Accent Reduction for Non-Native English Speakers
This course is designed for individuals who are already proficient in English but who would benefit from the reduction of their foreign accent. It provides an approach to accent reduction that is systematic yet not overly technical. The course combines theory and practice. Key concepts are introduced and then applied to language-specific pronunciation issues, followed by practical exercises and feedback. Special emphasis is placed on practical exercises that will lead students to rapid and noticeable improvement in the classroom and will also serve as a guide for continued improvement after the course is over. Topics covered include a quick, basic, and useful introduction to where and how speech sounds are produced; individual sounds of American English in isolation, with close attention to typically problematic consonants and vowels; difficult combinations of sounds; word stress; intonation; and pronunciation differences between formal and casual speech.
Neil Jacobs
Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures, Emeritus, Ohio State
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