Regional accents are losing the battle to standard English:
Paul Kerswill's Thinking Allowed episode BBC R4:
Teacher trainees expected to modify language not to sound TOO regional
Professor with a 'working-class accent'
In similar article by The Guardian, it is explained how there is a public presumption that people with Northern accents are working class. A Northern actor, Maxine Peake, was told by the BBC that she couldn't play a barrister due to her flat vowels. This illustartes how it would be out of norm for someone w/ a northern accent to be in a highly authoritative position, outlines social hierarchy, and the limitations Northern people face- especially when it comes to jobs.
English accents are losing 'their diversity' because many regions now use London and South East pronunciation in language, instead of local dialect associated with that region. However, regions up north such as Newcastle and Sunderland showed resistance to this trend by continuing to use local dialect. This was backed by data from the English Dialects app which analysed the responses of 30,000 people from 4,000 locations across the UK. Comparing 1950 to 2016, the data shows that regions, especially those in the South West, have lost their distinct features in speech over time- such as the pronunciation of the sound 'r' in words like arm, as a result of the majority adopting the South East pronunciation by missing of the consonant.
Cambridge PhD student Tam Blaxter explanation for the decreasing diversity is: “There has been much greater geographical mobility in the last half century Many people move around much more for education, work and lifestyle and there has been a significant shift of population out of the cities and into the countryside."
Trainees from UK, teaching USA
Teachers from Midlands speak RP-received pronunciation, national curriculum dislike northern accents in teaching
Implies that the school system is 'backwards': encourages children to be 'their own person' and unique; yet teachers are expected to all speak the same.
Modifying someone's accent 'dilutes identity'
Accent modification leads to a 'teacher identity' separated from 'home identity'
Accent= first clue to identity- social evaluation; people with Northern accent seen as a lower social class
Hierarchy- Scouse, Brummy, Glasgow. Cockney at bottom of the hierarchy.
Relationship between accent and class- The South perceive the Northern accent to be associated with working class.
In the North, anyone with a Southern accent is perceived to be posh- upper middle class
= North-South Divide
Estuary English- sums up a tendency to eridicate most south eastern accent features,
Jafaican- variety of English a.k.a MLE, multicultural London English, associated with people with an immigrant background. Found in areas with high areas of immigration, so immigrants are learning English from people who do not necessarily have English as first language---> perpetuates non-standard English features, Afro-Caribbean and Arabic roots in language.
Teacher from Derbyshire/Yorkshire area asked to change to a more "Standardised English"; misused term, showing that Northern accents are not associated with Standard English, which focuses on grammar and vocabulary rather than pronunciation, as this is the most highly respected dialect- despite the fact that S.E can be spoken with any language.
In USA, no one is class divided via accents; but RACIALLY DIVIDED via accents.
'Ebonics' which is African American English, some Black Americans believe if you speak like this you "are keeping it real"; if you don't and use Standard English, you are seen to be "selling out, talking white".
In America, despite negative connotations with Southern accents- e.g. rednecks, hillbillies- there were still Southern Presidents (Bill Clinton and George Bush) to prove that regional accents are not seen as an issue in US society. On the other hand, there has never been a British Prime Minister with a Northern regional accent.
Stigma associated with accents has decreased over time, the only people in media, e.g. BBC with received pronunciation are newsreaders. the majority have regional accents.
Peter Larcombe is a professor of Mathematics at the University of Derby, but people are surprised when they find out his position as he doesn't "sound like a professor" due to his Black Country accent- which covers the West Midlands of England.
Proves that people associate Midlands' accents with dim-wittedness, and the professor explains how its common for people in his position to be ''well-spoken', so argues that people naturally expect him to 'dilute' his Black Country accent.
Also, teachers with Northern accents have been told to “adopt a more middle-class one”.
Paul Kerswill's Thinking Allowed episode BBC R4:
Teacher trainees expected to modify language not to sound TOO regional
Professor with a 'working-class accent'
In similar article by The Guardian, it is explained how there is a public presumption that people with Northern accents are working class. A Northern actor, Maxine Peake, was told by the BBC that she couldn't play a barrister due to her flat vowels. This illustartes how it would be out of norm for someone w/ a northern accent to be in a highly authoritative position, outlines social hierarchy, and the limitations Northern people face- especially when it comes to jobs.
English accents are losing 'their diversity' because many regions now use London and South East pronunciation in language, instead of local dialect associated with that region. However, regions up north such as Newcastle and Sunderland showed resistance to this trend by continuing to use local dialect. This was backed by data from the English Dialects app which analysed the responses of 30,000 people from 4,000 locations across the UK. Comparing 1950 to 2016, the data shows that regions, especially those in the South West, have lost their distinct features in speech over time- such as the pronunciation of the sound 'r' in words like arm, as a result of the majority adopting the South East pronunciation by missing of the consonant.
Cambridge PhD student Tam Blaxter explanation for the decreasing diversity is: “There has been much greater geographical mobility in the last half century Many people move around much more for education, work and lifestyle and there has been a significant shift of population out of the cities and into the countryside."
Trainees from UK, teaching USA
Teachers from Midlands speak RP-received pronunciation, national curriculum dislike northern accents in teaching
Implies that the school system is 'backwards': encourages children to be 'their own person' and unique; yet teachers are expected to all speak the same.
Modifying someone's accent 'dilutes identity'
Accent modification leads to a 'teacher identity' separated from 'home identity'
Accent= first clue to identity- social evaluation; people with Northern accent seen as a lower social class
Hierarchy- Scouse, Brummy, Glasgow. Cockney at bottom of the hierarchy.
Relationship between accent and class- The South perceive the Northern accent to be associated with working class.
In the North, anyone with a Southern accent is perceived to be posh- upper middle class
= North-South Divide
Estuary English- sums up a tendency to eridicate most south eastern accent features,
Jafaican- variety of English a.k.a MLE, multicultural London English, associated with people with an immigrant background. Found in areas with high areas of immigration, so immigrants are learning English from people who do not necessarily have English as first language---> perpetuates non-standard English features, Afro-Caribbean and Arabic roots in language.
Teacher from Derbyshire/Yorkshire area asked to change to a more "Standardised English"; misused term, showing that Northern accents are not associated with Standard English, which focuses on grammar and vocabulary rather than pronunciation, as this is the most highly respected dialect- despite the fact that S.E can be spoken with any language.
In USA, no one is class divided via accents; but RACIALLY DIVIDED via accents.
'Ebonics' which is African American English, some Black Americans believe if you speak like this you "are keeping it real"; if you don't and use Standard English, you are seen to be "selling out, talking white".
In America, despite negative connotations with Southern accents- e.g. rednecks, hillbillies- there were still Southern Presidents (Bill Clinton and George Bush) to prove that regional accents are not seen as an issue in US society. On the other hand, there has never been a British Prime Minister with a Northern regional accent.
Stigma associated with accents has decreased over time, the only people in media, e.g. BBC with received pronunciation are newsreaders. the majority have regional accents.
Peter Larcombe is a professor of Mathematics at the University of Derby, but people are surprised when they find out his position as he doesn't "sound like a professor" due to his Black Country accent- which covers the West Midlands of England.
Proves that people associate Midlands' accents with dim-wittedness, and the professor explains how its common for people in his position to be ''well-spoken', so argues that people naturally expect him to 'dilute' his Black Country accent.
Also, teachers with Northern accents have been told to “adopt a more middle-class one”.
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