Why Adults Keep Foreign Accents: Science and Identity

Level: C1

Printable: Student handout (PDF | Word) | Teacher’s key (PDF | Word)

Before You Read

Think about these questions or discuss them with a partner.

Which English sounds or words are hardest for you to pronounce? Why do you think that is?
When you hear someone speak your first language with a foreign accent, what do you notice first?
How might attitudes toward accents differ between countries, workplaces, or generations?

Reading

You may know someone like this: a colleague who has used English at work for twenty years, who writes flawless emails, yet still says “tree” when they mean “three” or turns “very” into something close to “berry.” Their grammar stopped giving them away long ago. The sound has not. An accent can be as telltale as a fingerprint. So why can adults master nearly every part of a new language except the way it sounds?

For a long time the standard answer was a biological deadline. Learn a language before puberty, the theory went, or give up hope of sounding native. That idea is contested. A huge online grammar quiz, taken by two-thirds of a million people, suggested that the ability to learn grammar stays strong until about the age of 17 or 18. But that study measured grammar, not pronunciation. Rarely does someone who starts a language as an adult manage to pass for a native speaker when listeners pay close attention. The few who come close tend to be outliers, combining an unusual ear with years of intense daily use. Many researchers describe the effect of age on accent less as a cliff than as a long slope.

Part of the problem lies not in the mouth but in the ear. Babies begin life able to hear differences between speech sounds from any language. Within their first year, they become specialists, attuned to the sounds that matter at home and less sensitive to contrasts that do not. Babies in the United States and Japan were equally good at telling English “r” from “l” at six to eight months. A few months later, the American babies had improved and the Japanese babies had declined. By adulthood, these sound categories are deeply entrenched, and the brain sorts each new sound into the nearest familiar box. Not only does this make some contrasts hard to hear, but it also makes them hard to say: it is difficult to produce a difference you cannot discern.

Your first language leaves other traces as well: its rhythm, its stress patterns, the way it builds syllables. A Spanish speaker may say “school” with a small “e” in front, because Spanish words do not begin with “s” plus a consonant. Adults also tend to reach a plateau: once people can understand them, the pressure to keep adjusting fades. The good news is that the ear can be retrained. In laboratory studies, Japanese adults who practiced hearing “r” and “l” words spoken by many voices improved, and their pronunciation often improved too, though seldom to a native level.

Researchers draw a crucial distinction here. How strong an accent sounds and how easy it is to understand are related, but they are not the same thing. A speaker can sound clearly foreign and still be completely intelligible. Many specialists therefore argue that teaching should focus on the features that actually cause misunderstandings, such as stressing the wrong syllable or dropping a final consonant, rather than chasing a native accent. Listeners do part of the work as well: experiments suggest that people adjust to an unfamiliar accent quickly, sometimes after less than a minute of listening.

Being understood, however, is not the same as being judged fairly. In one widely cited US experiment, listeners rated trivia statements as less likely to be true when they were read by speakers with a foreign accent. The researchers suspected that the effort of listening was being mistaken for doubt about the speaker’s credibility. Later attempts to repeat that result have been mixed. Other studies point in a similar direction, though. In one, job applicants with a Japanese accent were rated less favorably than applicants with a French accent, especially for jobs that demand a lot of communication, a pattern that can quietly penalize skilled people. In a large British project, lawyers and recruiters assessing real interview answers largely managed to set aside their accent biases. Only when listeners are aware of the bias and focus on what is actually said does it seem to lose much of its force.

Finally, some adults keep their accents for a reason that has nothing to do with the brain: they do not want to lose them. An accent carries a hometown, a family, and a sense of allegiance. Some research suggests that learners whose second language sounds too native can be seen by people from their own community as drifting away from it. Plenty of scientists, executives and actors have built international careers with their accents intact. Little do many listeners realize that there is no such thing as speaking without an accent; linguists point out that everyone has one. A better test than “Can anyone tell where I am from?” may be simpler: how often do people ask you to repeat yourself?

