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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 11, No. 7

Publication Date: July 25, 2024

DOI:10.14738/assrj.117.17364.

Shah, A. P. (2024). Retuning Ears & Rewiring Brains for Effective Communication: Foreign-Accent Perception & Sensitivity Training

(FAPST)TM. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 11(7). 294-310.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Retuning Ears & Rewiring Brains for Effective Communication:

Foreign-Accent Perception & Sensitivity Training (FAPST)TM

Amee P. Shah

Stockton University, Galloway, NJ

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Communication and psychosocial challenges are associated with

processing regional or foreign accents. These challenges result in discrimination,

marginalization, and reduced opportunities for culturally, linguistically, or racially

diverse people. As a departure from the controversial approaches of training

speakers to speak more effectively, this paper presents an innovative and effective

methodology to train listeners instead and make the communication environment

more “accent friendly”. Built upon two decades of testing and evidence, the Foreign

Accent Perception & Sensitivity Training (FAPST)TM is used to develop skills in

listening to accents, reducing implicit biases, and increasing appreciation and

enjoyment for interacting with accents and cultures. Methodology: 320

undergraduate students from eight sections of a Diversity Issues course were

provided the FAPST training online that included 15-20 minutes of gamified

experience, over four weeks, in listening and identifying 54 varieties of accent in a

structured, multimedia procedure. Assessments included weekly Accent

Identification Scores as well as a pre- and post-survey using the CCQ tool to assess

listeners’ baseline knowledge, attitudes, stereotypes, preferences, and skills

related to processing accents. They also received formative assessments, feedback,

and engaged in self-reflections. Results: Paired t-tests showed significant

improvement in Accent Identification Scores which increased from 52% in week 1

and reached 75% by week 4, significant at p <0.05 level. The post-training CCQ

survey results showed that Factual Knowledge scores improved significantly from

42% to 78%, Stereotypes scores reduced significantly from 89% to 22%, and

Competence scores improved significantly from 23% to 76%. Participants reported

increased confidence in listening accuracy and improvement in noticing details in

accent patterns. Participants reported increased interest and willingness to

interact with diversity. Participants also reported increased awareness of

discrimination, and willingness to show allyship and advocacy for diverse

individuals. Conclusion: This project confirmed that students have preconceived

attitudes and biases as well as lower skills and confidence in interacting with

diversity and accents which factor in their decisions and preferences to

communicate with people with certain accents. It becomes imperative to set

students up for success and engagement in a globalized world by training them with

skills to navigate diversity. Results show that such a training improves listening

accuracy as well as develops increased confidence and interest in engaging with

diversity, while reducing implicit biases and stereotypes, along with increased

factual knowledge of, and competence with accents.

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Shah, A. P. (2024). Retuning Ears & Rewiring Brains for Effective Communication: Foreign-Accent Perception & Sensitivity Training (FAPST)TM.

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 11(7). 294-310.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.117.17364

INTRODUCTION

Problem Statement

Noticeable regional or foreign accents in individuals’ speech pose communication and

psychosocial challenges for speakers of these accents. Accents present communication

difficulties due to intelligibility issues (e.g., Munro & Derwing, 1995), Interlanguage

Intelligibility mismatch (e.g., Bent & Bradlow 2002), and due to requiring additional cognitive

and processing resources for listeners (e.g., Shah & McLennan, 2008). Accents evoke positive

or pejorative perceptions in listeners (Baugh, 2000), and stereotypes about competence,

personality, education, trustworthiness, and honesty (Giles & Coupland, 1991; Shah, 2019a). As

a result of listener stereotypes, speakers with noticeable accents face significant discrimination,

for example, in hiring and promotion issues in the area of employment, difficulty finding equal

housing opportunities and other basic needs, receiving lower performance metrics,

experiencing customer service issues, patient safety and patient experience concerns with

difficulty understanding the accents of their physicians and other care providers (or vice versa),

linguistic profiling and judgments of criminality in law based on accents, students reporting

difficulty learning in classes with instructors with strong accents are among a few frequently- reported issues (Baugh 2000; Segrest Purkiss et al. 2006; Deshields et al., 1996; Hill and Tombs,

2011; Jirwe et al., 2010; Kalin, 1982; Divi et al., 2007; Wyld, 2007; Dixon & Mahoney, 2004).

Such challenges take a toll on the quality of life of the culturally diverse, regionally diverse,

foreign-born or nonnative speakers of English and affect their acculturation and assimilation

due to these biased, discriminatory experiences.

