Accent Vs. Identity
Author: Kendra Wormald, Reg. CASLPO Speech Language Pathologist
Date: Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Table of Contents
The Ethics of Changing your Accent
Modification vs. Reduction
Accent Bias and Discrimination
Does Changing my Accent Erase My Identity?
Who Defines “Success” ?
Goal Setting
What is an Accent?
Accent refers to the unique way a person pronounces words. Accents are shaped by their linguistic, cultural, and geographical background. They include differences in sounds, rhythm, intonation, and speech patterns. No matter who you are, every speaker has an accent, even if an accent is changed or modified.
If I travel will my accent change automatically?
The short answer to this is - possibly. Our brains thrive on accommodating to the behaviours of others, especially as it relates to language.
“Accent change is complex, highly individualized, and dependent on more than just social immersion” (McGill University, 2017).
Some people’s speech systems are more flexible, making them more prone to long-term changes in accent, but on average, some short-term changes (accommodations) are more common. After a few weeks or months, your accent may revert back to your baseline, especially without any intentional effort to maintain it.
The Ethics of Changing your Accent
There are several reasons why you may want to change your accent. Note how I said ‘change’, synonyms being: shift, alter, modify. These words however, are not synonymous with: discard, remove or reduce. When it comes to accents, ‘modify’ and ‘reduce’ should not be used interchangeably. This idea is outdated, not client-centred nor culturally-sensitive or aware.
The phrase ‘accent reduction’ is problematic. It suggests that:
Your accent makes you deficient
There is something wrong with the accent you have - that you need to eliminate it. If this is your belief, we’ll be addressing personal and societal bias around accent, later in the article.
Non-dominant accents are unprofessional, unacceptable or are wrong.
A deficit-based approach would be appropriate for your SLP to use, whereby your goals are about how ‘native’ you sound.
You are worth less. Your identity and your culture and voice are intertwined. This very notion implies there is something wrong with your identity and your culture.
The phrase ‘accent modification’ is more appropriate and inclusive. It suggests that:
Goals are about clear, more effective and confident speech.
The ability to shift between accents is a communication skill, not a requirement for belonging
This work focuses on the adjustment or enhancement of the quality and variety of speech skills you have
The knowledge and/or use of multiple accents is an advanced communication tool that reflects linguistic flexibility and cultural awareness and respect.
Reduction is about erasing identity. Modification is about building skills. It is the process of learning to pronounce the sounds and rhythm of a language that differs from your native language.
Accent Bias and Discrimination
Consider why you might suggest to someone or want to do speech therapy for accent support yourself. Do any of your reasons include:
I won’t be taken seriously with this accent
I need to sound like I’m a native english speaker
I won’t get a good job if I have this accent
I feel embarrassed or ashamed of how I sound.
If yes, you may be navigating accent bias. These biases and beliefs may come from:
Societal pressures and preferences for certain accents, often tied to cultural or regional dominance
Previous experience of misunderstanding or exclusion
Internalized negative self-beliefs
Politics (Example: Public Perceptions of the Russian/Ukrainian war while having one of these accents)
Educational or professional environment that prefer some accents over others
“Accent bias is the unfair judgment or discrimination people face based solely on the way they speak—their accent. It involves assumptions about intelligence, professionalism, or credibility that are not based on what is actually said, but on how it sounds. Accent bias can lead to misunderstandings, exclusion, and unequal opportunities” (Equalture; Chat GPT, 2025).
With accent bias, you or others, may limit your opportunities based on how you sound even when your communication is clear and effective.
Worrying your native accent may “come out” doesn’t allow for a sense of calmness and control - two necessary pillars of successful communication. No amount of practicing speech sounds or rhythm or pronunciation will get to the root of your accent bias. Speaking to your speech therapist or psychotherapist about these beliefs and biases is also a valuable part of the accent modification process.
Does Changing my Accent Erase my Identity?
Accent modification revolves around helping you be understood, without changing who you are. Identity and accent and intimately intertwined. Accents can support socialization, sharing of cultural information, and increase sense of belonging and community.
