Accent Reduction is an area of proficiency and special interest in which she holds certification. Marika has vast experience in modifying accents where communication skills are a priority prerequisite necessary for advancing in the corporate environment today.

She has received her specialty in Vocology, the Science and practice of Voice habilitation from Denver Hospital’s National Center of Voice and Speech, a Division of the University of Iowa. This discipline includes an intensive and innovative understanding of the elements in vocal behavior, medicine, performance training and vocal pedagogy in order to rehabilitate the return of the functional voice and optimize the efficiency and effectiveness of the voice.

Her expertise also includes working with clients with abnormal voice conditions including teachers and performers, and uses computer technology for voice analysis and improvement, and implements the latest voice software for assessment and training of vocal behaviour used extensively at SpeechScience.

In addition, she is skilled in laryngeal (throat) massage and treating swallowing disorders. She has received training from the Medical University of South Carolina in “Medicine in the Vocal Arts” and has worked in an intensive voice program at the Niagara Health Systems Rehabilitation Centre.

An interest of hers is applying various systematic voice programs, and mastery of the art of making presentations.

Sara is an enthusiastic and dynamic teacher with over ten years experience in the field of teaching English language skills. She has worked with students from virtually all backgrounds and has taught in such diverse contexts as a military base north of Toronto and a private language school in Latin America.

In addition to English language teaching, Sara has taught conversational French for adults for the East York Board of Education and has also taught high school English and French at a private school in Toronto.

Sara comes to SpeechScience from the University of Toronto’s English Language Program where she has been teaching courses focusing on advanced writing and speaking skills for both academic students and business professionals.

Sara enjoys writing and has had several short pieces of writing published. Sara is also fluent in French and Spanish.

Since that time Jennifer has worked with adults, seniors, and children in a variety of medical, educational, and community settings. Her areas of expertise include pronunciation, voice, fluency and motor speech disorders.

Jennifer distinguished herself as a talented and dedicated researcher, and was honoured to present her Master’s thesis, “Discourse and pragmatics in primary progressive aphasia and Alzheimer’s disease”, at the American Speech and Hearing Association’s (ASHA) Conference, held in San Francisco in 1998. Her research has also been published in the Journal of Neurolinguistics, and she is the co-author of a chapter in an edited book devoted to language and dementia (M. Paradis, ed. Pragmatics in neurogenic communication disorders: Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1999).

Jennifer also has experience in public speaking, both as a graduate of a well-established course in public speaking and human relations and as an assistant instructor. She has developed training courses in public speaking for adults with communication impairments and has incorporated the principles of effective public speaking into her therapy with individuals with communication impairments. Recently, Jennifer has developed a keen interest in applying her clinical skills and knowledge of effective business communication in the area of accent reduction to help individuals become the best communicators they can be in the professional and personal lives. She has recently completed training in accent reduction techniques and is providing instruction in this area.

Karen is a member of TESL Ontario (Teachers of English as a Second Language) and sits on the executive board of TESL Toronto. She is a frequent presenter at TESL Ontario as well as TESL Toronto, North York and Mississauga. Her workshops on “Using Oral Journals to Improve Pronunciation” and Using Games in the Classroom” have been particularly well received.