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Accent and Identity
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> Compleat Links Volume 4, Issue 3 (September 2007) > Accent and Identity
Inna Hanson finds that the reasons nonnative speakers of English keep or lose
their accents go beyond established theories of brain and speech development.
See Debbie Zacarians The Road Taken column, "Mascot or Member?," Essential
Teacher, September 2007.
Search the Internet for accent reduction, and you'll get about 1,180,000 hits
offering software programs, personal tutoring, and online and telephone classes.
With so much help available for people who want to improve, modify, neutralize,
reduce, or even eliminate their accents, is anyone interested in keeping one?
Insecure about Accent
Preying on insecurities of nonnative speakers and their need to fit in, the accentelimination business promises that you can increase intelligibility, gain
confidence, eliminate career barriers, and even improve professional image
through accent reduction therapy and speech pathology.
The message is clear: having an accent is undesirable. But to whom is it
undesirable: the bearer of the accent, the listener, speech pathologists, or
society as a whole?
Can Anyone Shed an Accent?
With these questions in mind, I, as a nonnative speaker of English, interviewed
other nonnative speakers. At first, I flatly told them that I had come to believe
anyone could learn to speak English with almost no accent but that subconscious
reasons and inhibitions get in the way. These reasons include an unwillingness to
assume another identity, a lack of confidence, and rejection of nativelike speech.
Based on my observations and interviews, whether you keep or lose your accent
seems to go beyond established theories of brain and speech development.
Second Language, Second Identity
The idea that "second language learning involves the acquisition of a second
identity" (Brown 2000, 182) sounds like second language learners may have a
personality disorder, but I believe the idea to be true. Some of my interviewees
agreed that they often feel as if they are different people when speaking English.
Personally, I sound and feel more assertive and confident when I speak English
than I do when I speak my native Russian. In fact, I prefer English if I need to
stand my ground or deliver a tough message. On the other hand, because
English requires clear enunciation of sounds, I often perceive my speech as

overly assertive or angry, and thus, subconsciously, I intentionally try to

enunciate a little less so as not to sound too proper.
Another inhibition involves being exposed as a play-actor. Several times listeners
have made me feel uncomfortable after recognizing an accent after a slip in my
pronunciation. "Oh, I hadn't noticed your accent! Where are you from?" That
question makes me feel as if I am deceiving people about my background and
identity. To avoid this situation, I keep myself from sounding like a native speaker.
Having an accent strips me of privacy. Complete strangers suddenly feel free to
ask questions they would not ask a native speaker. The accent somehow
removes the need for manners and encourages nosiness.
One of my interviewees said she felt that speaking without an accent would be
like not telling the truth about herself. If people don't hear the accent, she
continued, they assume different things about you in terms of cultural and
behavioral expectations. Therefore, a nonnative speakers unaccented speech
may cause confusion about the speakers identity and interfere with
communication. In Steinbeck's (2003) East of Eden, Chinese servant Lee, living in
early twentieth-century California, switches his accent on and off according to
others expectations of his identity.
Accentism
On the other hand, having an accent may keep you from being taken seriously.
One of my interview subjects used the term accentism in reference to biases,
challenges, and even lost opportunities that nonnative speakers may face in a
society. Sadly, people with accents are not always perceived as competent,
educated, or even trustworthy. In the course of my interviews, I heard repeatedly
that native speakers are often distracted by the accent and fail to concentrate on
the message.
As Lang (2007), writing about her experience as a nonnative speaker in
Germany, put it, "If I try to fight a rate increase from the local utility company, or
get the playground equipment fixed at the local park, or simply object when
someone takes my parking space, I risk being ignored or, worse, told, If you
don't like it, go home" ( 4). She also wrote, "If I raise my hand and complain, I
fear, I will invite all kinds of unwanted attention: anti-Americanism, xenophobia
or just plain scorn for my atrociously accented German" ( 9).
Lack of acceptance of nonnative speakers may be a universal problem. People
with accents may experience conflict not only with their identities, but also with
the identities of native speakers in a larger sense. One expectation of speaking in
a target language may be speaking at the same level of fluency as native
speakers. If you don't, you may be perceived as a person who doesn't try hard
enough to fit in and, consequently, does not identify with native speakers, their
culture, and their country.
Do You Want to Lose Your Accent?

Interestingly enough, when asked if they would like to lose their accents
completely, most of my interviewees said no, noting that accent is a big part of
their identity and makes them feel special and original. Speaking with an accent
in the United States has fewer negative consequences than, say, in Germany.
According to my interviewees, although it's not always easy, most of the time
they are able to accomplish their goals. Americans, being influenced by diverse
and democratic history, seem to be more tolerant of accents than citizens other
nations in the world. In the United States, I believe, you can complain, demand,
persuade, comment, and pursue and be heard even if you speak with an
"atrocious" accent.

References
Brown, D. 2000. Principles of language learning and teaching. San Francisco:
Longman.
Lang, G. 2007. Speaking up, regardless of your accent. International Herald
Tribune, January 26. http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/26/news/avoice.php.
Steinbeck, J. 2003. East of Eden. New York: Penguin. (Orig. pub. 1952)
Inna Hanson (InnaH@SpokaneSchools.org) has taught English language
development arts and social studies at Garry Middle School, Spokane, in the
United States, since 2003.
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