A Literature Review on Accent Modification

Accents reflect the unique social aspects and backgrounds of the speaker. Unfortunately, some accents result in communication problems that affect speech intelligibility. This is especially true for those who speak English as a second language (ESL). As a result, non-native English speakers may avoid social interactions with those who find them difficult to understand. For those who elect to modify their accents, clinicians may offer accent reduction therapy services to help ESL speakers improve their ability to communicate with others across the home, school, work, and community setting. Therapy designed to change accents is within the scope of practice for speech language pathologists (SLPs), but the treatment is elective and based on a language difference rather than a disorder. Despite the growing number of people who elect to enroll in accent reduction therapy, there is no single treatment procedure that has been adopted. More importantly, there is a paucity of research available to test the efficacy of both assessment and treatment. The purpose of this project was to review the literature on assessment and intervention and to compile a series of evidence based resources for SLPs who are interested in providing services for those who enroll in accent reduction therapy