English language accent and dialect

Standard English

The generally accepted, prestigious form of the language ; particularly lexis and grammar

Accent

The sounds an individual produced during speech; may be regional or social

Dialect

Variation in words and grammatical structures associated with a particular geographical region

Prescriptive attitudes

The imposition or enforcement of a rule or method; insistence on particular lexis, grammar, phonetics etc.

Descriptive approach

Describing what actually occurs in an objective and non-judgmental way

Received pronunciation

A social accent that is sometimes considered to be a standard accent of British English, even though it is estimated only around 2% of Britons speak it today. It is usually regarded as the most prestigious of British English accents, within the UK and around the world

Conservative rp

A very traditional variety particularly associated with older speakers and the aristocracy

Mainstream rp

An accent that we might consider extremely neutral in terms of signals regarding age, occupation or lifestyle of the speaker

Contemporary rp

Refers to speakers using features typical of younger rp speakers

Harrington et al (2000)

Found evidence of rp accent change and influence of less prestigious southern accents within Christmas broadcasts made by Elizabeth 2

Matched guise experiments

Researchers (such as Giles and trudgill - separately) found that rp speakers tend to be rated more highly than speakers with a regional accent in terms of their general competence; intelligence; self-confidence; ambition; determination; industiousness. Rp scored less well for qualities such as: friendliness; warmth; talkativeness; good-naturedness; sense of humour

Howard Giles (1973)

Capital punishment experiment investigating attitudes to rp, Somerset, South Wales and Birmingham accents. The greater the accent prestige, the greater the perceived quality of the argument. Listeners were most impressed by rp speakers

Dennis freeborn (1986)

Summarises negative attitudes to regional accents

The incorrectness view

All regional accents are incorrect compared to the accent of rp

The ugliness view

Some accents don't sound nice

The impriceness view

Some accents are described as ‘lazy’ and ‘sloppy’

Anderson and trudgill (1990)

Argued that attitudes towards accents are based more on social connotations and prejudices surrounding the location or social group associated with that accent than on the sound itself, as demonstrated by experiments using outsiders e.g. American speakers who do not recognise a Birmingham accent, know anything about Birmingham, even where it is, do not find the Birmingham accent unpleasant

Itv tonight and comres study (2013)

Found 28% of Britons feel they have been discriminated against because of their regional accent and reported that 80% of employers admit to making discriminating decisions based on regional accents. The Liverpool, cockney and brummie accents are often viewed negatively but rp is rated highly by employers

Dominic watt (2010)

Identified that super urban accents seem to be spreading out from their traditional bases and into new territory while local accents disappear

William labov (1961)

In his Martha's vineyard study, labov found that different social groups on the island pronounced certain dipthongs differently. He concluded that this was done, albeit subconsciously, in order to establish an identity of themselves as vineyarders, distancing themselves from the tourists who were frequent visitors