Lian Zhang, Intel, August 2005
Accent Reduction Study - Why you need to improve your English Pronounciation
In 2001, we undertook a study in Palo Alto, the heart of Silicon Valley, located in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. We taped five different Silicon Valley professionals – Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, Argentine, German - and asked them to talk about their work for about 1 minute. All of the speakers on the tape had a distinct accent, and, they were all fully employed in Silicon Valley industries.
We played this tape to Anglo American employers in the Silicon Valley and asked them to tell us whether they would hire the speakers and on what level. The results were that 100% of the employers interviewed would not hire the professionals with the very strong accents, and, if they were hired at all, they would only be employed in a low to mid range job in the company.
Accent Reduction Instruction For Individuals
Classes cover:
- an initial language assessment
- teaching you how to read phonics
- understanding consistent speech patterns (slow vs. rapid speech)
- practicing precise enunciation - making sure all sounds are heard
- learning the correct word stress - American English stresses words differently than Indian English does, for example
- correct pronunciation - even a little deviation can result in not being understood
- spoken consonants - most consonants are voiced and if you don't say them, you will not be understood
- professional terminology of your field - making lists of typical words you use with customers or Boards of Directors
- understanding and learning sport’s metaphors, TV jargon and idiomatic expressions
Methodology
The first session begins with analyzing your pronunciation problems and identifying the actual sounds which cause listeners to have trouble understanding you. You will be video taped giving a presentation you have recently given or a conversation you have had with customers. While taping you, we carefully look at your speech patterns, write down your mistakes and give you a list to begin working from. You receive a DVD to analyse and learn from at home.
Then, we look at the areas which you want to focus on. We work on improving your speaking better in meetings, talking on the phone, giving presentations, and in conference calls - the ultimate test.
You bring in the materials which have the vocabulary you use most when
you speak and we lead you in mastering the sounds which are the most
bothersome.
Over the next sessions, we work with you on your future projects or on
projects or presentations you have given, but that you want to improve.
In addition,
we help you write your reports, presentations and phone dialogs to make
sure you haven’t included sounds (like the /l/, /r/ sounds for
Asians) that are very hard for you to say
-- unless the words are part of your job or company description, and
then we make sure you know how to pronounce them.
At the end of our training, we compare your initial performance with
your last one.The results we have had with our clients are very positive
and they do see a remarkable and notable difference (see
testimonials).
Length
Usually, ten to twelve sessions are enough to take care of the most obvious problem areas. Many clients take a break of a few months and then come back for some tune-ups, which we recommend. This check up is really necessary, because bad habits often creep up and coming in for evaluations lets you know what you have retained and what you still want to work on. After our tune up sessions, we video tape you again and you will be amazed at the transformation and difference between the first time you came to us compared to what you see and hear now.
Accent Reduction Instruction for Groups
Classes cover:
- individual language assessment
- consistent speech patterns (slow vs. rapid speech)
- precise enunciation - especially speaking consonants clearly
- correct word stress - differentiating between nouns and verbs (/to record/ versus /the record/)
- difficult American sounds
- correct pronunciation of frequently used words
- correct word order
- spoken word 'middles' and endings
- pitfalls in American English
- phrasal verbs - understanding the difference among: put up, put through, put in, put out
- correct professional terminology of clients' fields
- sports' metaphors, idiomatic expressions, and TV jargon
Method
In the first sessions, we let people speak freely and then make a list of sounds which are hard for them to produce, and which are hard for others to understand. Students are videotaped as well as recorded on a tape recorder. The text they use can either be chosen by us; it can be something they like to recite/read, a description of their job responsibilities or a topic with which they have had prior problems.
We use these accent reduction sessions to put together successful presentations, phone call templates and improve your general well being. We individualize the instruction as much as possible to keep motivation and interest high and to make the lessons worthwhile and meaningful to the participants.
Student Activities
Students receive a list of sounds that are difficult for them according to where they are from (ex: China, Germany, India and so on)and a list of words to practice; they are also encouraged to tape themselves and keep track of their own progress. We look at tapes spoken by TV anchors or other public figures using excellent speech to analyze why they sound good and why other people don't.
Depending on the make-up of the class, we group students by language
groups and let them
practice with each other – using jokes, nursery rhymes, tongue twisters,
music and other stimulating materials we give them or which they bring
to class.
It is easier to have lively, oral participation of all students if they
come from the same language background but we can form groups of similar
accents
and have teams help each other pronounce words better.
The classes are
geared to the group which is being taught and materials are used which
fit that particular group i.e. we wouldn’t read American poetry
with a group of Chinese engineers. The point is to be flexible.
We have
also used these accent reduction classes to talk about problems individuals
are having with US business culture.
Make up session – we
come
to the company and give make-up lessons individually or pay more attention
to the student who missed a session during regular sessions.However,
there will be an additonal charge for these make up sessions.
Length Of Class
It is our experience that our group work will take about 10 - 12 weeks depending on available time - to focus intensely on reducing visible and troublesome aspects of individual accents. Setting up a class lasting several weeks makes sense and the time frame depends on the speed of students' progress and their time available. Students get better results if they have classes in succession, and also if they are committed to improving by doing the necessary "homework".
Minimum number of students: 5
Maximum number of students: 8 – 10
We look forward to discussing with you how we can work together to help you achieve your group's goals.
