Hi Julie- I'd respond to the student by first directing him/her to Judith Rich-Harris's "The Nurture Assumption" which addresses the issue by suggesting that language isn't taught by parents, but by peers. I'd also suggest reading the classic work by Werker &Tees: Werker, Janet F.; Tees, Richard C.; Infant Behavior & Development, Vol 7(1), Jan-Mar, 1984. pp. 49-63. which shows that phoneme recognition/production occurs at an early age. If you can't hear the phonetic difference between your speech & others you are unlikely to be able to match their accent.
Hope that helps, -Don. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Penley, Julie" <jpen...@epcc.edu> Date: Wednesday, February 9, 2011 8:35 am Subject: [tips] language and accents To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <tips@fsulist.frostburg.edu> > Hello TIPSters, > A student asked me why children don't always have the same > accent as their parents, particularly in the case of parents who > are second-language learners. A follow-up question from the > class is why siblings who are raised together don't always have > the same accents -- for example, a family moves from Chicago to > Arkansas (like mine did) and the youngest child is the only > sibling that does NOT have a typical "Southern" accent. Is there > a neurological explanation for this, or are these primarily > environmental effects? > Julie > > > Julie A. Penley, Ph.D. > Associate Professor of Psychology > Special Assistant to the Dean > El Paso Community College > PO Box 20500 > El Paso, TX 79998-0500 > Office phone: (915) 831-3210 > Department fax: (915) 831-2324 > email: jpen...@epcc.edu > webpage: http://dnn.epcc.edu/facultywebpages/jpenley > > > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: dap...@shaw.ca. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13157.966b795bc7f3ccb35e3da08aebe98f18&n=T&l=tips&o=8644or > send a blank email to > leave-8644-13157.966b795bc7f3ccb35e3da08aebe98...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > Don Allen Retired professor Langara College --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=8647 or send a blank email to leave-8647-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
