(1) The Australian Accent
From an Immigrant Bilingual Speech Pathologist
As a Chinese immigrant in Australia, I understand first hand how it feels to have my first language (L1) 'shadowing over' my acquired second language (L2) — Australian English. Everyone has the right to communicate. Communication is much more than just conveying meaning; it also involves feeling confident in your voice and embracing your self-identity. A friend had recently conveyed similar sentiments. They had asked me to assist them in acquiring a more ‘Australian way of speaking’. This request sparked a series of thoughts within me. I had always been hesitant about accent modification due to its ethical implications.
Should we change someone's natural voice? Does it impact one’s self-identity?
I have come to realise that it is not my decision to make. In an ideal world, people should not have to alter anything to feel ‘accepted’ in a given environment. The prejudices associated with accents reflect insensitivities in society. We are drawn to people like ourselves, and thus we try to emulate one another. I lament the imperfections of our society, but changing it is beyond my capability. I can only use my expertise to support and empower individuals in defining their identity within the current climate.
Additionally, globalisation has been a major topic for the past few decades. It is fairly common for people to speak more than one language or dialect. So, if you feel out of place because of your accent, many of us feel the same.
This series of posts is my personal project to explore what it takes to embrace your voice. I will take you through some key differences between two languages (Mandarin and English) and some practical strategies to work on using principles of motor learning (PML).
Accent training entails many domains of language (Gu & Shah, 2019; Brady et al., 2016):
articulation (consonants and vowels)
phonological and prosodic rules
vocabulary
grammatical features
nonverbal/body language/pragmatic features
auditory discrimination
However, addressing all these targets in training sessions can be overwhelming and costly. Prioritisation is crucial. We need to focus on targets that have the greatest impact. This can differ greatly between individuals. I will be starting with targets that I think impact most and in an order that makes sense.
A word on efficacy
Research conducted to evaluate training and correcting specific accents generally return positive results. Accent modification is said to significantly reduce obvious accents, and reportedly improve intelligibility (how much others understand one’s speech).
NEXT POST: Preparation
References
Brady, K. W., Duewer, N., & King, A. M. (2016). The effectiveness of a multimodal vowel-targeted intervention in accent modification. Contemporary Issues in Communication Science and Disorders, 43(Spring), 23–34. https://doi.org/10.1044/cicsd_43_S_23
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
Khurana, P., & Huang, E. (2013). Efficacy of accent modification training for international medical professionals. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.53761/1.10.2.4
Pennington, A. (2017). A literature review on accent modification. Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects, 428. https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects/428