Understanding Why Your Speech Is Accented

Understanding Why Your Speech Is Accented

By Elizabeth Peterson, Speech-language Pathologist

Successful accent reduction is simply a matter of improving your awareness of how you want to make sounds and practicing. Studies demonstrate that anyone can lose their accent. The intensity or origin of your accent, age or level of education is not a factor in changing your speech. All you need is the motivation to do it and the commitment to regular practice to reinforce your newly-learned skills. Anyone and everyone, including you, can eliminate their accent.


Will Losing My Accent "Erase" My American Speech?

The skills learned from accent reduction can be turned "on or off" at your command. Your natural way of speaking American speech will not be permanently erased. After learning how to eliminate your accent it will be up to you when you want to speak in your natural tongue or speak the American style. The choice will always be up to you.

How Do Accents Occur?

After learning a new language most people will speak it with an accent. One reason this happens is that your brain is comparing the new sounds to the sounds it already knows from your first language. When a sound is completely new such as /th/, your brain will make the best approximation it can to say the sound correctly. Therefore, when the target sound is mispronounced the result is speech that is accented. Also each culture has its own style for how it speaks its language. If American speech is not spoken in the American cultural style, the result is speech that sounds accented.

Accent reduction is an achievable goal. It is a myth that you will need to learn several new sounds. Many of the American consonant and vowel sounds already exist in your native language. The difference is a matter of learning new habits and behaviors based on the Standard American Speech model. Once you have identified what it is you want to change, implementing a new habit will give you clear and professional sounding speech.

Why People Choose to Reduce or Eliminate their Accent

People choose to reduce or eliminate their accent for a variety of reasons.

• People pursue accent reduction if they feel others are having difficulty understanding them. Studies show that a listener will stop saying "what" or ask for clarification after the second time. After that, the situation becomes awkward.
  
  

  Some accented speakers feel self-conscious or have less confidence and refrain from speaking situations if they feel there is a language barrier. There is a misperception that if someone has trouble speaking the language then they must have trouble understanding it, which you know is not true. Perceptions like this can interfere with professional advancement or reduce someone's level of credibility.

  Accented speech can impair understanding on the telephone since the listener does not have a visual model to assist with understanding. This can impair business relations.

  
  Sometimes people who lecture, negotiate or conduct business get frustrated when asked, "Where are you from?" or, "Your accent is so cute!" These types of comments can be frustrating to accented speakers and in addition, when a listener is distracted by someone's accent it can move them away from the primary message.

   

   

  Studies have shown that some people make an association with status in class and accented speech. Some people perceive certain speech habits to be in a lower socioeconomic class when compared to individuals who do not have accented or regional sounding speech.

  Many people simply choose to eliminate their accent to blend in more with the American culture. Whatever the reason is, reducing or eliminating an accent is achievable.

  
  
  Accent Reduction Will Work for You!
  
  This program will teach you the Standard American Speech model. This is the model that represents the official spoken language for the Untied States. It is also the model for professional and career speech patterns. Sometimes it is referred to as career speech, speaking like a CEO or sounding like a news broadcaster. Clear and articulate speech is critical when conducting business, negotiating, lecturing or participating in any communication interaction. Standard American Speech does not represent a specific region, origin or community. It is considered to be non-accented, so that when it is spoken correctly the listener can not identify the region or origin of the speaker.
  
  Successful accent reduction is not about learning a long list of new sounds. It is about having an increased awareness of your speech patterns and using new habits. By being aware of the sounds you want to make and using new habits, clear speech will come with practice. The result will be clear and understandable speech so that you will look forward to speaking in personal and professional situations with great confidence!

   

  Common Accented Habits
  
  There are a number of factors that contribute to accented speech. Review this list and identify which habits affect your speech and communication style.

   

  1.Intonation. Your speech rhythm and melody .

  A major influence on accented speech is how rhythm and melody are used for sentences and conversation. Intonation is a style of how speech rhythm and melody are spoken and each culture has its own style. Without using the American style of intonation your speech may sound choppy, mechanical, flat, too fast, monotone or over-punched, making it difficult for the American listener to understand, even though you are speaking English. Much of one's accent is due to how one is using intonation and speech melody when speaking. All dialects and cultures use intonation differently. It is not unusual for a speaker to bring the intonation style from his or her native language into their English. When this occurs, the result is speech that can be hard to understand. The breakdown may be due to their speech being perceived as choppy, fast or monotone. Although you may have learned the sounds and rules of grammar for English, if you have not adopted the American intonation style then your speech will be accented . Your speech will seem foreign because the American style of intonation was not being used. Many accented speakers are surprised to have the intensity of their accents decrease after learning how to speak using American intonation.

  Common Habits for Consonant Sounds

  2. Speaking with too much tension in the face, throat and tongue.

  American speech uses little tension in the facial muscles, back of the throat, lips and tongue. If your native language is spoken with more tension then it may be your habit to speak your American speech with the same amount of tension creating speech that may sound hard and choppy; for example, saying /la" B" / instead of "lab".

  3.Turning your voice "off" when it should be "on" for word endings.
  
  This is a common habit in many accented speakers. For example the word "seed" being pronounced as /see"t"/ or "dog" being pronounced as /do"k"/. Failing to say a final sound that should be voiced will significantly affect the quality of your spoken language.
  
  4. Omitting the final sound altogether!
  
  Instead of producing the word "right" the word /righ-/ without the final /t/ is said. Again, this habit impairs the quality of your speech.

  Why are there so many errors with sounds at the end of words?

  More time and effort are required to produce ending sounds. Therefore, it is easier to delete them. When you have a lot you want to say, it is easier to say "snooze" pronounced with an /s/ ending as in /snoo S / instead of voicing the /z/ sound. Another example is saying /shoe S / pronounced with an /s/ ending instead of the required /z/ sound as in "shoes." This habit is common with people with monotone speakers.

  5. Substituting sounds.

  If a sound or behavior is new, it is often easier to substitute another sound. For example, substituting the /sh/ in "chicken" creating /shicken/. Another example is substituting the /b/ for /v/ as in, "It's "berry" nice to meet you."

   

  Common Habits for Vowel Sounds

   

  6.Producing a vowel sound with a rise in pitch.
  
  This is a common habit to give an individual vowel sound a rise in pitch. For example, saying "soap" giving the /O/ a rise in pitch. There are not any pitch changes within a word in American speech.

  7.Cutting a long vowel sound short.
  
  American speech has some long vowel sounds which are /A,E,I,O and U/. These sounds are stated with duration. Cutting the sound short will create choppy sounding speech.

  8. Substituting or approximating a different vowel sound.
  
  If the American vowel sound does not exist in your first language then your brain will substitute a different sound or make the best approximation. For example, saying the word "pig" substituting the /e/ as in /peeg/.

  9. Over-punching the back vowel sounds.
  
  Over-punching or over-emphasizing a vowel sound is very common with vowel sounds said in the back of your throat cavity. The habit is observed in words such as, "coffee", or "house" stated as, "cAWfee" or "hOUse". This habit will create a regional sounding accent.

  Voice Behaviors

  Voice quality.

  How you use your voice can affect your listener's perception of the quality of your message. Speaking in too high or low of a pitch or speaking with nasal tones can interfere with your image as a skilled and competent speaker. Often when a speaker places their voice too high in their throat the result is unwanted nasal tones or higher pitches, which usually are cultural or regional. Speaking with professional intonation, good articulation and pleasant vocal tones will give your message and image credibility.

22344 E. Kenyon Place
Aurora, Colorado 80018
Phone: 303-330-3309