Accent Reduction and Discourse Competence 3

So what's important? Here's what I discovered by observing the client's spoken and non-scripted text, in a way, close up and in slow motion:

1. The speaker, mostly, does not naturally use discourse markers. Using discourse markers is something that comes naturally to many speakers in L2 and L1. However, this is not so in this case. Failure to use discourse markers can leave a text without cohesion. Listeners have a difficult time following it. I know I had, and have, a difficult time following what this person says from time to time. Discourse markers, as I see it, are part of the glue that holds the parts of a text together, those parts being the sentences, or the comments that follow each other logically and refer back to the topic. This brings us to the second point.
2. The speaker's text did not seem to be coherent. Why? It was NOT entirely clear how new information related back to previous information. The sentences did not always seem to go together in a logical way, and the sentences seemed to be disconnected. I had to ask, "What do you mean by that?" and "How is this relevant?"

So consonant sounds, accent reduction, and repairing grammar can help with overall comprehensibility, but this person cannot even begin to solve their communication problem without first dealing with cohesion and coherence. The problem is compounded because certain types of grammar errors also contribute to the incomprehensibility of this person's spoken communication.

I developed communication coaching sheets to help this client-student begin to approach speaking in a logical step-by-step manner. I also developed a sheet to help the student-client recognize discourse markers in other people's speaking and, in some way, begin to incorporate them into their own speaking.

I also realize that to varying degrees this will be, in part, the approach I take in other situations. It all depends on the needs of the client. Accent reduction may only be a part of the communication problem.

Lastly, this person’s communication problem might not be apparent unless one spends some time listening to this person and speaking with this person. If one finds comprehensibility to be a problem, one might conclude that it has to do with an accent. However, this is just one part of the solution to the problem, and, in this case, it's likely not the most important part of the solution.

Discourse Competence

Also, see part one of Discourse and Context in Language Teaching,  Take a look at page 16 for these competency areas: linguistic competence, sociolingustic competence, discourse competence, and strategic competence.

Accent Reduction and Discourse Competence 2

In reference to a student-client I’ve been working with, I can expand on discourse competence and accent reduction.

We reached a point at which I thought improvements in accent reduction, pronunciation, and grammar are not going to help, or they’ll help but this help alone will not have a strong enough impact on this person’s communication. I tried a bit of general "communication coaching" to help this person express their thoughts and ideas in a proper way. I found that in order to understand the big picture - discourse competence - I had to observe this person's spoken communication close up and type, or document, what the client-student was saying. I was blinded by focusing on what is typical for improving English communication skills: linguistic competence, meaning accent and pronunciation, grammar or syntax, and lexical ability. There is also register and personal expression, but, for now, these are not part of the picture. . Observing this person's spoken text, close-up and in "slow motion", I discovered why this person's speech or speaking is not easy, or even very difficult, to understand sometimes.

There were some underlying factors first that I discovered in my conversations with the client-student:

1. Learning English was important while growing up, but spoken or open communication was not encouraged while growing up.
2. The person's job responsibilities require communication, but not a lot.
3. The person's work is mostly concerned with following procedures, with attention to detail as details pertain to documented language, actions, and events.
4. The client-student, though living in the US, probably speaks their native language at least 50% of the time or more with family members. The family members also speak English, but it's likely that this is not the typical medium of communication at home.
5. The student-client's work centers mostly around working with numbers, not language. Communication is important, but spoken language is not required to any great extent.
6. The student-client seems to lack confidence in spoken communication, is not sure of where to start in the first place when responding to questions and speaking prompts, and does not seem to know what information is important to convey at all times and in which order to convey the information. The student-client seems to lack a fully logical manner in getting to the point and responding to a question or speaking prompt.

So with all of this in mind, is the /th/ sound important? No, it's not. Sentence-level intonation even takes a backseat in this case. Incidentally, the student-client is able to switch to more English-like intonation patterns when reminded and prompted to do so. So forget about teaching the contrast between function words and content words to some extent, at least, because the client-student is able to self-correct and requires little, if any, instruction at all. This is an interesting habit or interesting behavior. How can we change it? That’s another topic.

Discourse Competence

Also, see part one of Discourse and Context in Language Teaching,  Take a look at page 16 for these competency areas: linguistic competence, sociolingustic competence, discourse competence, and strategic competence.

Accent Reduction and Discourse Competence 1

Some people find it very difficult to produce the interdental sounds /th/ voiced and /th/ unvoiced. For /th/ voiced, some people end up using a /d/ sound, and for /th/ unvoiced, some people end up using a /t/ sound. (Note that /d/ is voiced, and /t/ is unvoiced.)

Even with a description and explanation as to precisely how these sounds are made, and then followed by guided practice, some people still find it difficult to produce these sounds.

So how much time and effort should one devote to an individual sound? A balanced approach is important.

In a very simple way, one could ask what the priorities are. However, breaking that question down has some practical value for clear decision-making.

I would take into consideration these questions:

1) Does the sound, or pronunciation item, interfere with overall intelligibility?

2) Does this sound cause intelligibility problems at the word level?

3) Is it important to the student-client to master the sound?

4) How important is this sound relative to the other pronunciation and accent items to be dealt with, considering suprasegmentals, segmentals, and individual words?

