Accent Reduction in Practice

Carla Adelgren

STRESS syllable or word

Emphasis-longer, louder, higher pitch

INTONATIONUp and down tones

Semantic/attitudinal meaning

RHYTHMAlternate between

stressed/unstressed syllablesSyllable-timeStress-timed

Suprasegmental Phonology

From Dramatically Speaking

Silver pin

hitquitsitbit

Blue moon

soontwofoodtrue

White tie

piemytrykitehigh

Purple shirt

workhurtsirfurbird

Red dress

headsmellfellfedsaid

A cup of mustard

thepuddlefloodshut

Turquoise toy

boycoin

Black cat

backapplesadplaid

Color Word Wall

-ed ending poem

-s ending poem

Spelling patterns and rhyming words

Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss

Spelling patterns and rhyming words

rainwaittrainmailpaidpaintbraid

cakesafefacenamegavetapestatelake

daypayraywaysaymayplayspray

weighneighborfreight

Nonexamples:Love, give, again,said

Word Stress

From Dramatically Speaking

From Dramatically Speaking

From Dramatically Speaking

From Dramatically Speaking

Arrange cards to make words.

geo

thought

use

bio

logy

speech

ra ful

tion na

less

un welln

t

e

Word StressCompound Nouns

• deadline• lifestyle• traffic jam• airport• laptop• Blackbird vs. black bird• hamburger• air conditioner• baseball player

Compound Adverbs of Location

• outdoors• southwest• downtown• outside• upstairs• northwest

Word StressPhrases with

two-noun compounds

Adjective vs. noun phrase

five days vs. week daysfree call vs. phone callspare keys vs. house keyshard work vs. team work

main course-golf course dark glasses-sunglasses large dryer-hair dryer strong medicine-cough medicine new office-post office big rooms-bedrooms dishwasher washing machine parking lot security gate

Word Stress

Stress in numbers

gate 40 gate 14bus 30 bus 1312:50 12:15$30 $13

I think 30 people will be coming.I think 13 people will be coming.

Two-Syllable Verb/Noun Pairs

conduct contractrecord subjectproduce objectpermit projectpresent

Word Stress

Two-Word Phrasal Verbs

handout hand outtakeout take outripoff rip offworkout work outlookout look outlayoff lay off

Abbreviations and Symbols

LA YMCA BYOB CDIQ ASAP OBO MAWHO EU CO2 FYIH2O RSVP GPA PGATM VIP CPA PCHR CPR CEO DVD HMO TGIF

Cuisenaire Rods

ex plo sion

You broke the blue desk lamp.

ThoughtGroups

ShortSentences

Clauses Phrases

Transitions Interjections

I ran 2 miles yesterday. / I’m really sore today.short sentences

When you come to class with chocolate, / please share with the class. clause

I only like my coffee black / without cream or sugar.phrase

However, / I don’t think it will rain tomorrow. transition

Yes, / I need to go home now. interjection

Focus Words

ContentWords

NounsVerbs

Not auxiliary

Adjectives

AdverbsNegatives

Wh- words

Demonstratives

Interjections

Function Words

Articles

Conjunctions

PrepositionsPronouns

Auxiliary Verbs

Whales

A: What’s the biggest animal in the world?

B: Do you mean the longest, or the heaviest?

A: I don’t know. The heaviest.

B: I think it’s the gray whale.

A: I was under the impression that it was the blue whale.

Use special or marked focus words:

to highlight contrasts•I have some good news / and some bad news.•He’s happy, / but I’m not.

to correct or modify a previous statement

A: The activity starts at twelve-thirty.B: Actually, I heard is starts at one-thirty.

to highlight new informationA: What’s your favorite dessert?B: Probably ice cream.A: But what kind of ice cream?B: Oh, definitely chocolate ice cream.

to emphasize agreementA: This lecture is boring.B: It is boring.

Focus Word Games● One person from each team goes to board. The teacher reads

a sentence. The first person to write the focus word on the board wins a point for their team.

