People walk past large letters spelling out UBC at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C., on November 22, 2015. The University of British Columbia will exclude fossil fuel companies from its low-carbon investment fund, a move being applauded by a campus group that has been pushing for divestment.The university has rejected calls to divest entirely from fossil fuels, but last year it established the $10-million Sustainable Future Fund to invest in companies with low carbon dioxide emissions. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

People walk past large letters spelling out UBC at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C., on November 22, 2015. The University of British Columbia will exclude fossil fuel companies from its low-carbon investment fund, a move being applauded by a campus group that has been pushing for divestment.The university has rejected calls to divest entirely from fossil fuels, but last year it established the $10-million Sustainable Future Fund to invest in companies with low carbon dioxide emissions. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Workshop with ‘accent reduction’ training cancelled at UBC

The workshop was cancelled the same day as an email was sent out to international students

  • Feb. 15, 2019 12:00 a.m.

The University of British Columbia has cancelled a workshop for international students after facing backlash for its focus on reducing accents.

The workshop, advertised as being on “effective interview speech skills,” was in an email sent out to international students on Jan. 31 by the Work Integrated Education and Career Initiatives department, according to an anonymous post on UBC Confessions Facebook page.

Some of the comments by students at UBC in response to the workshop. (Screenshot)

The class was set to feature Andy Kreiger, whose business includes “The K Method” accent reduction package.

According to his website, Krieger has taught his “accent reduction” methods to more than 23,000 students. Before his freelance work, he was a dialogue coach on movie sets, oftentimes teaching Canadian actors how to speak “American.”

Testimonials on his website include one student who says they were admitted into UBC’s medical school after taking his classes. “I believed that it plays an important role in my interview success,” the student, named Raymond, said.

According to the university’s student newspaper, the Ubyssey, the workshop was cancelled later that day.

Julie Walchli, executive director of the department that organized the workshop, said in an emailed statement to Black Press Media on Friday that the goal of the workshop was not accent reduction, but “practical strategies to help non-native English speakers communicate in high-pressure situations such as job interviews.”

She said the workshop was in response to feedback from some international students who said they were anxious about such interviews.

Organizers are now looking at ways to broaden their approach and host an interview skills workshop that “includes all students and will effectively meet their needs.”


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