The Implementation of Online Accent Reduction Software to Improve Pronunciation of English and Arabic Department Students

The objective of this study is to implement accent reduction software in English pronunciation teaching. This study employed an experimental approach. There were forty students recruited from the English and Arabic departments. The students were split into two classes, with one class being treated as an experimental class and another class as a controlled class. Each class consisted of twenty students, ten English department students, and the other ten Arabic department students. We administered an experimental class with twelve meeting treatments using the Elsa accent reduction software to teach English pronunciation. Meanwhile, the controlled class was not given any treatments. The results show that there was a significant difference between the result of the pre-test and post-test of the students' pronunciations that were taught with the accent reduction software. It was found that the mean score of the experimental class was significantly improved from 53.12 to 85.44 after they were given the treatment. Meanwhile, the control group's mean score was also improved, but it was not significant from 49.33 to 59.11. Our study highlighted that the use of accent reduction software in teaching English pronunciations could help students to improve their English pronunciations. The students were able to imitate an English sound from the software. The limitation of this study is that we did not compare the results of English and Arabic students’ ability in pronunciations after the use of the software. Future studies are recommended to compare pronunciations between English and Arabic students through the use of the software to understand language background might affect the treatment.

“Come join us, and lose your accent!”

In this article, we examine the hierarchization of international students by bringing together perspectives of linguistic legitimacy and language ideologies. Our data stems from 26 accent reduction (AR) or accent modification (AM) course descriptions and websites from US universities. Based on their analysis, we discuss the socio-political implications of the phenomenon of these courses for international students and the ways in which language-based, particularly accent-based, arguments are used to create or reinforce different categories of students. We argue that while international students are presented as having different kinds of “comprehensibility problems” that AM/AR courses are claimed to remedy, the seemingly linguistic arguments that are used for marketing do not hold. Rather, what is presented as an accent issue actually seems to be an ideological one, drawing on the students’ ethnic or geographical origins, and thereby racializing the question of language proficiency.

Racializing the problem of and solution to foreign accent in business

Given the desire to attract skilled immigrants to English-speaking countries in the Global North, business environments in these nations may see the increased presence of workers who speak English with a foreign accent. While organizations may tout this linguistic diversity, there is a concern that a foreign accent interferes with successful business communication. This apparent issue can result in a lack of employment opportunities for foreign-accented professionals and has also created a rise in private accent reduction programs that seek to improve the employability of these professionals. What is understated or even omitted in the discussion of these trends is the impact of racialization. First, the (lack of) employability of foreign-accented workers may be determined by a set of racial hierarchies in which some bodies are perceived as better for work than others. Furthermore, the notion that simply reducing an accent increases one’s employability ignores racialized power structures that truly prevent the employment of certain immigrants. Through the lens of raciolinguistic ideologies, which look at the intermingling of language and race, this article explores the above issues by arguing that foreign accent discrimination and accent reduction are indeed racialized and thus perpetuate the inequality experienced by immigrant professionals in business.