Accent Reduction: Understanding how a Trainer Benefits the Student: Part 2

In Accent Reduction: Understanding how a Trainer Benefits the Student: Part 1, you learned that the benefits of working with an accent trainer include enhanced comprehensiveness and speed of progress for maximal gains. Specifically, the accent trainer actively participates in your programming for individualizing your training based on your accent analysis. This is a critical component and forms a starting point for reducing your accent. This article addresses three additional benefits of training with an accent instructor.

Comprehensive Speech Sample

Usually the speech sample will contain a reliable representation of the American speech sounds and intonation patterns. You’ll be asked to produce specific words selected for target speech sounds and stress (rhythm) patterns. You’ll produce the same words in sentences and be asked to speak independently related to a topic. The information gathered in these samples allows the instructor to hear your speech in different contexts. The spontaneous speech sample functions to simulate conversational speech, and also adds an element of complexity not present in the word and sentence level productions. It affords the trainer to analyze for any grammatical differences. The instructor compares for differences in the word, sentence, and spontaneous productions. This information assists her in deciding at what levels are best suited for your training to begin and how she may proceed.

Systematic Progression for Maximizing Gains

You maximize your gains when you progress in a systematic manner. When I decided I wanted to learn to scuba dive, I didn’t throw on the gear and jump into the ocean. I systematically learned the terminology of the gear, how to assemble it, and the order in which to assemble it. I then learned the skills needed in a progressive fashion in increasingly challenging water bodies with less and less guidance. Similarly, your trainer will systematically progress through your training. She will select specific stimuli in increasingly complex contexts based on your needs, instruct, model, cue, and fade models and cues until you are independent in your American accent target skills.

Comprehensive Programming for Success

Comprehensive accent programs address the following areas: pronunciation rules, pronunciation instruction, pronunciation of vowels, and pronunciation of consonants, word stress rules, and sentence stress rules. Pronunciation instruction includes descriptions, models, and cues of how to place the lips, tongue, and jaw to produce the target sounds.

Summary

In summary, working with an accent trainer benefits you by enhancing your comprehensiveness and speed of progress for maximal gains in modifying your accent. Not only does your trainer render individualized training based on your unique speech sample and analysis, she also delivers your programming based on a system. She addresses multiple skill areas, resulting in comprehensive learning for faster, more efficient, enjoyable progress.

To your communication success,

Cher