Assist Students with Accent Reduction Before Traveling
Accent reduction techniques can be used to thoroughly prepare students. Keep reading now to prepare your students for success prior to their U.S. travels.
As an English as a Second Language teacher, you know how exciting it is when students are preparing to visit the United States for their first time.
They have so many questions: What will the food be like? Will I get to see the Statue of Liberty?
There’s one very important question they should ask:
Will people understand me when I speak?
Your students may be planning only a short visit to the USA, or they may want to come for a longer time to study and work. Those traveling for any reason will benefit from putting some effort into accent reduction.
Why do accent reduction?
Your advanced student may object: I can speak English fluently enough. I don’t need to worry.
There are several reasons why it is important to modify a foreign accent when visiting or living in the United States.
- Communication – what if there is an emergency and doctors or police can’t understand you clearly?
- Discrimination – people’s use of the English language is a common basis for negative judgments on intelligence and ability.
- Confidence. – improved accent means improved confidence in all interactions.
It seems unfair that people are quick to judge when it comes to accents, but it’s part of how our brains are wired.
A strong accent makes the listener’s brain work harder to understand. The brain will respond negatively to this. It’s not based on any logic; that’s just the way it is.
Use these tips to help your students with accent reduction and help them overcome this unfair barrier.
1. Listen to everything: radio/TV/youtube/audiobooks/podcasts
As a teacher, you’ve probably run across quite a few who learned their first English words through watching tv or movies.
Careful listening to native English speakers is a great way for students to improve their own accent. As long as they have an internet connection there are endless choices for finding something to fit their interests.
Both NPR and CBC Radio offer streaming radio broadcasts and downloadable content. These broadcasters choose presenters who have neutral accents, which makes great listening material for English language learners.
2. Recording and playback
How do you know you have an accent?
It can be hard to hear the accent in your own speech while you are speaking.
Encourage students to pick out phrases or passages they’ve heard on a video or podcast they can replay. Get your students repeat them and record themselves talking. Then they can compare how they sound with the original speaker, and practice the parts they find hard.
3. Extra tutoring
Your student already has you -that’s great! But they may need some extra help and you’re not always going to be available to provide it.
Students who have the means could seek a private tutor or pronunciation coach.
Extra help is also available at very reasonable costs through online accent reduction courses.
With online tutoring, the student can work at their own pace and build confidence by practicing at home.
4. Speech therapy
If your student is having a very hard time getting their mouth around the English language don’t give up!
Someone who is seriously in need of accent reduction can work with a registered speech therapist to change their speech.
Encourage the student to put plans in place before they travel to the US. Contact a professional association for more information.
Suggestions? Questions?
We love hearing stories about things that worked for our students. If you’ve got a story to share or a question about PronunciationPro please leave a comment or contact us.
