model of the prestigious "Standard British English".

"Standard British English" and some of its consequences

I don't think it will come as a surprise to you that a) people have strong opinions about accents and b) the variety of English that many English teachers in Italy see as standard is British English. This is due to a host of reasons: geographical proximity, proficiency exams and the dominance of related institutions, and, I would add, tradition.

But let me ask you: what is "Standard British English"? I bet if you asked different teachers, they would give you different answers. For some, Standard British English equals Received Pronunciation (RP), the Queen's English or so-called BBC English.

Others, and some researchers in particular, question the very existence of a variety that should be called "standard", however. For instance, in the case of British English, as Eline Laperre explains, its "standard" variety emerged based on the accent of high society in London, so it is more of a marker of social class. Indeed, as you might know, you can be an RP speaker regardless of where you were raised, as this is not necessarily a geographically located accent.

Linguist Tom McArthur takes it one step further, stating that:

In short: these "standard" varieties do not reflect how most people actually talk. They are so-called prestige varieties - unlike, for example, the varieties from the north of England (i.e. what I speak).

Standard British English holds a lot of social currency and is believed to be an important tool for levelling up: getting a good education, a good job, a good network.

Indeed, the National Curriculum for England explictly states that "pupils should be taught to speak clearly and convey ideas confidently using Standard English". This is described as appropriate, correct English, which leaves the usual room for interpretation and creates space for misinterpretation.

For example, Ofsted, the body that inspects school in England, takes this policy and applies it with some rather inflexible notions of what standard English is, as I explained in the Culture in English-language speaking course:

How this affects me (and maybe you?) as a teacher

Fortunately enough for my sense of personal dignity, I stopped short of calling my RP friend James and begging him to make me posh. But what's more interesting is why I even conceived of the idea in the first place. And I think the answer is: I was feeling inadequate and insecure.

May I say that many, perhaps most teachers feel this way sometimes? Being an English teacher puts you in a unique position that is different from most other subjects: whereas a science teacher will teach science in Italian, the what you're teaching, i.e. English, also goes through every single word you say. That's enough to make anyone feel under a lot of pressure!

So, it's no wonder English teachers can often feel inadequate, particularly when teaching or correcting pronunciation. Do you perhaps share this feeling?

As for me, some of the ways that notions of Standard English impact me include:

• Repeated disclaimers, worries and apologies when teaching pronunciation: I can't count the times I've said "I say it like this, but you might want to say it like that" because I didn't think I was a good enough model of pronunciation. I've also had to look up tricky words that I simply didn't know the pronunciation of.
• Acquiescing to pressure to not discuss my origins: the existence of a gold standard of English is linked to the importance of being a native speaker teacher. Now, because I've been able to pass for a native, certainly with kids and teens, I've sometimes been in the position of being asked by employers to be vague about where I'm from and what my first language is. I was young and less experienced, so I complied with this.
• Correcting non-standard pronunciations in my own child: my child is growing up bilingual, and not in a prestige variety of English. Whenever I hear things like "we was" or the word "bottle" pronounced with a glottal stop, my first instinct is to correct it, because I worry about it being a problem in school. Then I catch myself, take a deep breath and remember that all accents are fine and beautiful.

I still find it interesting that, despite everything I know about English as a Lingua Franca and the importance of being and offering non-native role models to our students, notions of what is standard and prestigious still find a way to make us doubt ourselves. And, in case you were wondering, I didn't get the BBC job, so I can continue to bug you with my imperfect, non-standard pronunciation for the foreseeable future 💫

And with that, my dear reader, I have come to the end of today's newsletter. Does any of this resonate with you? How do notions of what is acceptable, standard English influence you, positively and/or negatively?

I wish you a sunny, dry Sunday with your loved ones.

Take care, dear teacher ✨

¹ But also, can we please take a quick moment stop and congratulate you for getting into the oral exam? What a feat, especially given the circumstances. I feel like we, myself included, don't stop nearly often enough to just congratulate ourselves on the small and big things we accomplish every day. So, whatever feat - big or small - you accomplished this week, I see you and I salute you!

² To be fair, though, I'm 99.9% sure they don't actually say this at the Olympics.

P.S.: My weekly suggestion for things to listen to/watch/read to improve your English while relaxing: it's been raining for 6+ weeks straight, so can we collectively appreciate that someone put together a playlist of rain-themed songs on YouTube?

P.P.S.: I'm thinking about one or more free webinars online to work on lesson planning. To that end, would you like me to give you feedback on parts of a lesson plan you've designed? If you would, send it to me here. I will not use your name or any personal information and I cannot guarantee I will choose yours, but it could be a good way to get some detailed feedback on layout, language, content and more!

✨Cool things I heard this week

I prepared for PNRR1 and PNRR2 by myself and spent so much time finding stuff that made sense that the stress became too much. Then a colleague told me about your courses on lesson planning and I can't tell you how much time you've saved me! And how much mental health.

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