After watching the films in class which help us to look at the different accents across the country I thought it would be interesting to learn a bit more about the main features of accents because in one form or another, we all have them.
Accents typically are classified in two ways including Regional Accents and Foreign Accents. Our accents and that of others help us to identify a lot of features about a person such as their background, where they are from, etc. Problems arise with accents when we have trouble understanding someone, have to repeat ourselves constantly so others can understand us (which may cause one to avoid social interactions), or when a listener focuses on your accent more than the content of your language. With these problems at hand some put in the time and effort to change their accents which is known as “accent modification” or “accent reduction”. This can be accomplished with the help of a speech-language pathologist who can help you to learn to change your speech pronunciation. They will begin by evaluating your accent by looking at sound pronunciation as well as the stress, intonation, and rhythm of one’s speech. Also they will listen to your speech in conversation. After all evaluations have taken place the speech-language pathologist will set goals to help one modify their accent and improve your communication as a whole.
While accents can cause problems they are also an important part of showing who someone is. With this in mind it is important to realize that accents are not speech impediments and that they are an important part of our global culture.
http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/accent_mod.htm