The solution to helping such individuals with their communication challenges have been to

teach English, improve pronunciation, and/or reduce, modify or manage the accents. Such

accent reduction, accent modification, or accent management practices along with

pronunciation teaching have been practiced in the disciplines of Speech-language Pathology

(SLP) and Teaching English as Foreign Language (T-EFL) for several decades. Recently, these

practices have been questioned and challenged from a social justice perspective as they are

seen as ableist and race evasive (E.g., Yu et al 2022). Speakers do need help managing their

communication especially if their communication issues are hindering their lives (refer Shah,

2024a to understand the need for evidence-based accent management). However, training

speakersis not enough. Ultimately, for effective cross-cultural communication, we need to begin

to involve and train listeners.

However, despite philosophical differences and controversies, the SLP and T-EFL professions

have not considered thus far the concept of accent listening as a good alternative to accent- related communication challenges. While we empower people with tools to leverage their

spoken communication for improved clarity, it is not sufficient to simply improve their speech

and language if, in fact, the challenges stem from listeners’ cultural conditioning and internal

biases (see Shah, 2019a for a detailed understanding of listener biases and the underlying

culturally-conditioned sources of these biases). From an inclusive and reciprocal

communication perspective, it becomes necessary to consider training listeners to listen to

accents instead of putting all the onus of communication intelligibility on the speaker alone.

Furthermore, it is necessary to help listeners recognize biases that may be impeding their

listening. Thus, listening training would benefit from a component that builds awareness about

existing biases (conscious and unconscious), and ultimately, aims to reduce these biases. We

need to thus change the communication environment by reducing biases and improving

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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 11, Issue 7, July-2024

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

listeners’ attitudes, their skills in comprehension, and ultimately, their ease and enjoyment in

listening to accents that are diverse from their own. In such a way we can have a pathway to

transform the environment to make it accent-friendly where listeners are trained to be open

and receptive to accents as well as skilled in listening and understanding accents. This paper

presents an effective methodology, FAPSTTM, and a case study where such a listener-training and

transformation of attitudes was accomplished for their ease of processing accented speech.

Learning to Interpret and Address Bias and Help Individuals

Most of the available literature focuses mainly on helping speakers improve their speech

patterns, but there is not much information on helping speakers and listeners become aware of

these biases (Burda, 2006; Ovalle & Chakraborty, 2013) or training them to manage these

biases (Chakraborty, R., 2017, Shah, 2012b; Shah, 2017a, b; Shah, 2019c). The inherent

subjectivity in accent bias makes it difficult to interpret in a reliable manner. Up until recently,

the subjective nature of this accent bias was seen as “noise” and deemed anecdotal and

unworthy of study or publication in the discipline of communication sciences and disorders.

However, since 2022, there has been some interest within the communication sciences and

disorders’ research community to assess and understand subjective variability.

A recent paper (Shah, 2019a) demonstrated the patterns of listener biases for various accents

and the underlying sources from where listeners appear to draw references to form their

stereotypes. From a practical standpoint, this paper joins a very limited pool of published

accounts of teaching to listen to accents (e.g. Derwing, Rossiter, and Munro, 2002; Verbeke &

Simon, 2023). More importantly, this paper goes beyond these efforts in that the present

approach not only teaches to listen and understand accents, but it also fosters an appreciation

for accents, while systematically unlearning underlying biases. With heightened societal call for

social justice around the world, and especially in the United States, it becomes urgent and

important to bring into focus the less-acknowledged problem of language-based discrimination

(“Linguistic Profiling”, Baugh, 2000) and further, the need to train listeners to listen to speakers

with accents different from theirs.

A Novel Methodology for Accent-Listening

Considering the above-mentioned urgent and important need, this paper is a pioneering effort

in introducing a unique accent-listening program, Foreign-accent Perception and Sensitivity

Training (FAPST TM). This listening training has emerged out of research trials spanning two

decades in the Speech Acoustics and Perception Lab as well as the Cross-Cultural Speech,

Language, and Acoustics Lab under the direction of the present author as the principal

investigator. The FAPSTTM listening training protocol is developed and tested as part of the

mission of the author to promote effective cross-cultural communication as a researcher and

communication clinician. Various aspects of this training have been taught and presented in

peer-reviewed presentations, seminars, and workshops with the aim to reduce bias towards

accents as well as train individuals in real-life skills in listening and adapting their ears and

brains to accent processing (a representative sample include Shah, 2007c; Shah, 2012a; Shah,

2012b; Shah, 2013a; Shah, 2013b; Shah, 2013c; Shah, 2014; Shah, 2017a; Shah, 2017b; Shah,

2019c; Shah, 2023c; Shah 2023d; Kenney & Shah, 2011; Shah & Schuler, 2019; Shah et al., 2022).

These above citations list some of versions of the FAPSTTM training courses that have been

provided to a variety of participating stakeholders, e.g., providing the FAPSTTM training to