Accent Modification

At Expressable, we help people who speak with an accent and want to improve the clarity of their speech. An experienced speech therapist can help you communicate more naturally and effectively with others.

There is no one “right” way to speak, and having an accent is not a speech disorder. In fact, it’s part of what makes you, you! But in some cases, difficulty pronouncing words in English can make it harder to be understood by others. That’s where accent modification speech therapy can help. Our unique program teaches you evidence-based strategies for changing your accent, speaking more clearly and comfortably, and improving your communication skills. 

This guide explains Expressable’s clinical approach to accent modification therapy. To learn more about changing your accent, check out our expert guide to accent modification.

1What are the benefits of changing your accent?

2The Expressable approach to accent modification

3Evidence based strategies to help change your accent

4Practice accent modification exercises at home with the Expressable portal

5Why choose online speech therapy for accent modification?

6Get matched with a speech therapist today

What are the benefits of changing your accent?

Speech therapy can help people who want to improve their pronunciation skills to be as close to “standard” American English as possible. Speech therapy can also help people change regional accents from different parts of the U.S. While your accent may not disappear completely, you can change the way you speak so it’s as clear and understandable as possible. 

Speech therapy for accent modification can help with:

• Difficulty being understood by others

• Frequently having to repeat yourself

• Listeners having a negative attitude toward your accent

• Attention being focused on your accent instead of the message you’re trying to communicate

Communication challenges due to an accent can affect both your personal and professional life. They may interfere with your social interactions, affect your everyday activities, or cause challenges with career advancement. The goal of accent modification is to improve your intelligibility and communication effectiveness while reducing listener burden. The focus is on helping you be more easily understood when you communicate, whether that’s at work, at school, or in social settings.

While each person’s treatment plan will be tailored to them, the Expressable accent modification program broadly focuses on:

• Teaching evidence-based techniques for modifying or reducing an accent

• Providing culturally informed services in recognition of various dialects, speech types, and communication patterns 

• Collaborating with clients to help them in the areas of communication that are most important to them

• Empowering clients to grow into the communicator they want to be

The Expressable approach to accent modification 

Expressable matches clients with a licensed speech therapist trained to evaluate and treat accent modification. All therapy is delivered online, in one-on-one sessions, via video conferencing on Zoom. Research has shown that online speech therapy works just as well as in-person therapy. Online speech therapy is convenient, offers wider access to speech therapists, and makes it easier for family and loved ones to be involved in the client’s speech therapy when needed.

Your speech therapist will partner with you to listen to your concerns and provide clinical recommendations for improving your communication. They will create a customized treatment plan based on your goals. During sessions, you’ll learn a variety of techniques to help with your pronunciation. These may involve saying certain sounds and words over and over, listening to speech and imitating it, practicing vowels, reading aloud, and more.

Speech therapy for accent modification starts with an evaluation

Your first session with your speech therapist will be an evaluation. There is no standardized testing for accent modification, but Expressable has developed a proprietary assessment that covers all areas of accented speech. Your speech therapist will ask you to produce different sounds and read out loud to develop a better understanding of your pronunciation, the rhythm and intonation of your speech, and your overall intelligibility.

The primary areas of the accent assessment include:

• Pronunciation of single words

• Blending sounds in sentences and connected speech

• Lexical stress: The stress you place on different syllables in words

• Intonation: The rise and fall of your voice, which conveys meaning and emotion

• Prosody: The rhythm, stress, intonation, and volume of your speech

• Pragmatics: How you use language and choose words in different scenarios

• A self-assessment of your confidence when speaking

Your speech therapist may also ask questions about your personal language history that could be relevant to your care. These can include:

• The languages you speak

• Age at which you learned new languages

• Where these languages were learned (school, home, community)

• How long you've spoken each language

• Which languages you use at home, work, or socially

The results will be used to develop a personalized care plan, which typically includes one to two speech therapy sessions per week.

Evidence based strategies to help change your accent

Your treatment plan will target specific areas to enhance your intelligibility. These might include learning to produce certain sounds more clearly, adjusting word stress and sentence rhythm, or modifying your pitch and intonation patterns. You may focus on the following:

• Identifying vowels and consonants that are not being produced the same as “standard” American English pronunciation

• Learning mouth movements and tongue placement for accurate pronunciation

• Practicing pronunciation tasks that make your speech as clear as possible, rather than only looking to reduce the accent

• Learning to use appropriate stress, rhythm, and intonation patterns for American English (or the target accent) to achieve more natural conversation

• Education and empowerment to speak up and gain confidence in your ability to state your thoughts and ideas 

You can read more about accent modification exercises typically used in speech therapy here.

After every session, your Expressable therapist will provide helpful home exercises to help you practice the techniques you’re learning. The more you practice, the faster you’ll make progress!

Practice accent modification exercises at home with the Expressable portal

At Expressable, speech therapy doesn’t stop when your session ends. We provide ongoing text messaging support, so you can ask questions or get tips from your speech therapist between sessions. You’ll also have access to our client portal, which makes it easier to practice accent modification exercises at home. 

In the portal, you’ll find Learning Paths that explain and reinforce strategies for accent modification, such as blending sounds in sentences:

You can watch videos that show real speech exercises in action, such as learning how to use inflection:

Your speech therapist will assign personalized home practice activities you can do during your everyday routines, such as practicing lexical stress while ordering food at a restaurant:

Why choose online speech therapy for accent modification?

Multiple studies have shown the effectiveness of online speech therapy. Not only does it work as well as in-person speech therapy, there are lots of reasons people tend to prefer it:

1 Wider access to qualified speech therapists

With online speech therapy, it’s not hard to find a speech therapist with experience in accent modification. You have access to an entire network of speech therapists who are licensed to treat in your state. This is especially beneficial for people who live in more rural areas, or in areas with long waitlists for speech therapy.

2 Convenience and flexibility

Between school, work, errands, and everyday life, it can be hard to regularly attend in-person therapy sessions. Not only is there the commute time, but most speech therapy clinics are only open during normal business hours. With work schedules and after-school activities, for many people, that just doesn’t work.

Online speech therapy removes this problem. At Expressable, you can schedule sessions on the days that work best, at the times that are most convenient, including evenings and weekends. 

3 The comfort of home

If you feel embarrassed or shy when it comes to speech therapy, you’re not alone. Many people who want to change their accent may feel a bit nervous at the thought of talking to someone face-to-face. With online speech therapy, doing sessions from the comfort of your own home can put you at ease. And when you’re comfortable and confident, your sessions will be more effective.

4 Affordability

In-person speech therapy clinics have many expenses that aren’t directly related to your care, such as rent, utilities, and other operational costs. As with any business, these costs are often passed down to the consumer. The cost of speech therapy will vary by provider, but generally, online speech therapy costs less than an in-person practice—even though you receive the same quality of treatment.

It’s important to note that accent modification is typically not covered by insurance. This is because it's viewed as an elective service, not a medically necessary service. Even though changing your accent may benefit you in many ways, insurance typically does not consider it medically necessary for your health. 

Get matched with a speech therapist today

The ultimate goal of accent modification speech therapy is to be able to communicate clearly and comfortably with others. We’re here to support you on your way to more effective communication. Find the right speech therapist for your needs here.