The Accent Work of International Teaching Assistants

Abstract “Accent work” is a term used to describe the preparatory work that professional actors undergo to attain a speech accent for a role. However, this article presents international teaching assistants (ITAs) as another set of workers who engage in their own type of accent work. Since the accents of ITAs are constructed as “liabilities” for communication‐based tasks in English‐medium universities in the Global North, their accent work entails ensuring that their speech is not a professional interference. Drawing on a narrative study done with 14 ITAs working in Ontario, Canada, the article details how the accent work of these ITAs consisted of working on or around their accents, which meant modifying accents to various degrees or engaging in tasks that did not require accent modification, respectively. These two practices of accent work were influenced by factors such as academic discipline, social locations, and audience. To conclude, the article offers preliminary recommendations on how accent work can particularly inform ITA training.