Why accent bias is sometimes justified

Next week I’ll publish my final post of the year. It will focus on what I learnt on my ‘Fascism in the Family’ book tour and how that links with the whiplash-inducing political changes we’ve all lived through in 2025.

In the meantime, THIS post is directly aimed at second-language English speakers (though native speakers should also find it interesting) and contains a shameless plug for my online course for more clarity and confidence in English. The course would obviously make a wonderful Christmas present for that special second-language English person in your life and enrolment ends tomorrow. More details at the end or here if you really can’t wait. ;)

Now let’s go back to the title of this post “Why accent bias is sometimes justified”, and let me start by telling you a story:

Earlier this year, I was contacted by a big multinational company (a household name) because they’d seen my work here on Substack around being second language English and some of the obstacles that having a non-native English accent can create.

They were planning an internal conference around accent bias and were looking for speakers. They asked whether I might be interested and what I would focus on. I’m often booked for similar events so I said I’d talk about how important it is for second-language English speakers to build more confidence and improve the clarity of their speech. We exchanged a few emails and in the end they didn’t book me. They were very nice about it but said they were going with someone else.

Shame but fair enough. You win some, you lose some.

Subscribe now

But that exchange got me thinking. Specifically about what they’d said they wanted to focus on: accent BIAS.

We all know that accent bias exists (especially, I’d like to think, long-standing readers of this newsletter). It exists towards regional accents that are often seen as less authoritative than traditional ‘RP - Received Pronunciation’ English. All sorts of misleading assumptions are made about one’s level of education and background based on accents. When foreigners speak English, national stereotypes abound. I suspect many of you know exactly what that feels like.

So, far be it for me to say that bias doesn’t exist. But I will say that it’s not the whole picture.

The main problem with accents that stray from the traditional standard is that sometimes they genuinely ARE harder to understand. Harder to ‘tune into’. Sometimes because the listener isn’t used to that particular way of speaking (often the case with regional accents). Or sometimes because when speaking a second language, intonation and diction aren’t as clear as they are in one’s mother tongue. I don’t think ignoring this fact helps anyone deal with the issue, whether it’s the speakers or those listening. A diversity of accents is great, but CLARITY IS NON-NEGOTIABLE.

While what I’ve called the ‘traditional standard’ is useful to create a common ground (let me also add that this is particularly useful for second-language speakers themselves, who are often - ironically perhaps - more likely to have problems understanding heavily accented English) I also don’t think we all just have to try to emulate it completely. The way we speak is a crucial and unique part of our identity, no matter what we sound like.

In my 20+ years as a TV news presenter, I’ve often been contacted by second-language English viewers asking for advice. I tell them NOT to try to change their accent. It’s very hard to do while still sounding authentic. But I do give advice on how to sound clearer, gain more confidence and feel as good giving an interview/lecture/keynote speech in English as they would in their mother tongue.

(Ok folks, brace yourselves, here comes the plug.)

That’s what my course, Find Your Authentic Voice in English, is all about.

This course will give you the clarity and confidence that is sometimes harder to possess when speaking a language other than your mother tongue.

There are two options available: one fully online, while the other also includes a one-on-one Zoom session with me for tailored advice.

If you’re interested, you can check it all out by following this link.

Enrolment closes tomorrow (Thursday) at 23:55 and I’m currently running a special offer on the online-only Foundation option.

End of the promotional break. Thanks for reading and if you decide to enrol, I look forward to working with you. Everyone else, I’ll see you soon with my final post before we can all bid farewell to an intense, but I hope for many of you also enjoyable, 2025.

Leave a comment