Many highly educated international professionals read and write English extremely well. However, when they speak English they have an accent that causes communication problems.
There are a number of factors that contribute to accented speech. In my posts over the next few days I am going to describe five factors that may be causing you to have an accent when you speak American English.
Today I will talk about syllable stress and intonation.
People typically use the stress and intonation patterns from their native language when they speak American English. Since your native language uses stress and intonation differently than we do in English this will be one of most important factors that contribute to your accent.
Using the wrong intonation and syllable stress patterns make your speech may sound too choppy, too fast or too flat. Learning how to speak using American English syllable stress and intonation patterns will really help you to reduce your accent sound more American.
Professor Marianne Celce Murcia, co author of Teaching Pronunciation, found that students studying American English need a balance of both sound lessons and stress and intonation lessons in order to increase their comprehensibility.
You must learn the consonant and vowel sounds. But, you must also learn the rhythm of the American English if you want to communicate more clearly and effectively.
Tags: accent reduction japanese speakers, Accent Reduction Techniques, american english intonation, American English Pronunciation, Syllable stress, teaching american english pronunciation
