Talk:Accent reduction

message: There's a phrase in this article that says that people can be trained to have 'no' accent. This is meaningless since there's no such thing as having 'no' accent. The Accent article says so too. A more accurate wording would be 'a closer accent to those around them.' Or something. --Eamonnca1 (talk) 23:26, 27 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Spot on.  This must be changed.  The article is misleading in its current form.  It should be titled "accent modification" and completely overhauled. - Plasticbadge (talk) 23:41, 13 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: "No" accent?

message: I am declaring an interest in this page.
Reason: ESL Prof
Esller (talk) 03:26, 11 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Declaration 

message: * no outside links - spamming - for Accentschool.com - report vandalised past 1st warning. Esller (talk) 01:26, 14 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Vandalism 

message: Regarding:Relevance of examples by User 99.238.106.6
WikiProject Spam as Vandalism: "At one end of the spectrum are professional spammers seeking to drive traffic to commercial sites. .....Wikipedia is not a link repository for outside links."
Free commercial websites or not. This subject has already been addressed via spamming intentions of User talk:99.238.106.6  .
Esller (talk) 17:42, 15 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Regarding OutSide Spamming Links 

message: * no outside links - spamming edits - spamming intentions - report vandalised and spams past 2nd warning. User Associated with AccentSchool.com and/or York University in Toronto, On Ca.  Esller Esller (talk) 17:47, 15 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Spamming 

message: User_talk:99.238.106.6 Vandalism & Spam Intentions.  Spamming for Accentschool.com - reported vandalised & 1st warning for Dec 10 Edits. This Talk was deleted by USER 99.238.106.6 . This TALK reinstated due to further Vandalism & Spam Intentions by USER 99.238.106.6 . 
* 
Esller Esller (talk) 19:11, 15 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Vandalism 

message: Undid Vandalism/COI of deletion by 76.64.192.84. Association with Accentschool.com or York University. 1st Warning.
Esller (talk) 01:12, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Vandalism/COI by Toronto based AccentSchool.com Association 

message: Undid Vandalism/COI of deletion by 76.64.192.84. Association with Accentschool.com or York University. 2nd Warning. Esller (talk) 04:58, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Vandalism/COI by Toronto based AccentSchool.com Association 

message: No advertising in current edit. Deletion and IMHO by 76.64.192.84 unfounded as a COI exists with 76.64.192.84. No Spaming in article as claimed by 76.64.192.84.
An investigation of 76.64.192.84 shows a competing professional or personal interest in regard to Accent Reduction. Such competing interests can make it difficult to fulfill edits impartially. 99.238.106.6, 207.75.157.26 and 76.64.192.84 shows similarities in exact locations/user associations besides similarities in exact Discussions, Talk and COI, Vandalism and Spamming intent revisions.  Esller (talk) 08:45, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  76.64.192.84 COI 

message: 76.64.192.84 of  - All Deletions and COI will be Undone due to associations with AccentSchool.com and inability to follow Wikipedia guidelines. 76.64.192.84 has a known COI in regard to this article. 76.64.192.84 last deletion regarding advertising had no claim or basis as found by senior Admin. Esller (talk) 20:27, 18 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Continued COI of  76.64.192.84 and inability to follow Wikipedia Guidelines. 

message: In the previous statement about allegations of vandalism 76.64.192.84, Essler made an assertion that the edits had no claim or basis as found by a senior Admin. This statement is misleading, because Wikipedia Admin  enochlau  made the following statement in regards to the state of this article (which is contrary to the assertion made by Essler above):
"Sorry for taking so long to reply back. I think the article is progressing ok - there are some citations now. I would suggest that you add some web links so that interested users can find the relevant article/web pages immediately. I don't know much about it, but one thing that seems missing is any kind of fundamental theory behind accent reduction - what are the basic techniques, why do they work, are they effective? The article needs to present both sides if there is a genuine controversy in the field, and reference appropriate. Regarding Ms Dunn, I don't see why she deserves special mention. If there's something uniquely special about her, then provide some references to back that up, otherwise it does seem out of place in a general encyclopedia to specifically pinpoint the work of one particular person. enochlau (talk) 13:07, 18 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Factually misleading statement 

message: to 83.98.156.215 (unsigned of course)
The intentions of spamming of AccentSchool.com are very clear and are very much spamming. The vandalism of any talk page or any article is not appropriate behavior. Also, the purpose of AccentSchool.com was to really push their Canadian therapists and falsely claimed software (Really an Adobe Flash movie in which 2/3's of the .swf advertises their company). Research in Wikipedia is the key. Vandalism or COI actions seems an attempt to sway a separate interest. Thank you though for your    attention to this. Esller (talk) 19:40, 29 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Intentions of Accentschool.com not appropriate. See Wikipedia guidelines. 

