CHOOSING AN ACCENT MODIFICATION PROGRAM - WHAT’S RIGHT FOR YOU?
Embarking on learning any new skill, regardless of what it is, is a big undertaking. It doesn’t need to feel like a big undertaking, but it is. There’s an investment of time and money to hone the skill, and then there’s a honeymoon period of whether it is an undertaking you enjoy, are passionate about learning, and can sustain. Just like any other skill you develop to a degree of expertise, when you reflect on how far you’ve come, how much time you’ve put into it and what it ultimately shaped your experience into, it’s something worth noting.
PROGRAM
So let’s first start with the content. The program. There is no standardized form of accent modification training. There are important topics of interest, there are things that make a well-rounded English communicator, and if your program of choice is missing some of these aspects, it leaves you a little less well-rounded. If you already know English enough, this may be an area that doesn’t need focusing on and make be skipped over, but it’s worth considering.
But I think it’s important to evaluate, consider, and explore your options, recognizing what exactly you need to think about when choosing a program
Metaphor:
If you are learning basketball for the first time, you must develop and hone many skills. Dribbling a ball. Shooting. Rebounding. Defence. Passing. Schemes/Plays/Strategy. Each of these aspects has vast subcategories and sub-skills to learn and develop.
When picking a basketball program, depending on your current level of proficiency in the sport, you may or may not need to spend a great deal of time on certain areas. If you already know how to play, then maybe a focus on sub-skills or schemes/plays/strategies would be more useful than Dribbling a ball or Passing. If you are attending a shooter’s basketball camp, then the primary focus should be shooting form and types of shooting - catch and shoot, off the dribble, etc.
GOAL
When will I achieve my goal? Well, the question depends on the exact goal, and it varies between individuals. A clear idea of your intended reason for seeking an English speech teacher will determine your timeline, ease of achievement, and required practice.
If your goal is very specific, like nailing a single business pitch, then that requires very specific and individualized communication. Over the course of a single or a handful of sessions, you may be able to address your specific concerns, fine-tuning the presentation to be effective, concise, engaging, confident, persuasive, or a better story-telling experience then that is very accomplishable.
If your goal is very vague and far-reaching, like “speaking like a native English speaker,” then that is a lifelong goal that will likely not fully be reached with adequate satisfaction unless you have invested years into this practice and depending on self-critical you are.
Metaphor:
If you aspired to be an NBA basketball player as a 6-foot-4 player (let’s just say you’re that tall to make the aspiration somewhat realistic), the timeline for achieving that goal is very different than being a passionate player who wants to fix their tendency for their elbow shooting outward during a shot and impacting their shooting form. The timeline, difficulty, and cost all change accordingly.
DURATION
How long do I need to learn before I am done?
For anyone who has learned a second language in school, ask yourself how many years you’ve learned that language and how proficient you are in the language. For example, as a Canadian-born person who attended all of elementary school and high school in Canada, I have studied French for years. Would I say I know all there is to know about French or can be transposed into a primarily French-speaking community and thrive? Probably not. Can I have a basic interaction and have my needs or wants to be met? Maybe. My point is that changing one’s accent, learning a new accent, or changing one’s style of communication is a lifelong undertaking. Depending on the scope of your goals, the duration of practice or study can range dramatically.
A significant majority of English study and communication programs are approximately 1-2 semesters in length - at least those studied in research papers. We’re talking four months. And that is for studying one specific aspect of the subject. Just like you can’t attend one semester of “Math” and understand everything, you cannot study English communication for one semester and understand everything.
Metaphor:
The NBA basketball player goal versus fixing your shooting form metaphor remains appropriate. The goal dictates the timeline for accomplishment. Furthermore, you don’t expect to attend one basketball camp and feel like you’ve fully mastered the goal or understood everything on the subject. Every off-season, basketball players attend basketball camps to hone and sharpen their skills and every year afterwards, they continue to do so to get a little better each time. They don’t attend one camp on the subject and achieve complete mastery.
FOCUS
What is the focus of study when you attend an English communication program? English communication is a broad topic. We communicate in writing, reading, speaking and listening. A majority of people interested in learning a new English accent are interested in verbal communication - so their English speaking.
But it can mean more than just your speaking.
Could it be your listening comprehension? Maybe when you communicate, you miss out on jokes at work, you can’t understand the conversation quickly enough to respond in meetings, or the technical complexities in conversation are too challenging to understand at the moment. Maybe you’re better off responding via e-mail because it allows you to read the questions.
Maybe your focus instead is on scoring better on the IELTS or TOEFL, and it doesn’t actually have to do with English speaking and isn’t so heavily focused on speaking. Instead, speaking is important for the Speaking test component, but you need to improve your writing or reading too.
