Embracing Bad English
Global linguistic expert tells us why we need to stamp out accent bias and why there really is no ‘perfect’ English
Text: Heather Hansen
In the first moments of hearing someone speak, your brain is hard at work. Based only on voice, accent, language and speech patterns, you will decide where the person is from, their socio-economic status, education level, ethnicity, age, and many other factors with surprising accuracy. Depending on what your culture taught you is "good" or "bad", you will decide whether that person belongs, is trustworthy or deserves your respect. This happens within seconds, without you even knowing it.
When we were first developing language, this hidden talent might have been helpful to determine who was a part of your tribe and who was an enemy. Today, these unconscious biases around language and accent can create more harm than good. They can negatively influence hiring decisions, cause jurors to distrust you in a trial, and even affect your salary by up to 20%. This happens because the English spoken doesn't adhere to your brain's specific preferences and expectations.
Who owns the English language?
There is no “perfect” English. We don’t have a standard book of rules. There are hundreds of English dialects around the world, and they all sound different. What makes British English or American English any more “perfect” than Singapore or Indian English? And who says the “Queens English” is “better” than a variety of English spoken in the north of England, for example? Isn’t the goal of communication to understand and be understood?
When English is used internationally, the goal is connection, not perfection. As the Malaysian CEO of an American multinational once told me, “No one cares about my grammar. As long as I’m understood, it’s good enough.” In global settings, where native speakers are outnumbered as much as five to one, it’s not the international speakers having problems. They can adapt and understand each other just fine. It’s when the native speaker enters the room that misunderstandings begin. Idioms, sports analogies, impressive vocabulary and technical jargon can all derail business conversations. The native speakers forget that the English spoken globally is very different from the English spoken at home. If our goal then is understanding and getting the job done, who exactly speaks “bad” English?
English privilege
I never realized how privileged I was to be born into the English language until I learned foreign languages. I can clearly remember how inadequate I felt giving a final presentation in German for a university class during my study abroad in Austria. I definitely didn’t command the same attention and respect that I would have had I been presenting in English. Later, in Denmark, people called the accent on my fluent Danish “charming”. I know they meant it as a compliment, but the last thing I was trying to be during a business meeting was charming.
It is beyond frustrating to be constantly judged based on how you speak instead of being listened to and respected for what you say. Unfortunately, this is what non-native English speakers experience every day. But here is a huge difference: I can switch back to English with most people in the world and immediately regain my power. I can be the eloquent and articulate one while they become the ones with “charming” accents. This is not an option for most other language speakers. As long as English is the language of global commerce, I will always be one step ahead.
Identifying and eliminating accent bias
Like any form of bias and discrimination, it takes those with power to highlight and relinquish that power to make space for those who are less privileged but equally talented. It is only through identifying privilege and negative bias that we can begin to lift others.
Harvard Business School professor Tsedal Neeley suggests developing "rules of engagement” for your meetings and other communications to mitigate the effects of language bias. If you are a more fluent speaker of English, dial down your dominance in meetings and discussions. Give space for others to participate and ask quieter participants for their opinions and ideas. Communication is a two-way street, so if you are a less confident speaker, you need to dial up your engagement and try to overcome your fears. If you are a team leader, your job is to balance for inclusion. Keep everyone engaged by pointing out micro-inequities, quieting dominant participants and engaging quieter ones.
Language biases most commonly appear as micro-inequities in conversation. Listen for statements like:
“I can’t understand anything you’re saying.”
“Sorry, your accent is really heavy.”
“Oh, you didn’t sound black (or any other race/ethnicity) on the phone.”
“Do you mean X (same word with a different pronunciation)?”
“I love your accent. Where are you from?”
“It’s so cute how you say that!”
“Your English is really good!” (to someone who looks “foreign”)
You might think some of these statements are positive and well-intentioned, but any time you signal someone out as different from the group, you are being non-inclusive.
Getting help
Linguistic inequality fuels an entire industry of language and communication specialists, of which I am one. Clients come to me because they don't want the way they speak to hold them back. They're tired of people judging them because they have an accent or because someone found a typo in their email. HR asks me to fix these people, to turn them into eloquent and confident speakers. But there's a problem: these people aren't broken, and neither is their English.
I’m still waiting for the call asking me to help the rest of the team with their listening. Instead of focusing on reducing accents, it’s time to teach people how to recognize and understand them. Knowing how to tune your ear to different accents is a required skill for global communication. If you know how to listen beyond language to understand the meaning behind the message, you will be able to identify the best ideas in a room instead of being swayed by the most eloquently presented ones.
Heather Hansen is the founder of Global Speech Academy, a Singapore-based communication consultancy and training firm. An outspoken advocate for global voices, Heather’s views on global English and accent bias have been featured in international media such as NPR, Quartz, ABC Radio National and Channel News Asia. Her next book UNMUTED will be published by Bloomsbury in early 2022. Heather is also an External Expert for NUS Business School’s Executive Education programmes. Watch Heather’s 2018 TEDx talk 2 Billion Voices: How to speak bad English perfectly.
