In U.S., expatriate professionals see 'accent reduction' as a sound investment

[JODO 2]

In U.S., expatriate professionals see 'accent reduction' as a sound investment

By Michael T. Luongo

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

NEW YORK:

It was not what Sergei Petukhov said. It was how he said it."The way I said 'accent reduction,' he couldn't understand me," Petukhov said. That was enough for Petukhov, a Moscow native who works for the law firm Kaye Scholer as a scientific adviser, to get his employer's approval to pay for training to decrease his Russian accent.

He is one of many educated, non-native English speakers working in the United States who take voice training and accent reduction to improve presentations, workshops and everyday conversations with their American-born co-workers.

Petukhov's accent coach, Jennifer Pawlitschek, said that from her experience in New York, the field is growing. "Here it's hot, and I think it's because it's an international crossroads," she said, both because the United Nations is in the city and because of New York's role in global financial markets.

Pawlitschek, who has a Master of Fine Arts degree in drama from the University of California, Irvine, said "the posture of the mouth" affects accent. She teaches how to change "the way you hold your jaw, lips and tongue," along with stress and intonation.

She contended that the term "accent reduction" is a misnomer. "Accent reduction is learning an accent. It is learning an American accent," she said.

Another coach, Brian Loxley, has a doctorate in speech from Southern Illinois University as well as degrees in theater. He began helping foreign-born students in 1983, when he headed the speech and theater program at Pace University in White Plains, New York.

Loxley said speaking English correctly allows "people to look at you like you're a leader and your ideas count." His clients, he explained, are "educated and brilliant people but they're having trouble making themselves understood."

Pawlitschek said the "r" and the "l" are problematic for Asians, as the "v" and the "w" are for Indians, who also often have "a mix of their own mother tongue and then a British layer on top of it." Some problems appear across cultures. "The 'r' is fascinating," she said. "You can go to so many countries, and the 'r' is done in different ways."

Non-native speakers may not even be aware that they are speaking incorrectly.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/05/bus...ents.php?page=2

[pedroh 21]

interesting...

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

My employer actually has a position listed ... accent reduction trainer... money is good if you're good at it. It's very highly sought after training by our offshore Indian employees.

[Reba 2]

Non-native speakers may not even be aware that they are speaking incorrectly.

huh? How is it "incorrect"? Its just a differnent accent

[peejay 327]

My employer actually has a position listed ... accent reduction trainer... money is good if you're good at it. It's very highly sought after training by our offshore Indian employees.

It is a viable commodity and training for a foreign / international company that wishes to succeed in America.

Not so viable for illiterate melon pickers. The corporations just hire 1 interpreter and leave it at that.

[pedroh 21]

Non-native speakers may not even be aware that they are speaking incorrectly.

huh? How is it "incorrect"? Its just a differnent accent

yea i was wondering the same thing

[one...two...tree 2,762]

My employer actually has a position listed ... accent reduction trainer... money is good if you're good at it. It's very highly sought after training by our offshore Indian employees.

I think I could do the job... I've been practicing on my wife.

from deener to dinner,

courb to curb,

calshum to calcium

And it's not just pronunciation issues, but choice of words - she constantly mixes 'she' with 'he' and vice versa which completely throws me off when I'm trying to follow her talking about more than one person.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

My employer actually has a position listed ... accent reduction trainer... money is good if you're good at it. It's very highly sought after training by our offshore Indian employees.

It is a viable commodity and training for a foreign / international company that wishes to succeed in America.

Not so viable for illiterate melon pickers. The corporations just hire 1 interpreter and leave it at that.

Well the melon picker probably doesn't need to communicate as much as, say, an IT Project Coordinator or Client Relationship Manager. The melon picker can probably last in the sun a lot longer than your friendly CRM can. Different roles, different skills.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Non-native speakers may not even be aware that they are speaking incorrectly.

huh? How is it "incorrect"? Its just a differnent accent

yea i was wondering the same thing

Strange (me replying in Off Topic) - but you are all right. ALL languages are accented - even within countries (compare Dallas to Savannah, to Boston). Happens also in French, in Spanish that I know of and am fluent in (compare Quebec to Paris to Haiti, Mexico City to Buenos Aires to Sevilla). Some people will never loose their accentuation (my papa in law still speaks like a Texan and has not lived there since undergraduate school 40+ years ago!!!) and others are quite mimetical when it comes to language learning, picking up whichever accent they encounter in each region they visit. I've been speaking English since I was 4 and so has my brother: he went to grad school in the UK; me in Canada, and his "accent" is thicker than mine.

Can tell from my students (foreign trained professional immigrants) that this is the way the cookie crumbles: some will change to Edmontonian English, some will not - but some companies DO invest in training like that - good for them!!! So I guess it's quite personal and unpredictable.

p.s. Pass the job description anyways

Peace, L.

