Afterwards, I would show a video showing different dialects in English. Where do they differ? The students can also listen to it.

If necessary/depending on the age, I would also make comparisons to Swiss dialects because although we might think one dialect sounds "harsh" while another one is more melodious, my experience was always very positive that they don't rate varieties and are interested in similarities and differences. Still, for me it is very problematic because I don't know the English varieties very well so I cannot e.g., adapt my speech or change my mindset when I'm looking at texts and think "oh, the word order is somehow strange here" although it might be absolutely fine in another variety.

Another option is to have a closer look at the language change/spread in North America (history-wise): While the east coast has several dialects, the more you go to the west, the more homogeneous the dialects get. This is because of the settlers' movement, starting at the east coast and then getting deeper into the land --> "melting pot of dialects" on its way to the other coast.

I would try to prepare the course material / exercises in a manner, that different dialects are represented, so the students get used to it.

To teach them the linguistic variations in English, I would first listen to different dialects with them. After that the students could talk about their experience of hearing the different dialects. They could talk about which dialect they liked most/didn't like or which were easy or hard to understand. In groups I'd make them choose one dialect to research about and let them make a short presentation in front of the class about the dialect they have chosen, so that have a brighter view of the different dialects.

What could be fun is to discuss what different dialects they might know, make a connection with different swiss dialects as a direct comparison.

I feel it would be also interesting to make the students think about how their dialect, the way they speak could differ from for example, cockney English. What similarities they have, so on and so forth.

Sharing the different shades of English can probably also make someone less self-conscious about their own dialect and accent.

I would begin by explaining the time of British colonialism and how the English language was spread out to many other countries and regions beyond the UK.

I would also mention that we have a lot of Swiss German accents in the different cantons in Switzerland. Because of that, it's not a surprise that there are so many different accents of the English language since there is a significant distance between the different regions of different English accents.

To show the students how the different accents sound, I would let them listen to videos of people from different English-speaking regions. After listening to them, we can analyze the accents and compare them with each other.

RP is associated with prestige and social status in England. Teaching RP can help learners to sound more educated. Teaching RP can enhance learners' ability to communicate effectively with English speakers from various backgrounds thanks to RP's standardized pronounciation.

Limitations:

While RP is considered non-regional, English is spoken with various accents and dialects around the world. Focusing solely on RP may overlook the diversity of English pronunciation

The downside of using received pronunciation is that it is stigmatised as the language used by public school boys (e.g. Eton), posh elites, and (conservative) politicians. This does have a negative effect for is speakers, given that dialects over the last 30 years or so , have increasingly become a short-hand to identify class-categories of speakers (lower / middle / upper class). One wonders whether one wishes to expose langauge learners to being 'stereotyped'.

First, I would like to make them aware of the fact that there are different English dialects by letting them listen to different dialects (not only different English dialects spoken by native speakers, but also English spoken by other mother tongues (Asian, African, South American etc.)

CLOSER ANALYSIS

In addition, the students are able to guess where the people are originally from and why they might speak English with that accent (little analysis of the phonetics). Having shown them that the geography plays a big part, I would like to make them familiar with the history of English or more precisely, giving them insights of the history of the three most known Englishes (USA, Britain, Australia).

DIY

I would also like to show them that trying to imitate those different dialects is fun but difficult. Therefore, I imagine that I summarize different rules and then the students try to talk according to them (most known example: the pronunciation of the word “water”).

J.Widmer

First, I would like to make them aware of the fact that there are different English dialects by letting them listen to different dialects (not only different English dialects spoken by native speakers, but also English spoken by other mother tongues (Asian, African, South American etc.)

CLOSER ANALYSIS

In addition, the students are able to guess where the people are originally from and why they might speak English with that accent (little analysis of the phonetics). Having shown them that the geography plays a big part, I would like to make them familiar with the history of English or more precisely, giving them insights of the history of the three most known Englishes (USA, Britain, Australia).

DIY

I would also like to show them that trying to imitate those different dialects is fun but difficult. Therefore, I imagine that I summarize different rules and then the students try to talk according to them (most known example: the pronunciation of the word “water”).

J.Widmer