● Working in pairs, one person reads a sentence and the partner writes the stressed word.

RhythmI need to see you now. (syllable-timed)

You broke the blue desk lamp? (stress-timed)

You broke the blue desk lamp?

You broke the blue desk lamp?

You broke the blue desk lamp?

Stress-timed Rhythm

The boy is running with his dog.

Make word cards which comprise complete sentences. Distribute word cards to students (1 word per student). Students stand in order of correct syntax and read their word:

Stressed beat-stand and say word loudly and clearlyUnstressed beat-sit and say word quickly and softly.

3 beats=boy+running+dog

LOUD AND BIG

between beats=the+is+with his

quiet and small

ReductionsI’m going to I’m gonna

I want to I wanna

You have to Ya hafta

What are you doing? Whatcha doing?

Let me Lemme

Tell him Tellim

Ask her Asker

That’s her name That ‘ser name

Do you want to? Juh wanna?

Final t or d = ch t+y=ch What you...whatcha

d+y=j had you...hadja

Him, her, his, hers often drop “h” when not beginning of sentence or focus word

Like him...like’imIt’s her...it’s’er

LinkingI have an orange. I have a norange If the sound before the

vowel that starts the next word is a x consonant, link the consonant to the vowel.

I have three oranges. I have three yoranges. If the sound before the vowel that starts the word is “a”, “e”, or “i”, link the two vowels with a “y”.

I have two oranges. I have two woranges. If the sound before the vowel that starts the word is “o”or “u”, link the two vowels with a “w”.

A worm ate into four apples.

I study English day and night.

Do you want to go out or what?

*You can’t link schwa sound

I want a banana and an orange

wannaw

Blending Kiss Sam kissSam

Bluff first blufffirst

Dumb monkey dumbmonkey

Tail light taillight

Need dinner nee’dinner

Drop pennies dro’pennies

Don’t watch don’watch

Didn’t do didn’do

Art class ar’class

Hop down ho’down

Puppet Show/Skit

Pair students off and give each pair a dialogue script. Have them analyze and mark up the script for:

● Multisyllable words● Thought groups● Sentence stress/content words● Focus words● Reductions/linking/blending

Marking the script

A: Please don’t talk during the test, or I’ll have to assume that you’re cheating.

B: Oh, I wasn’t cheating. I was just answering a classmate’s question.

A: Well, you’re not allowed to help other students cheat, either.

B: Are you sure? I thought that helping other students cheat was allowed.

Marking the script

A: Please don’t talk during the test,/ or I’ll have to assume that you’re cheating.

B: Oh,/ I wasn’t cheating./ I was just answering a classmate’s question.

A: Well,/ you’re not allowed to help other students cheat,/ either.

B: Are you sure?/ I thought that helping other students cheat was allowed.

hafta

Intonation

SEMANTICMEANING

ATTITUDINALMEANING

QuestionLack of certaintySeeking confirmation

Intonation

A: Could you pass me the salt, please?B: Sorry?A: The salt. Could you pass me the salt?B: Sorry, I couldn’t hear you. It’s so noisy . Here you go.A: Thanks.

Intonation

I have something to tell you.

Happy and excited

Sad and worried

Nervous and worried

Intonation

Yes/no question Wh- question

Did you remember to buy the milk?

Where did you buy that?

Review

Theory

● Phonetics and Phonology● Language Acquisition● Standard American

English● General American Spanish

Practice

● Accent Reduction as a Concept

● Specific Problems● Teaching Methods

and Materials

ResourcesThe American Accent Guide Beverly A. Lujan MS

Mastering the American Accent Lisa Mojsin, M.A.

How the ELL Brain Learns Dave A. Sousa

Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages: An Introduction

David Nunan

Accent Reduction Manual and Supplements

http://inlingua-if.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Accent-Reduction-Manual-and-Supplements-Complete-Kit-2017.pdf

Dramatically Speaking University of Utah English Language Institute