Vocabulary

Each word has a frequency score, a rank, and a tag. The score shows how common the word is in modern English: higher means more common, and each full point means roughly ten times more common. The rank is the word’s position on a list of about 321,000 English word forms, from most to least common. The tag shows where you are most likely to meet the word: Current, Formal, Literary, or Dated. The paragraph number shows where the word first appears in the reading. The labels are information, not instructions. Deciding which words are worth your time is up to you. How to read the scores, ranks, and tags.

Even after years of writing flawless emails, the colleague still has a strong accent.
The gymnast gave a flawless performance and won the gold medal.

A single vowel can be a telltale sign of where a speaker grew up.
There were telltale crumbs on his shirt, so we knew he had eaten the cake.

The idea of a strict age limit for learning accents is contested.
The election result was contested in court.

Very few adult learners can pass for native speakers under careful listening.
With his young face, he could easily pass for a high school student.

Adults who sound fully native in a new language are outliers.
Most of the class scored about 70, but two outliers scored above 95.

By their first birthday, babies are attuned to the sounds of their home language.
A good teacher is attuned to the mood of the class.

The sound categories of a first language are deeply entrenched in adults.
Bad habits can become entrenched if nobody points them out.

Many adult learners cannot discern the difference between two similar vowels.
In the dark, it was hard to discern the shape of the building.

Many adults reach a plateau once people can understand them.
After losing five kilos, I hit a plateau and stopped losing weight.

A speaker with a strong accent can still be fully intelligible.
The radio signal was weak, and the message was barely intelligible.

An accent should not affect a speaker’s credibility, but sometimes it does.
The minister lost credibility after the false claim was exposed.

Accent bias can penalize skilled job applicants.
The new tax rules penalize people who work from home.

Good recruiters set aside their first impression of a voice and listen to the answer.
Let’s set aside our differences and finish the project together.

For some speakers, an accent is a sign of allegiance to their hometown.
Fans keep their allegiance to the team even when it loses.

Many people build careers abroad with their accents intact.
The old bridge survived the storm intact.

Word Partners

Collocations. Match the two halves to make common phrases. Then use three of the phrases in sentences of your own.

1. a flawless	a. sign
2. a telltale	b. election
3. a hotly contested	c. entrenched
4. deeply	d. intact
5. reach a	e. allegiance
6. damage your	f. plateau
7. pledge	g. performance
8. come through	h. credibility

Answers

a flawless performance (g)
a telltale sign (a)
a hotly contested election (b)
deeply entrenched (c)
reach a plateau (f)
damage your credibility (h)
pledge allegiance (e)
come through intact (d)

Word families. Complete each sentence with the correct form of the word in brackets.

The difference between the two vowels is barely __________ to untrained ears. (discern)
Researchers measured the __________ of each speaker, not just the strength of the accent. (intelligible)
The witness did not seem __________, so the jury ignored her story. (credibility)
The referee gave the team a __________ for wasting time. (penalize)
She switched between the two languages __________, without a single error. (flawless)
The __________ of old habits makes any change slow and difficult. (entrenched)

Answers

discernible / discernable
intelligibility
credible
penalty
flawlessly
entrenchment

Activity Page

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Speed Challenge

Answer 12 questions against the clock. Every wrong answer adds 5 seconds, and the lowest score wins. Open the speed challenge in a new tab.

Quick Reading and Typing: Adult Accents in Brief

A shorter version of the reading that uses the lesson vocabulary. Read it for a quick introduction to the topic, or use it for reading aloud, shadowing (reading along with a model), and typing practice.

Many adults use English every day for years. They write flawless emails, but they still have a telltale accent. They may say “tree” when they mean “three” at a meeting. Why can adults master grammar but not the sound of a new language?

For a long time, people blamed a biological deadline at puberty. That idea is contested. A huge online quiz suggested that grammar learning stays strong until about 17 or 18. But accent tells a different story. Rarely does someone who starts a language as an adult manage to pass for a native speaker when listeners pay close attention. The few who come close are outliers.