When we think about English communication and what an English language learner would want to improve, there are many areas of focus.
1. Speech production (better clarity, better intelligibility, fewer phonological errors)
This would target better pronunciation and clarity. Making sure the sounds are crisp, clear, and correct. Making sure the speaker’s first language habits aren’t interfering with or overriding the English patterns necessary for correct English speaking.
2. Communication competency (better listening comprehension, improved knowledge of colloquial language, better phonological rule knowledge)
This would target better listening comprehension, a better understanding of colloquial language and slang, and a better understanding of the phonological rules in place. For example, knowing that in North American English (compared with UK English), we don’t pronounce a T-sound in words like water, and we use an obvious R-sound, unlike in UK English, where it is pronounced WATAH.
3. Academic/clinical performance (improved academic, clinical exam pass rate, higher student retention - if a teacher, fewer clinical incident, better health survey response rate)
When improving English communication this may be reflected in better grades or performance. If I scored an 80% on an English proficiency test, went to an English communication program, and then re-tested and scored a 95%, that’s a differently designed program. The program would be designed to help you test better.
4. Perceptual changes (increased self-confidence, improved collegiality, improved attitude towards people with accents, increased job satisfaction)
When improving English communication, an aspect of English communication that is less straightforward and more subjective is the English learner’s perception of themselves. If I, as an English speaker, feel more confident, feel closer to my English-speaking coworkers, and feel more satisfied with my English presentation skills, but I test exactly the same on an English proficiency test, again, the goal and focus are different. The focus would be on speaker empowerment.
Metaphor:
Depending on your goal, your focus during basketball training may be different. Are you trying to learn a new skill that you can apply to your rec league games - let’s say the Eurostep?
Maybe your target is a better win ratio when you play pick-up games.
Maybe it’s just feeling more confident in yourself playing pick-up games at the local courts because you feel too shy or timid.
Maybe it’s understanding the game better, and although you aren’t developing physical skills, you are improving your basketball IQ.
COST
By now, you should be able to discern that the length of study and consultation dictates the cost.
So if we go by that framework, going through with an English pronunciation or accent program can cost thousands of dollars, especially considering typical lengths of programs extend to whole semesters.
Costs range depending on the program, but the cost is two-fold: Time and Money.
Cost is not just monetary. There is a time-investment cost that requires you to be an active learner in this process. You cannot simply attend the sessions and expect significant changes to your pronunciation. It’s a starting point to figure out what exactly needs to change, what exactly you need to focus on relearning or unlearning, and understanding that it is just the beginning.
Metaphor:
Imagine going to a basketball shooters camp and learning how to shoot with your non-dominant hand. After attending this shooter’s camp for 4 weeks which consists on 1 hour long sessions, would you expect to be able to shoot with an accuracy of 100% each time? No…it would be something you would need to continue to practice independently, it would require you to practice in a variety of situations, and even then, it would still be a work in progress.
The monetary cost will range depending on the institution you go through; whether that is a university program, a work-based program, a private tutor/consultant, and depending on that private tutor’s credentials; whether they are a speech-language pathologist, an ESL teacher, a linguistics teacher, an actor/acting coach, etc.
Depending on the tutor’s credentials, they’ll provide insights into a different aspect of the English language learning process with more depth and specificity because their experiences and perception are shaped differently.
ESL teachers are $30-60 per hour. If you are having sessions weekly for a semester, that’s 16 weeks x $30-60.
SLPs will cost $120-150 per hour. If you are having sessions weekly for a semester, that’s 16 weeks x $120-150.
Universities often offer courses/classes for EFL learners on a semester basis. They cost $2000 to $3000 (at least at my local university - https://eli.ubc.ca/programs/dates-fees/)
QUALIFICATIONS OF THE INSTRUCTOR
Depending on the instructor or teacher, you will get differences in knowledge, credentials, teaching style and, ultimately, focus.
A Professor:
A university professor is your standard educator. If they are teaching a course, there’s a syllabus, a standardized curriculum, and a standard for credentials. You’ll be getting a Master’s or Doctoral Degree educated instructor, there will be academic references, and it is a largely structured class. In some cases, teaching assistants and additional resources will be available.
PROS: Strong credentials, structured course with a curriculum and syllabus.
CONS: The course is standardized, so it isn’t designed for you as an individual. Larger class size.
