Can singing English songs (esp. rap songs) help reduce one's accent?

[BIN]

I want to reduce my accent when speaking english, and I heard that u can do that by listening and most importantly singing along with the singers. Rap songs are supposedly like the best for this stuff as the rhymes and the fast pace can help people very fluent. Is this true?

[Anglika]

Singing is a good way to learn how to pace enunciation. I would not necessarily regard rap as the best method [too fast, leading to odd pronunciation] ; folk songs are good, or something like mainstream pop.

[Searching for language]

I think that listening and singing along with some of the much older songs will teach you more than rap. I know that in the music of artists like Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennet and others of that age every single word is understandable. The melodies are easy to follow, and the grammar is generally good.


I am not a teacher, but a great Sinatra fan!

[susiedqq]

I agree! Find show tunes to sing along with to practice English.

[ESLsongs]

I conducted a research investigation several years ago to determine whether music could accelerate the acquisition of English. The results demonstrated that music does have a powerful effect on language acquisition. Even though the focus was on vocabulary acquisition, I have found that it improves all aspects of language acquisition including pronunciation.

So "yes" listening to songs and singing in English will improve your pronunciation. If you have any other questions regarding the use music to acquire English, feel free to contact me.

Best Wishes,
SM

[Raymott]

I conducted a research investigation several years ago to determine whether music could accelerate the acquisition of English. The results demonstrated that music does have a powerful effect on language acquisition. Even though the focus was on vocabulary acquisition, I have found that it improves all aspects of language acquisition including pronunciation.

So "yes" listening to songs and singing in English will improve your pronunciation. If you have any other questions regarding the use music to acquire English, feel free to contact me.

Best Wishes,
SM

Interesting. What level was the research at? Was it published?
Did you come to any conclusion about whether the positive effects on pronunciation were offset by negative effects on vocabulary and grammar (such as ain't, gonna, wanna, etc?). Did you differentiate between genres of song?

I agree with those who say that mainstream singers such as Frank Sinatra and other Golden Oldies such as Doris Day, Patty Page ... would be more useful than rap, or even most current pop/rock songs.

[konungursvia]

I think all speaking, including singing, is good practice. However, I am not sure that listening to songs reduces your accent. The main reason is that singing pronunciation obscures the accent of the singer. Listening to Elvis Costello, or Tom Jones, etc. you never know they're Brits until the interview after the concert.

The best way to reduce your accent is to study phonetics, to become aware of the sounds that make up our language, then it will be easier to hear them.

[jackolantern]

I would have to say that rap could be damaging to your accent. In almost all rap, they speak with incorrect pronunciation, lots of slang, and lots of draw. I would not think you want to model your English accent or usage after rap music. I like rap, but you really don't want to make them your English role models.

[PROESL]

I want to reduce my accent when speaking english, and I heard that u can do that by listening and most importantly singing along with the singers. Rap songs are supposedly like the best for this stuff as the rhymes and the fast pace can help people very fluent. Is this true?

I think speaking to a rap rhythm, or practicing to a rap beat, would be beneficial, as English is a time-stress language. I think that the English language's time-stress quality is what makes it so suitable to rap music in the first place. I'm not much of a follower of rap music, but I've noticed how the beat is well suited to practicing English's time-stress quality. I would recommend finding a teacher, however, to help you get started in a method of practice such as this. This would take some explaining. English's time-stress rhythm has to do with the contrast between function words and content words. The stressed syllable in content words often receives sentence stress. It's not practical to try to explain more. One really needs an ESL-EFL teacher that knows how to deal with English pronunciation in this way.

By the way, this is a good question.