Just like you can develop different accents you can also develop different parts of your identity, through accent. Importantly, when you modify your accent, you don’t ‘lose’ the ability to shift to previous language or accent characteristics. However, it is important to note that the brain has a ‘‘use it or lose it’ principle. So, if you don’t use your other language(s) you may have greater difficulty over time recalling specific sounds, rhythm, stress, and vocabulary. Your brain also has an extraordinary ability to store and access multiple speech patterns.
A good speech therapist will help you:
Keep your accent where it matters to you.
Adjust your speech where you want, not where others expect.
Build skills while affirming your identity, not erasing it.
Goals
Who Defines Success?
You do. Your SLP is there to provide education, modelling and feedback but you have control over what you learn and get feedback about. So the question really is, what about language and accent and identity is important to you and why?
Goal Setting
“Goal setting is a collaborative process between the clinician and the individual. It is not realistic to expect that individuals will modify their accent to the extent that they sound like a native English speaker, nor is this necessary for effective communication” (ASHA, 2025).
We’ve established that with accent modification, our overall goal is to ensure the approach to assessment and therapy is culturally sensitive, inclusive and celebrates uniqueness. On a more specific level, your goals may be different from others who also want to modify their accent. It’s important to speak with your speech therapist about what’s important to you - that’s what you’re there for.
Your goals may look like:
Improving clarity (Intelligibility): Making your speech easier for others to understand. Reducing frequency of others asking you to repeat yourself.
Targeting Certain Speech Sounds (Articulation): Often clients have challenges with ‘th’, ‘r’ ‘l’, ‘v’, ‘w’, ‘n’ as these often don’t exist in all languages. What sounds you work on may depend on your native language, degree of difficulty, and words and phrases you use commonly that have certain sounds. For example, your job title has several ‘th’ sounds, your favourite type of cake is red velvet, or your partner’s name is Ryan
Increasing Communication Confidence: Trusting in your ability to speak clearly can help you communicate with more confidence, decreased anxiety, and allow you to focus on your intended message, rather than concerning yourself with what you sound like.
Rhythm, Stress, and Intonation (Prosody): Different languages use prosodic qualities in unique ways. For example, Mandarin is a tonal language which means depending on the pitch you place on a word, it may change the meaning. English is a stress-timed language where adding emphasis and specific timing to certain syllables or words can impact the flow and intention of the message.
Enhancing Professional Communication: Developing skills in clarity, word choice, naturalness and its application in meetings, presentations and small talk.
Developing Awareness: Education can increase your awareness and appreciation of the use and diversity of accents. Develop tools to reflect on your own speech and language characteristics and evaluate whether it aligns with your communication intentions.
Maintaining Authenticity:
Keeping your unique voice and cultural identity intact while working toward your personal communication goals.
Self- Advocacy
No matter your goals, developing the ability to advocate for yourself and your communication is a valuable and necessary skill. Sometimes the biggest barrier isn't clarity but rather listener prejudice. Accent modification services are a tool to navigate a world where unfortunately stigma and discrimination exist.
Here’s what self-advocacy can look like:
Calling out Bias: Recognizing when people’s reactions to your speech are based on bias, not actual communication issues, and knowing that’s not your fault.
Asking for Support, Expressing your Needs: If you would benefit from more time, ask for it. You should feel calm and in control without being rushed or dismissed
Choosing to Keep Your Accent
Acknowledging that your accent is part of your identity, and choosing not to change it unless you want to. Changing your accent doesn’t mean getting rid of it, but rather adding flexibility to how you express yourself.
Conclusion
No matter your reason for wanting to modify your accent - hold onto the truth that your accent can be used as a powerful tool for connection, not a flaw to be corrected. There at times can be micro-differences across language and specific accents, which is where the knowledge of an SLP comes in handy.
References
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.). Accent modification. https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/professional-issues/accent-modification/
McGill University. (2018, March 21). The ‘reality’ of accent change. https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/reality-accent-change-269983
Tonic, G. (2020). VICE. How losing your regional accent affects your identity. https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-losing-regional-accent-affects-identity-uk
To speak with a psychotherapist or one of the speech-language pathologists at Well Said: Toronto Speech Therapy, schedule an initial consultation by clicking the link below or calling (647) 795-5277.