A Speech Language Pathologist:
An SLP will provide a perspective ranging from specific feedback about speech sounds to a focus on overall communication success. I personally believe that you don’t need to be an SLP to teach accent modification, but I think an SLP has a standard of education that necessitates a general understanding of speech sound production as well as a lens for evaluating overall communication. I would say that it was similar to a professor. The criticism of the SLP is that the general dynamic for SLPs is seeing communication problems as something to fix. Although accent modification utilizes similar principles for teaching, it’s important to draw the distinction that an accent isn’t a problem due to a medical or genetic impairment. I am biased towards SLPs because I myself am a professional SLP, but I can acknowledge the criticism.
PROS: Strong understanding of speech sound articulation and overall communication success
CONS: No specific training in teaching English grammar, no TESOL/TEFL credentials. Because the focus of training is on impairment, there is less experience in teaching English holistically or specific experience with grammar teaching and English theory.
An English Tutor/ESL teacher:
An ESL teacher will typically have some sort of ESL training, but the field is much more varied in experience and training. Tutors or teachers may simply be students or teachers who know English who promote themselves as tutors on Craigslist. They can also be English language learners who scored well on an IELTS or TOEFL exam. English teachers may be experienced as teachers, which better prepares them to design lesson plans, provide English training, and balance large groups of students, but the range of experience is broad, and the level of expertise is more varied. Tutors and teachers Will have a basic understanding of speech sound production but may not understand or know the nuances as well as a professor or SLP. They will, however be more experienced with group work, understand a person’s English competence holistically, and be an asset in reading, writing, and grammar rules relative to the SLP.
PROS: Better gauge of a person’s understanding of English holistically.
CONS: No in-depth training in sound production and articulation.
An Acting Coach/Voice Coach:
From an acting and film industry perspective, an acting coach will typically land in the accent modification space. They will know the in’s and out’s of emotional expression and voice use as a craft, often being insightful resources for specific regional accents of English, such as an Irish accent, an Australian English accent, or a Boston accent. There is more fine-tuning awareness of the nuances of speech sound production, but the expectation of your baseline English competency is higher - essentially, you should have functional English communication and not need help with grammar and primarily focus just on the speech sounds. The voice is their tool, and they will have a heightened perception of voice-specific techniques. How nasal are the sounds? How much head voice versus chest voice? Voice coaches will also probably be the best demonstrators in replicating what they hear because their job is to help an actor convince the audience they were born and live as a character did.
I believe they will be the most critical in hearing differences in speech. Although likely being the strongest in detecting changes in the voice, they may not be as capable of communicating or educating others in articulatory precision or teaching phonological processes. They will also not be strong at teaching reading/writing/grammar because their job is to improve the authenticity of a character's performance, not to teach English for business.
They will likely focus on pausing, enunciation, and other suprasegmental changes to make your voice work convincingly to communicate emotion and confidence.
PROS: Strong, critical evaluation skills for voice.
CONS: No training in English grammar, reading, or writing.
LOCATION
Given our current COVID-19/post-COVID-19 experience, online internet-call consultation is more commonplace. In-person and online access is typically offered for appointments. I think the decision for in-person versus online sessions depends on the goal and intention behind accent modification. Because of the limitations of online consultation, given the lag, reduced audio quality, and video quality, in-person remains ideal.
But, if your sessions target your presentation skills and you, as an employee/CEO/presenter, will be doing your presentations online, then online consultation would actually be more representative of the final goal. If you are an actor trying to learn a specific accent, maybe the audio quality on your webcam is insufficient to capture the exact nuances that would be scrutinized on the TV or Movie screen, so it could be important to be strict and specific.
If, however, the main goal is to understand and feel confident communicating over the phone, during Zoom meetings and during the conversation, then online sessions would be sufficient and reflective of the type of communication you would be doing.
TEACHING STYLE
I think teaching style is a comment on your individual and personal wants and needs. You can have personalized feelings about your math teacher, coach, massage therapist and therapist. Some people resonate with or motivate you better or worse. Some people are pushy, but that’s a motivating/energizing style, whereas others are more relaxed and passive, which can be patient and not overbearing.
Do you feel understood or heard when you talk with the consultant/teacher?
Do you feel like all your questions are answered?
Do you feel like you grasp the concepts being taught easily?
These kinds of questions can determine whether the consultant/teacher is right for you.
EXTRAS - ABOVE AND BEYOND
Finally, the little nuanced things that separate teachers. How does your teacher handle technology? Do they have a professional and up-to-date website? Are they comfortable with technology? Do they have apps or websites, or resources to recommend? What about homework?
REFERENCES
Gu, Y., & Shah, A. P. (2019). A systematic review of interventions to address accent-related communication problems in Healthcare. Ochsner Journal, 19(4), 378–396. https://doi.org/10.31486/toj.19.0028
