Working Definition of an Accent. Term Paper

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The article continues by presenting the argument that adults are unable to acquire a new language (although most are capable of acquiring a new accent) due to the fact that adults no longer possess the tools to build a new "Sound House." According to the article's author a Sound House is the process a newborn child begins when acquiring a language. The article states "the Sound House is the 'home' of the language, or what we have been calling accent - the phonology - of the child's native tongue" (46). The Sound House, according to the author, is the place where children learn to speak and to communicate in the most effective manner with the largest amount of individuals. The problem with this scenario is that the newborn only consistently comes in contact with a certain few people. These are normally parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and other close relationships. These people speak in relatively the same manner and with the same accent (with the exception of Aunt Maude from Brooklyn who always speaks in a loud, obnoxious voice). Understanding that the child develops a Sound House based on hearing the voices of those with whom the most contact is maintained, leads to the child speaking in relatively the same manner. The article does go further, by stating that the language the child develops can morph.

This happens when the "child starts to socialize with other children" (47) due to the fact that the child wishes to be (and sound) like the child's friends so the child "makes renovations to the Sound House" (47). Therefore, the acquired language is uniquely the child's, but sounds very similar to those with whom the child most associates with.

The problem that I have with the article's argument that an adult can never acquire a second language due to the fact that they lose the tools to do so is that it is my personal belief that we never lose something that we have learned or acquired through learning.

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Other experts may disagree, but it has also been my personal experience that once I have learned something, I never forget it, especially if I have transferred it to my long-term memory, which is where (most certainly all my learning tools are kept). I may not immediately remember how to access the tools, but assuredly they are still there waiting impatiently for me to use them once more.

On page 51 the author asks "can a Sound House be torn down and replaced?" And them immediately answers with an emphatic "the answer must be no." I agree in part with that statement in that a Sound House, once built, is permanent in structure, but I disagree in that I believe it can be replaced. A personal example would be the Polish accent I built into my language as a child has now been replaced by a more Americanized one. In times of stress I might still revert back to the original Polish usage, but in my normal everyday existence I cannot be unduly….....

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