The way we dress, the art we create, the languages that we speak, and the music we listen and dance to collectively form part of what we consider our culture.
Through expression, language primarily shapes our identity and forms the larger part of our attachment to culture.
Clinical Psychologist Victoria Sieunarine Geelalsingh explains the psychology and neurology behind language development, particularly how the acquisition of accents occurs.
“So when a child is very young, everything you say to that child from the minute the child can hear its mother’s own voice when it’s still in the womb, it learns that rhythm of accents, and when you look to define an accent, it really is defined by the phonics, the way the word is, the fullness of how it is, the intonation, the wave of the accent, and that’s what makes an accent an accent.”
Social interactions shape the development of language, especially in children. Ms. Geelalsingh says whatever children are exposed to early in their development is what they will learn and adopt.
“The acquisition of accents in terms of language learning and language development will happen by the time a child can speak because their babbles already has an accent but it can change according to what they are exposed to. So the social media content, who they are speaking to on the phone, what movies they are looking at, that can change, that can continue to change. Even teenagers, there are teenagers who would leave Trinidad and go off to university in a foreign country and adopt an accent and a big part of it is fitting in.”
Now, with increased screen time and the general consumption of media in place of children and teenagers engaging with their peers in outdoor spaces, the concern of acquiring foreign accents and neglecting native ones has become prevalent.
“If they are spending a significant amount of time with exposure to foreign content, foreign accents etcetera, that’s how they will learn to speak, that’s how they will learn to carry themselves and that’s how they will learn to function. Their mannerisms and everything, even their dress, even their personalities will be moulded by content that they see on television.”
Neurologically, Ms. Geelalsingh says the brain is open and free to learn whatever it is exposed to; hence, an accent then becomes a form of identity and part of a cultural connection to the language spoken.
There’s an undeniable link between colonisation and our relationship with language today. The impact of that period has led to the perception that some English accents are superior to others, both locally and internationally.
According to Ms. Geelalsingh, this post-colonial focus on language can be seen as a form of trauma response.
“And because of that, there’s this push to make sure that you are better, be better, study hard, get a job, build yourself, and so that perpetuates through culture because you are looking at the history, and I would be so bold as to say that some cultures do have a trauma history, and as a whole, you’re not able to heal from it, then you spend your life with checks and balances, making sure that it doesn’t happen again.”
As the media landscape continues to change, preserving our culture through language is essential. Ms. Geelalsingh says parents should be intentional with this.
“There are so many factors for accent development, but I think what it boils down to is, have the accents, know what the accents are, be able to mimic it, but also own your own, own what is your culture.
Overall, our relationship with language impacts the way we identify with our culture. Embracing it, however, allows for a deeper connection to our heritage, fostering a sense of belonging.