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Choose dialects based on goals

By Dan Jenkins (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-18 13:25

All foreign languages and their dialects are not of equal value.

Thus, those in China and elsewhere, who wish to learn a foreign language must exercise some critical thinking in order to arrive at a logical decision as to which foreign language, and thus which foreign dialect, is to be learned.

The process of deciding which foreign language or dialect to learn cannot be performed in a vacuum.

A question such as, "which foreign language/dialect is superior?" implies the existence of a relation. Specifically, the question has to be answered in relation to the learner's intended goal.

If, for example, a Chinese learner's goal is to live and teach Mandarin as a second language in Australia, then one might conclude that learning Australian English would better than learning American English.

After deciding which foreign language is best suited to accomplish the learner's goal, it is then necessary to choose the particular dialect to be learned.

Just as all foreign languages are not equal in relation to a learner's goals, all dialects of the chosen foreign language are not equally useful.

For example, a foreigner who comes to work in China and wants to learn "Chinese" has to decide which dialect is to be learned.

Then, there are sociolinguistic considerations to be taken into account.

Based upon an individual's pronunciation, people are in the habit of making judgments as to competence and sociability, emotions, personality traits, and values, to name just a few.

Sociolinguistic considerations are frequently the motivation behind those going to the US.

Students are being advised to learn British English rather than American English and vice versa.

The vast majority of Americans do not know a good British accent from a bad one, so if they think a foreigner is speaking with a British accent, they will assume that it is correct.

With regard to learning someone's native language as a foreign language, however, in general, people make the decision to learn a foreign language because they perceive that it will assist them in achieving a particular goal in their life.

Consequently, any judgment with respect to the superiority of a particular foreign language and dialect must, by necessity, be made in relation to the learner's goal.