Part of the problem is in the ear. Babies can hear the sounds of any language, but within a year they become attuned to the sounds of home. At six to eight months, American and Japanese babies could both tell “r” from “l” apart. A few months later, the American babies had improved and the Japanese babies had declined. In adults, these sound categories are entrenched. Not only does this make some contrasts hard to hear, but it also makes them hard to say. It is difficult to produce a difference you cannot discern.

Adults also reach a plateau. Once people understand them, they stop adjusting. Still, the ear can be retrained. Japanese adults who heard “r” and “l” words in many different voices got better at hearing them. A strong accent is not the same as being hard to understand. A speaker can sound foreign and still be completely intelligible. Listeners often adjust to a new accent in less than a minute.

Sadly, listeners are not always fair. In one experiment, facts read with a foreign accent were rated as less likely to be true. The researchers thought the effort of listening was hurting the speaker’s credibility. Later studies have had mixed results. In another study, job applicants with a Japanese accent were rated lower than applicants with a French accent. Bias like this can penalize skilled people. In Britain, lawyers and recruiters judging real interview answers mostly managed to set aside their bias. Many adults also keep their accents with pride. An accent can show a hometown and a sense of allegiance. Many people build careers with their accents intact. Everyone, linguists say, has an accent. A better goal than sounding native may be simply being easy to understand.

How to practice

Read the text silently once and check any words you are unsure of.
Read it aloud slowly, one sentence at a time. On the typing page, the Listen button reads each line with your device’s voice, so you can listen first and then repeat.
Shadow: read aloud again at a natural speed, trying to keep a steady rhythm without stopping.
Record yourself, listen back, and note one sentence to practice again.
Type it on the typing page below and check your speed and accuracy.

Open the typing practice in a new tab

Comprehension Questions

What part of English still gives many experienced adult speakers away?
What did the huge online quiz suggest about learning grammar, and why does it not settle the question of accent?
How easy is it for someone who starts a language as an adult to pass for a native speaker?
What happens to babies’ hearing during their first year of life?
How did American and Japanese babies differ in telling “r” from “l”?
Why is it hard to pronounce a sound contrast that your first language does not use?
What is the difference between having a strong accent and being hard to understand?
What did the experiment with trivia facts find, and how sure can we be about it?
Why might an adult choose to keep an accent? Do you find these reasons convincing?

IELTS-Style Questions

True, False, or Not Given: “At six to eight months, Japanese babies could not tell ‘r’ from ‘l’.” Explain your answer using the reading.
Yes, No, or Not Given: “The writer believes that adult learners should aim to sound exactly like native speakers.” Explain your answer using the reading.
Author’s purpose: Why does the writer mention lawyers and recruiters in Britain? Is it (a) to show that bias can be set aside in some situations, (b) to prove that British accents are the easiest to understand, or (c) to show that recruiters hire only native speakers?

AI Discussion Prompt

I just read an article about why adults keep their accents in a second language. It covered the debate about a critical period for language learning, how babies become attuned to the sounds of their home language, how first-language sound categories shape what adults hear and say, the difference between a strong accent and being hard to understand, research on accent bias in credibility and hiring, and why some people keep their accents as part of their identity. I am an English learner at about C1 level. Please ask me one question at a time, starting with my own experience of pronunciation. Respond to my ideas first, then briefly correct any language errors, and ask follow-up questions that challenge me to give evidence and consider other views.

AI Vocabulary Prompt

I want to practice vocabulary from an article about why adults keep their accents. Please quiz me on the following words one at a time, using a mix of question types: multiple choice, true/false, and sentence completion. Give me feedback after each answer before moving on, and bring back the words I miss later. Here are the words: flawless, telltale, contested, pass for, outliers, attuned, entrenched, discern, plateau, intelligible, credibility, penalize, set aside, allegiance, intact.

