Development of the Compton P-ESL Program

The ACCENT CLEAR Foreign Accent Reduction Course uses the Compton P-ESL (Pronouncing English as a Second Language) Program, which Sylvia has been certified to offer. Developed by Arthur J. Compton, PhD. to improve the spoken English of foreign-born individuals, it is based on more than 20 years of linguistic research and teaching.

Dr. Compton's Program is based on years of experimental studies and experience working with hundreds of students speaking more than 65 different languages. Through detailed analyses of speech samples, he was able to learn over time how error patterns cause pronunciation difficulties and how best to reduce or eliminate these patterns.

Compton P-ESL and Conventional ESL Programs

Most ESL programs focus on learning the grammar and vocabulary of English in a classroom setting. Students may finish these programs but still experience significant difficulties with their pronunciation and, as a result, feel self-conscious speaking English. The Compton P-ESL Program picks up where most ESL Programs end. It is specifically geared towards students who need to improve their pronunciation. Individuals who are competent English speakers but find other people are still having a hard time understanding them are ideally suited for this course. However, those individuals who make some grammatical errors or feel their vocabulary is weak are encouraged to take the course as these areas can be incorporated into the course.

Compton P-ESL classes are limited to a maximum of 5 students, ensuring plenty of time is spent with each student. Individual classes are also offered for those students who recognize that clear speech is critical to success in their career.

The Program

The Compton P-ESL Program is designed to teach you:

1. Which sounds/patterns need to be changed.
2. How to make these changes.
3. How to make these new sounds/patterns become automatic in your every day speech.

There are three stages of learning in the Compton P-ESL Program:

1. Learning to hear the difference between your productions and the correct English sounds.
2. Learning to produce new sounds in words, sentences and then in a variety of contexts where you practise the rhythm, phrasing and intonations of English.
3. Transferring new pronunciations to every day speech. New sounds/patterns are practised to the point they are used automatically when you talk. Simulated and real speaking situations are used.

Throughout the course, you are provided with specific homework assignments to help you make these changes become automatic in your conversational speech.

Please contact Sylvia if you would like to hear before/after tapes of people who have successfully completed the Compton P-ESL Course.