This past year, I've been teaching ESL once a week here in Memphis with an organization that works primarily with the Latino community. It's been a really great volunteer experience! I've taught ESL in lots of different venues before - it's nice to be back in the saddle again.
(Now I feel I should explain the idiom "back in the saddle" for any non-native English speaking readers...)
Last week was our final review session for the semester. I was going over vocabulary with my class in preparation for their upcoming exam. One of the words was "paint," which some of them couldn't remember how to say. So, I pronounced it clearly for them as "PAY-nt" (with a long "a" sound, sorry, can't really do phonetic symbols here). They tried to say it, but it didn't really sound right, so I again said "PAY-nt" and had them copy me. Then I thought, hmm, maybe the problem is that they are speaking with a Spanish+Memphis accent, and they don't understand my West Coast pronunciation!
In this part of the country, you'd pronounce "paint" differently. I think it's like "PIE-ent." It is certanly not a long "a" sound.
What's my duty as an ESL teacher living in the South? I can't adopt a drawl very effectively. I have mentioned "y'all," and "ma'am/sir" to them before. Probably the best I can do is try to teach some kind of generic English and let them pick up the local accent from native Memphians.
Hopefully I'm not confusing them too badly with my Pacific Northwest accent! And apparently exposure to a variety of American accents is part of the socio-cultural aspect of ESL instruction, so I've got that going for me.
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