5) Do the goals of the client-student extend well beyond consistent intelligibility to wanting to achieve or approximate native speaker pronunciation as much as possible? Or more simply put, what are one's goals?

6) If the student-client thinks the sound is very important to master, is the importance the student-client attaches to it disproportionate to the broader goal of consistent intelligibility?

7) If the student-client thinks this sound is not important at all, should one try to convince them otherwise for their own benefit?

8) If mastering the sound is important, who is it really important to? Who's setting the priorities and why?

9) In the biggest picture possible or the widest perspective, meaning discourse competence and overall proficiency in the language, how does this one sound fit into the picture? From this viewpoint, are there many other things that one should be concerned with first? Or from this viewpoint, are there very few things, or nothing, that one should be concerned with first? For example, someone might have difficulty putting together ideas and thoughts in spoken language that come across to listeners as a coherent and cohesive text. If this is a problem, then an individual sound hardly seems worth spending time on while confronted with a mammoth problem such as the combination of coherency and cohesion. Larger problems should be dealt with first.

Discourse Competence

Also, see part one of Discourse and Context in Language Teaching,  Take a look at page 16 for these competency areas: linguistic competence, sociolingustic competence, discourse competence, and strategic competence.

By the way, I've worked with someone, and I still am, who thought the problem was accent, pronunciation, and grammar. While we are working in those areas, it turns out that the biggest problem is discourse competence, meaning expressing ideas and thoughts in spoken language in a way that is both consistently coherent and cohesive. I've adjusted the curriculum accordingly, but I admit that it took me by surprise. So you really have to find out what the problems are for yourself. Listen and observe closely. Don't go into anything with preconceived notions or ideas regarding problems and solutions.

Persuasive Sentence Starters

Persuasive sentence starters could be just the thing you need to practice accent reduction.

Persuasive language – sentence starters

1. One thing I’m sure we all agree on is … Therefore …
2. Imagine …
3. This will work out very well because …
4. I know that all of us agree that … so why …
5. When we consider that,
6. I understand what you mean, and that’s why …
7. If we go through with this, …
8. The benefits would be that …
9. We stand to benefit from this by …
10. We may not see the benefits in the short run. However, …
11. The reason I feel this would be best is that …
12. The reason I feel this would be best is because …
13. Do you have any ideas for more phrases?

You have to be persuasive at a meeting or a presentation. Write a paragraph to help yourself develop language for this purpose.

Accent Reduction Minimal Pair Sell Sale

Some accent reduction learners might mispronounce words because they don’t distinguish between two sounds. For example, they could pronounce “sell” like “sale”.

The vowel sound in “sale” is a double vowel sound, also called a “diphthong”, and it sounds like this: seiyəl. The sound of each letter passes quickly as a speaker pronounces the word: “s-e-i-y-əl”. The vowel sound in “sell” is simpler; it is a single vowel sound, not a double vowel sound, or a “diphthong”.

Here’s another pair of words: test and taste. Some accent reduction learners could pronounce “test” like “taste”.

The vowel sound in “taste” is a double vowel sound, or a diphthong, just as it is in the word “sale”. We pronounce “taste” like this: teyist. The sound of each letter passes quickly as a speaker pronounces the word: t-e-y-st. The vowel sound in “test” is simpler; it is a single vowel sound, not a double vowel sound, or a "diphthong".

Listen to the pronunciation here: http://www.answers.com/topic/sale

Listen to the pronunciation here: http://www.answers.com/topic/sell

The pair of words “sell” and “sale” is a minimal pair. Two words that differ by one sound are a minimal pair. Learning to distinguish between two sounds in both speech and listening is part of accent reduction and pronunciation improvement.

One of the ways that we can help accent reduction and accent modification clients improve when it comes to difficult vowel sounds is to contrast the difficult sound with another sound by practicing a list of minimal pairs.

Another way to deal with this is to use words that have both sounds in the same sentence. Here are some practice sentences for people that need to improve how they pronounce the vowel sounds in the highlighted words.

1.    I want to sell you a sailboat.

2.    They're going to sell a lot on the big sale day.

3.    You have to pay off your monthly debt by this date.

4.    I'll bet that's good bait

5.    I'm going to write a letter later tonight.

6.    They talked about some special spatial relations.

8.    They tell good tales.

9.    The bank teller recommended a good tailor to me.

Here is a list of words to practice distinguishing between these two sounds.

sell and sale

Individual Sounds 

Type IPA phonetic symbols 

l and r practice.pdf Download

l + n minimal pair.pdf Download

s practice - initial s sound.pdf Download

minimal pairs - short i long e.pdf Download

minimal pairs - short a and short e.pdf Download

note + not.pdf Download
minimal pair - sell sale.pdf - Download 

j + y - minimal pair.pdf Download

minimal pairs - full fool.pdf Download

short a - hassle + hustle.pdf - Download

th voiced and unvoiced.pdf Download

w and v distinction.pdf Download

minimal pairs b + v - practice.pdf - Download

r-controlled vowels.pdf - Download
h + r brazilian portuguese speakers.pdf - Download
double vowel sounds - diphthongs.pdf - Download

JU - formulate - diphthong - double vowel.pdf  Download