message: RE:COI of 99.238.106.6 (previously unsigned talks)
Clearly Rebecca's COI of Accent Reduction is not in the best interest of Wikipedia. You state above that you became aware of AccentSchool.com as a result of attending a conference late in Nov 2007 but in your discussion page User_talk:99.238.106.6 Vandalism & Spam Intentions; you clearly state "P.S. I am not AccentSchool employee, just someone who found the site helpful, when I saw them put the site up they had a broken link" this you also Blanked out along with most of Wikipedia’s discussion page on you. Your location puts you within blocks of the facility Accentschool.com. Your approach to the Accent Reduction article in Wikipedia is clearly contrary to Wikipedia guidelines. My suggestion is first to read Wikipedia guidelines prior to any edits, additions, blanking, and vandalism. And again the false advertising of Accentschool.com and your desire for FREE service promotions is clearly not a neutral POV. The claims of Accentschool.com that their .SWF (Flash) is an original software are on the fringe of Trademark and copyright infringement of an Adobe product (Flash). You might want to pass that on to your contacts at Accentschool.com.
Wikipedia articles are not your personal website nor for your personal viewpoints. 
Regarding "the site does not seem to sell anything", since you are asociated with them you fully know they do sell services. I do not want to go into this futher as attempts to advertise this site is not in my interest. Your truthfullness are far from honest and any association with you is not in my or Wikipedia's best interest.
Esller (talk) 02:41, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  COI of 99.238.106.6 (previously unsigned talks) 

message: I feel that the current beginning of this article could use some work and want to discuss some suggestions rather than jumping in and editing away.
My proposed revision, followed by some of my reasoning:
Accent reduction, also known as accent modification, is a systematic approach used to learn or adopt a new accent. It is the process of learning the sound system (or phonology) of a language or dialect.  The methodology involves several steps, which include identifying deviations in the person's current speech from the desired accent (such as pronunciation, speech patterns, and speech habits), changing the way you use your mouth, teeth, and tongue to form vowel and consonant sounds, modifying your intonation and stress patterns, and changing your rhythm. Using this method, individuals such as those mastering a second language may alter their speech to more closely resemble the accent of a certain group of people, and thus enhance the clarity of their communication with those people. 
First, I believe "reducing or eliminating a foreign accent" carries some of the negative connotations and misperceptions carried with the term accent reduction... I would like to change it to "learn or adopt a new accent."
Similarly, "trouble spots" may have negative connotation.  If we keep "trouble spots," I suggest we more clearly say that they are spots where the individual has difficulty mastering parts of the new accent.  Maybe I'm overanalyzing, but in any case, I have revised to avoid that wording.
I felt the last sentence to be somewhat redundant other than bringing in the new vocabulary, prosody, which I don't think is necessary in understanding the idea of this article.
I added a new last sentence, talking about how this approach may be used for people with second languages who want to be better understood.
I also feel that a section on controversy over accent reduction is a must for this article.  People get angry and claim their accent is their identity and there are plenty of quotes or articles we can dig up to try to talk about this to present both sides of the issue.
Thoughts?  I'll go ahead with it if there are no objection, but surely someone has an opinion.  I'm also looking into good sources for backing up some of the rest of the article or rewriting it.  Also, what is with the Klaar stuff up at the top of the talk page?
LizBlankenship (talk) 00:21, 21 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Reworking the article from the top down 

message: I'm disturbed by the tacit emphasis which this article gives on reduction of a foreign accent in speakers of English as a second language.  I would like to see discussion of the issue of changing between dialects/accents of a single language — e.g., replacing a distinctive regional dialect/accent with a "standard" version of the same language — such as what people in the mass media are often compelled to do in order to succeed in their profession.  At the same time, though, the article needs to emphasize that there is no such thing as "accent-free" speech, since everyone (by definition) speaks with some "accent"; rather, it's a question of changing one's accent to match (or, at least, more closely approximate) the speech of a different region or social group.  Richwales (talk) 08:15, 8 February 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Narrowness of this article 

message: There may be some genetic causative relationship. My father, e.g., is a natural linguist, easily picking up foreign tongues when he travels. I didn't inherit that trait, but I have no trouble learning and using foreign accents and even the grammar/rythym differences. I grew up in an ordinary English-speaking environment, so it isn't that. So changing one's accent (on some permanent basis) could be easier for some (and conversely, impossible for others) due to a genetic factor.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.48.16.201 (talk) 10:26, 24 November 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Genetic factor? 

message: The narrow mindedness of this article is appalling  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 31.221.57.38 (talk) 08:43, 13 October 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  English speakers are dumb