Discussion Questions

Is there an English accent you especially enjoy listening to? What do you like about it?
Has anyone ever guessed where you are from because of the way you speak? How did you feel about it?
Do you want to sound like a native speaker of English, or is being clearly understood enough for you? Why?
In your country, are some regional accents considered more prestigious than others? Why might that be?
What have you done, or what could you do, to improve your pronunciation? Which methods work best for you?
Have you ever struggled to understand an accent at first and then got used to it? How long did it take?
Why do you think many adults stop adjusting their pronunciation once people can understand them?
In a job interview, which matters more: what a candidate says or how they sound? Should it be that way?
Should English classes in your country model one accent, such as American or British, or many accents? Why?
The trivia experiment has been hard to repeat. Why might results about bias be difficult to confirm?
Can keeping an accent be a way of showing loyalty to a community? Can losing one be seen as disloyal?
Should accent bias be treated like other kinds of discrimination at work? What would that look like in practice?
As more people use English as a second language, will native-speaker accents matter less in the future?
Is it fair to judge how intelligent or trustworthy someone is from the way they speak? Why do people still do it?

Language Focus: Inversion after Negative Adverbials

What it is: When a sentence begins with a negative or limiting word or phrase (never, rarely, seldom, not only, only when, little, hardly), the auxiliary verb comes before the subject, as in a question. If there is no auxiliary, add do, does, or did: Rarely does she speak. With only when and only after, the inversion happens in the main clause, not in the time clause.

Why writers use it: Inversion adds emphasis and a formal, slightly dramatic tone. Writers use it in journalism, essays, and speeches to put the key idea first. It is common in C1 and C2 exams and in formal writing.

Examples from the reading:

“Rarely does someone who starts a language as an adult manage to pass for a native speaker when listeners pay close attention.”
“Not only does this make some contrasts hard to hear, but it also makes them hard to say…”
“Only when listeners are aware of the bias and focus on what is actually said does it seem to lose much of its force.”
“Little do many listeners realize that there is no such thing as speaking without an accent…”

Part A. Rewrite the sentences Rewrite each sentence so that it begins with the word or words in italics. Keep the meaning the same.

I have never heard such a strong accent. (*Never*) …
She rarely speaks her first language at work. (*Rarely*) …
He improved his listening, and he improved his speaking too. (*Not only*) …
We understood the joke only when she repeated it slowly. (*Only when*) …
I didn’t know that the interview would be recorded. (*Little*) …

Model answers

Never have I heard such a strong accent.
Rarely does she speak her first language at work.
Not only did he improve his listening, but he also improved his speaking.
Only when she repeated it slowly did we understand the joke.
Little did I know that the interview would be recorded.

Part B. Finish the sentences Finish each sentence so that it is true for you. Keep the inverted word order. Then read your sentences to a partner.

Never have I …
Rarely do I …
Not only can I …, but I can also …
Only when I am really tired do I …
Little did I know, when I started learning English, that …

Model answers

Never have I eaten durian.
Rarely do I watch television in the evening.
Not only can I cook pasta, but I can also bake bread.
Only when I am really tired do I drink coffee after lunch.
Little did I know, when I started learning English, that I would use it at work every day.

Online Resources

The optimal window for language learning (Boston College News). A short report on the huge online grammar quiz in paragraph 2 and why grammar learning seems to stay strong into the late teens.
Perception of English /r/ and /l/ by Japanese speakers (Wikipedia). Why “r” and “l” are hard for Japanese speakers and what training studies with adults have found, as in paragraphs 3 and 4.
Foreign accents make speakers seem less truthful to listeners, research shows (University of Chicago News). The original report on the trivia experiment in paragraph 6, including what changed when listeners knew about the bias.
Accent bias exists but people can resist the urge to discriminate (Queen Mary University of London). The British accent bias project in paragraph 6, with its findings on ordinary listeners and on lawyers and recruiters.
Is it possible for adults to lose an accent? And does it even matter? (Plural Publishing). A speech specialist reviews research on whether adults can ever sound fully native and argues for clear communication as the goal.