[sparkofcreation 0]

Non-native speakers may not even be aware that they are speaking incorrectly.

huh? How is it "incorrect"? Its just a differnent accent

Speaking with a British, Canadian, or Australian accent is a different accent. Speaking with a non-native accent is speaking incorrectly, just as much as if I went up to a Spanish speaker and said "Kay PASS-uh?" or to a French speaker "Voolee-voo kushay avek mwah say swah?"

It's common for native speakers of one language to not hear the subtleties of pronunciation in another. I had to take an accent reduction class for Spanish, and when I was teaching interpreting, I frequently recommended accent-reduction classes for people's second languages, whether they were native English speakers having trouble with Spanish pronunciation or vice-versa. For one thing, in both languages, not being able to use the proper pronunciation impedes the person's ability to speak fast enough to do the job. If you're not comfortable with the pronunciation at conversation speed, you won't be able to speak it intelligibly at 250wpm.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Speaking with a British, Canadian, or Australian accent is a different accent. Speaking with a non-native accent is speaking incorrectly, just as much as if I went up to a Spanish speaker and said "Kay PASS-uh?" or to a French speaker "Voolee-voo kushay avek mwah say swah?"

It's common for native speakers of one language to not hear the subtleties of pronunciation in another. I had to take an accent reduction class for Spanish, and when I was teaching interpreting, I frequently recommended accent-reduction classes for people's second languages, whether they were native English speakers having trouble with Spanish pronunciation or vice-versa. For one thing, in both languages, not being able to use the proper pronunciation impedes the person's ability to speak fast enough to do the job. If you're not comfortable with the pronunciation at conversation speed, you won't be able to speak it intelligibly at 250wpm.

Agreed. However, more than 20 countries (quick count) have English as their first official language besides the UK, the US, Australia or NZ. Those folks are native speakers as well - even if they don't sound like that. As an educator like you, I think we need to learn to listen to other accents - but that's just me. Subtleties vary from region to region.

And yes, pronunciation does hamper your ability to obtain the job you want sometimes; exception made in some fields (professional or trades) where little if any language skills are used-needed. I guess it comes down to people's ability to reduce/shift/change their accentuation or access/affordability to clear speech courses.

Great points!

[kitkat1 5]

Non-native speakers may not even be aware that they are speaking incorrectly.

huh? How is it "incorrect"? Its just a differnent accent

yea i was wondering the same thing

The ESL teacher in me says it's not "incorrect" but as I explain to my students, if the person you are talking to cannot understand you, even if you are using the correct words and grammar, there's a problem. Accent reduction is big business in the US.

[peejay 327]

My employer actually has a position listed ... accent reduction trainer... money is good if you're good at it. It's very highly sought after training by our offshore Indian employees.

It is a viable commodity and training for a foreign / international company that wishes to succeed in America.

Not so viable for illiterate melon pickers. The corporations just hire 1 interpreter and leave it at that.

Well the melon picker probably doesn't need to communicate as much as, say, an IT Project Coordinator or Client Relationship Manager. The melon picker can probably last in the sun a lot longer than your friendly CRM can. Different roles, different skills.

It is not just in the professional jobs that accent reduction is a problem. There is quit a shortage of qualified oilfield workers to fill skilled positions. Last year I had the displeasure to work with some oil workers from Camaroon (western Africa) that were recruited to work here in the Gulf of Mexico. It was bad enough trying to talk to them in person. It was even worst when talking to them on the radio or microwave telephone. It is a safety issue in critical situations that can quickly get out of hand without necessary information through reliable communication. So what if they speak English that nobody can understand. It's next to useless if I have to get them to repeat themselves 5 or 6 times to understand. Not to mention embarassing to me and them that I cannot understand them.

Ditto for the illegal alien common laborers from Mexico / Latin America the construction companies send offshore to do construction projects on our offshore production facilities now-a-days. If their foreman / interpreter has to go to another location, the real fun begins. That is another safety issue when our crew cannot communicate with workers whose safety we are responsible for. I don't like it and it is occurring more and more since Bush got into office. It wasn't that way until the last 5-6 years. The oil companies can well afford to pay wages to attract English speaking (legal) construction workers, but I don't know the root cause of why this has occurred recently. Just my speculation.

Edited June 17, 2007 by peejay

[pedroh 21]

u mean Cameroon lol.. not Camaroon..

[Caladan 19]

I wouldn't call a non-American (and let's be honest, probably non-British) accent incorrect, but detrimental in an American workplace. Even a strong classic Southern accent can be a detriment if it doesn't sound professional and polished.

What surprises me is that this is news. Haven't there been diction instructors and the like around for a long time?