Cultural Competence and 289-335
What I found most interesting in this week's reading was the way in which the author differentiated between Accent and Dialect. In the past, even in previous blog posts for this class, I have used these words interchangeably. Now I know that accent refers to the distinct pronunciation a person makes when speaking. For example, a person from Alabama may be distinguishable from a person from the Northeast because of his or her "southern accent." Dialect, refers to a broader meaning which includes the grammar and vocabulary the speaker uses as well.
The discussion of accent and dialect pertains directly to the idea of "cultural competence." Accent and dialect play a major role in gaining added meaning out of something a person is saying. This is why language competence and cultural competence go hand in hand. Being able to decipher meaning from picking up on distinct accents and dialects is crucial in determining the speaker's background in terms of geographic location, socioeconomic status, level of education, employment, etc.
In order to raise my cultural and language competence I am continuing to try to reach out to any Thai resource and/or person on campus. Recently, I ate lunch with a Thai student who spent a lot of her childhood in Singapore. As a result, she definitely had a slightly different accent and dialect than other Thai people I have met. Additionally, she had a unique perspective of Thai culture relative to the other Asian cultures she has been a part of. Hearing stories like her's is very helpful for me in understanding Thailand's role in southeast Asia and the world as a whole. I will continue to reach out to others in the Richmond area to raise my "cultural competence."
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