YOU AND YOUR ACCENT
By: Sharon Heffley
Non-native
speakers tend to have more pauses between words than native English
speakers. That makes their speech seem
rapid and choppy. To breathe,
Americans usually pause at the end of a sentence and where a comma appears if
we were writing. We may also pause
before phrases and clauses. These word
groupings allow us to keep ‘thought clusters’ together so we are more easily
understood.
Ex: The board will meet on Wednesday to vote on the new
bylaws. There are no commas here to tell you when
you can take a break in speaking.
However, we do have two thought groups that provide guidelines. The first is
The board will meet on Wednesday. It’s a
complete thought, but the speaker wants to add more information so she adds to vote on the new bylaws. If you
must take a break, this is where it will occur naturally. It would be awkward to say... The board will meet- on
Wednesday to vote on the new bylaws.
Thought
clusters are determined by grammar and context.
A noun/verb phrase thought group is Jim and Sally/ went to the mall. Native
speakers, usually don’t pause in such short sentences, but some of my clients
inappropriately use multiple pauses- Jim/ and Sally/ went to the mall.
We
can also pause before or after important information. This helps keep the listener focused. In part two / we’ll discuss
implementation.
Mimic
TV and radio speakers. Listen to their
phrasing. Determine what their ‘thought
group’ was. Try to regulate where your
pausing should go. Practice will help
you to develop some new habits.
We plan to offer an intensive accent
modification program that will meet all day on February 24 and 25, and March 24, 2007. This
program includes work on pronunciation, syllable stress and fluency. For more information, visit our website or
call. We offer a $100 early registration discount before Dec. 20th.
Sharon Heffley is a
speech-language pathologist specializing in communication skills for non-native
speakers of English. She can be reached
at 703-757-5353 or visit
her website at www.accentmodification.com
|