GROUP MEMBERS

Hammersley, Glenn
Mut, Rosa
Llacer, Cristina
Garcia, Yolanda
Ramos, Sarai

Do accents remain stable or not? What is the attitude towards Keat's poetry and dropping aitches /h/ according to these articles?

As we can see from these two articles, the use of language is very conservative in different spheres of life. In poetry or literature, for example, it is expected that writers adhere to expected norms. In the case of Keats, who wrote phonetically without aitches, he was seen to be uneducated, or certainly not intelligent enough to be able to distinguish between written English and the spoken cockney language. Furthermore, the second article demonstrates the changing of language as a fashion, although depending on the context in which it is used can quite often cause offence or lend itself to ridicule, such as dropping aitches in the House of Commons.

What stereotypes are associated with the accent in each of these excerpts? Are you surprised by any of them? . . .

The articles here show that attitudes towards Americans from the South often centre around stereotypes of lack of intelligence, especially among the women with these accents. It has also been suggested that southern accents in general are associated with "native wit rather than intelligence." However, this is not necessarily true in every country, in England for example the Birmingham accent is associated with villainy and mistrust, to the point where conviction rates are influenced by the accent someone has. We are also shown how the perceptions of an accent change over time, such as in the case of Liverpool. What used to be seen as a savvy, street-wise, witty accent changed in a matter of thirty years or so to an accent associated with a group seen to be "sponging, untrustworthy scallies." Finally, the New York "fast-talking, sleazy, hucksterish and low-brow" and is seen as a very undesirable accent by the vast majority of Americans.

What are the attitudes towards the accents (not their native languages) of immigrants in Britain and the United States

One view of British attitudes towards immigrants is shown in the Sunday Telegraph article whereby there is an expectation that to show respect for the country in which an individual lives, the native language must be used at all times, even if it is not the native tongue of the individual who lives there. This expectation that English be used at all times, even in the home of families whose native language may be something other than English, is a little ambitious. However, a refusal to adhere to this expectation can result in suspicion or resentment on the art of the people who consider themselves the natives of the land, as if by using a different language represents something being hidden or obscured from public view.

The USA article furthers this point of view. Here it is suggested that an immigrant's usage of the host language represents an adherence to the values of that country, in the case of Britain and America, the democratic politics and the individual liberty of society.

Consequently, a refusal to learn or use the host language can be seen as a rejection of the democratic principles on which the countries society and politics are based and "a threat of subversion to the American system of government."

Read these excerpts and say what the attitudes to non-standard English are

These four excerpts clearly demonstrate the conservative attitudes of many people in England towards the written and spoken use of the language. For example, the argument of "we was" against "we were" represents the struggle of the institutionalized, "correct" form of "we were" against the more colloquial "incorrect" form of "we was". It is also suggested here that the incorrect use of language has the ability to "[condemn] an individual to his class or ethnic ghetto than an inability to communicate clearly and logically in English." Correct use of the English language has come to be seen as more than just a distinction between social classes, but as a basic tool of survival. Furthermore, we are shown that it is a struggle for teachers in elementary schools to work against the prevalent social forces influencing people's language outside the classroom.

However, there is an argument presented in these extracts, Thomas et al (2003), that although it is quite easy to classify written English as either good or bad, correct or incorrect, this classification is not as simple in spoken language. In this instance, it is said that a certain form of language or dialect can't be incorrect, just inappropriate.

In the following two excerpts say why, in each case, a person or people have "put on" a regional accent

The article about the USA demonstrates that, at times, it is possible that people can adapt their natural accents or dialects to either avoid or intentionally adhere to "bundles of properties" or stereotypes. The southern accent in the USA is often seen, when adopted by an American who lives in the North, to be drawing upon preconceived ideas of condescension or trivialization. Leading to a perception of the Southern Americans as "backward but friendly, racist but polite, obsessed with the past and unenamored of the finer points of education."

The second article demonstrates a situation in which Standard English isn't seen to be the most suitable vocal style for a particular profession. The use of the word "upgraded" in terms of the accent of the DJ John Peel shows how some accents are seen to be more suitable than others. This change may have been made specifically to avoid the middle-to-upper-class connotations associated with RP, making the music that John Peel was playing more attractive to a much younger, wider audience across the country.

Acquiring a "posh" accent. Why do people try to acquire an accent that is not their own? (Is there a posh accent in your language?

People may often adopt accents other than the one that naturally belongs to them in an attempt to avoid any of the negative attitudes it may invoke. There is also the idea that people often put on accents to conform to perceived ideals, which obviously depends on the situation. For example, beyond the case of Margaret Thatcher given in the notes, national newsreaders in England often have to change any regional dialects they may have, especially strong accents such as Cornish or Liverpudlian, in order to fit into the RP dominated journalism sector. Furthermore, and especially in recent years, we have seen the adaptability of accents depending on a social situation as shown in the case of Jack Davenport, highlighted in the kirsten Sellars article We Wanna Talk Like Common People where she describes the adaptable accent of the middle classes between "Mockney" and RP as a tool of social acceptability.

Some accents are seen as uncouth (vulgar) while others are not, why?

As has been explained, the language used in Elizabethan court became the prestige because of its association with the social elite, so other dialects became defined by their contrast to Standard English. The dialects of the lower working classes became associated with the stereotypes of their professions, often seen as dirty, low skilled and uneducated. Correspondingly the language of these people came to be seen as inferior and in contrast to the more socially acceptable language of court. Furthermore, there evolved an expectation that those people with dialects perceived as inferior could not attain positions of importance, as shown in the Morrish extract with reference to Lord Denning and his west-country accent.

Why does RP have a prestige associated with it?

The Standard English dialect has a long history of being used by the social elites, as demonstrated in the Mullen article, highlighting the percieved differences in dialects in the Elizabethan court. Although the difference between dialects was not necessarily seen as a bad thing, merely different, this difference became defined in context of the more "correct" Standard English used at court. This prestige was cemented in the 19th century with its standardisation in the public school system and has retained the title of "correct" English ever since.

Is accent important in England?

On the hole, accent can be seen as an important aspect of the life in England but it also changes depending on different situations. For example, as the article demonstrates, it is difficult for executives from the North of England to successfully integrate into the elitist social circles of the South because of the prestige associated with the "correct" dialects of southerners, as well as lacking the length of involvement of the social scene that many of their southern colleagues have. However, these social differences have not affected the ability of the people involved to secure jobs in southern companies, demonstrating that, at times, there are more important factors involved.