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COM 39 — Accent Reduction for Non-Native English Speakers

Quarter: Winter
Instructor(s): Neil Jacobs
Duration: 5 weeks
Location: On-campus
Date(s): Jan 27—Mar 3
Class Recording Available: No
Class Meeting Day: Mondays
 
Class Meeting Time: 7:00—8:50 pm (PT)
Please Note: No class on February 17
Tuition: $420
   
Refund Deadline: Jan 29
 
Unit(s): 1
   
Enrollment Limit: 30
  
Status: Registration opens Dec 2, 8:30 am (PT)
 
Quarter: Winter
Day: Mondays
Duration: 5 weeks
Time: 7:00—8:50 pm (PT)
Date(s): Jan 27—Mar 3
Unit(s): 1
Location: On-campus
 
Tuition: $420
 
Refund Deadline: Jan 29
 
Instructor(s): Neil Jacobs
 
Enrollment Limit: 30
 
Recording Available: No
 
Status: Registration opens Dec 2, 8:30 am (PT)
 
Please Note: No class on February 17
 
This course is designed for individuals who are already proficient in English but who would benefit from the reduction of their foreign accent. It provides an approach to accent reduction that is systematic yet not overly technical. The course combines theory and practice. Key concepts are introduced and then applied to language-specific pronunciation issues, followed by practical exercises and feedback. Special emphasis is placed on practical exercises that will lead students to rapid and noticeable improvement in the classroom and will also serve as a guide for continued improvement after the course is over. Topics covered will include where and how speech sounds are produced; individual sounds of American English in isolation, with close attention to typically problematic consonants and vowels; difficult combinations of sounds; word stress; intonation; and pronunciation differences between formal and casual speech.

Proficiency in spoken English is required.

NEIL JACOBS
Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures, Emeritus, Ohio State

Neil Jacobs has taught courses and workshops on phonetics, phonology, and accent reduction, and he has also studied and taught several languages. He received a PhD from Columbia.

Textbooks for this course:

There are no required textbooks; however, some fee-based online readings may be assigned.