What is American Pronunciation Training?
American Pronunciation Training, also known as Accent Modification or Dialect Training, is an elective service sought by individuals who want to change or modify their speech patterns. (ASHA, 2022)
Why might you choose to reduce your accent?
To Be Better Understood: Do you feel others are having difficulty understanding you? Are you struggling to get your point across? Do you have excellent ideas to share, but are worried you won't be able to effectively convey your message to others? American pronunciation training works to improve intelligibility and communicative effectiveness by addressing individual sound differences as well as rhythm and intonation patterns.
To Improve Self Confidence: Are you self-conscious or embarrassed when peers or colleagues ask you to repeat yourself? This may occur with face to face interactions, or over video chat or phone calls. Often this can lead to speaking avoidance in certain situations. It can impact how professional, confident and assertive you may feel in the workplace.
Career Advancement: Do you suspect your accent is keeping you from landing a job or impacting your ability to get that sought after promotion? Maybe you are confident that you are qualified for the posted position, but find it takes you too long to find the right vocabulary words and effectively articulate why you are the right candidate for the job.
Can we eliminate an accent?
The goal of accent modification is NOT to eliminate your accent. The focus is on improving the intelligibility, naturalness and comprehensibility of standard American English while maintaining cultural identity.
Studies show that there is a critical period for learning a second language, and that around the age of 12, it becomes very difficult to learn to speak a second language without any foreign accent. However, with commitment, hard work, appropriate training and determination, clients learn how to pronounce the sounds in English as well as patterns of rhythm, stress and intonation that may not occur in their native language.
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Is an accent a disorder?
Accents ARE NOT disorders, they are a natural part of spoken language. Everyone has an accent and no one accent is better than another.
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What are the advantages of getting services from a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP)?
Speech Language Pathologists are experts in communication. We have years of rigorous training to understand the anatomy and physiology of speech mechanics. We have a strong background in phonetics and understand how to transcribe the sounds of English. Our education includes years of training and countless hours of continuing education each year.
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How does Accent Modification Work?
The idea of changing your accent can sound like a daunting and overwhelming process. But, with a lot of work and practice along with the assistance of a trained SLP, accent modification is possible.
First, we identify how you formulate specific sounds as well as examine your rate of speech, where you stress words and syllables and how you put the sounds and words together. Next, we will talk about what aspects of your speech that YOU want to modify and come up with a collaborate, individualized program to accomplish your goals.
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Chances are that you have attempted to change your accent in the past, but without professional training, it can be challenging to isolate the words, phrases and sound patterns that are causing the most difficulty. Reach out to learn more about how we can help.
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