Accent Reduction Boston MA

Accent Reduction Boston MA Pronunciation Boston MA

Accent Reduction Cambridge MA Brookline MA

What is accent reduction? What is pronunciation? What is Accent Modification?

Though there are common items which all English language learners focus on when it comes to pronunciation and accent reduction, English language learners are better served by, and oftentimes require, individualized pronunciation and accent reduction programs in order to reach their proficiency goals.

Accent Reduction Accent Modification and Pronunciation

What is accent reduction? What is pronunciation? What is accent modification? What do we work on when we learn and teach better English pronunciation? What does accent modification mean? Here are some areas of focus for pronunciation improvement, accent modification, and accent reduction.

Contrast in volume between content words and function words
Weak forms and strong forms of function words
Stress patterns of individual words - multi-syllable words - e.g. exterior, experiment
Intonation patterns - the contrast between content words and function words
Focus word - the most important or prominent word in an intonation unit: a sentence, a clause, or a phrase
Falling intonation at the end of an information question - glide or step down at the end
Rising intonation at the end of a yes-no question
Types of stress: emphatic stress, contrastive stress, new information stress
Intonation stress patterns for lists and choices
Time-stress quality of English pronunciation
Neutral vowel - schwa
Contractions used in both speaking and writing
Linking - connecting syllables and words
Producing stronger vowel sounds - tense and lax vowel sounds
Speaking faster - speeding up and slowing down
Thought groups - places where it's natural to pause
Types of stress: emphatic stress, contrastive stress, new information stress
Connected speech patterns - contractions used in spoken language - reductions, deletions, assimilation
Minimal pairs - vowel sound distinction
Tone - expressive quality of speech that conveys feelings and emotions
Reducing nasal qualities in speech
Tone - expressive quality of speech that conveys feelings and emotions
Reducing nasality - talking through one's nose
Pitch - the consistent high or low quality of one's voice
Musicality - musical qualities, or melodic qualities, that a speaker produces which are not appropriate to the L2 - target language - and which could be produced as a result of transference from the speaker's L1 - first language.