As humans we are used to constantly adapting to fit into to social norms by changing our appearance or altering our personalities based on who we are with, so why is changing accents a step too far?
Would it be wrong to modify your accent to abandon stereotypes, to be treated equally?! If your accent had negative labels attached to it surely you`d change it. Accents can be tweaked to achieve a different opinion. Like putting on a different pair of shoes every day we can wear a different accent every day. Like putting on a figurative mask before leaving the house to face the world-dramatic, right?
For example, research from Howard Giles, in the 70s, where respondents rated each accent for how prestigious and pleasant they think it sounds. Standard English accent’ received the highest ratings for prestige and pleasantness (oh I say!), while various non-standard urban vernaculars (Liverpool, Cockney, Birmingham) were rated lowest (nah bruv that aint it!). Ethnic varieties were also rated low for prestige, while non-native varieties were rated highly.
Potentially times have moved on. Have they? A recent survey done by AceentBiasBritian showed that listeners who were over 45 show a dispreference for Southern vernacular accents such as Estuary English (Think Jamie Oliver) and Urban English (think Stormzy), rating them significantly lower. Younger listeners, however, make no such distinction and rate all 5 accents approximately equally. An urban accent unfortunately is a disadvantage when wanting to be seen as intellectual or presentable. This provides evidence for accent bias and demonstrates that certain accents are perceived as ‘higher’ than others. Does this all just route back to a culture obsessed with class or is it discrimination and stereotypes that wrongfully drives judgement of accents?
Dr Sol Gamsu, professor of Sociology at Durham University, thinks that classism is more present today than you might think. “Accents are tied into uneven regional geographies of economic and cultural power,” he says. “The associations between intelligence and forms of middle-class and elite speech and accent are deeply woven into British class structures.”
Let`s be clear accents can create a power dynamic. Similar to specific pragmatism, accents and those with that accent can be segregated and discriminated against causing a contrast in authority. British class structures are still apparent today and are embedded into our views on intelligence, wealth, jobs, dialect, and political views therefore a higher class is associated with a ‘posher’ accent.
Accents within many occupations are looked down on. A quarter of British people feel discriminated against because of their accent (ITV/Comres survey). Which doesn`t surprise me when in a recent Guardian article 8 in 10 employers admit to doing so no less the law firm, Peninsula, stated. Why can`t we be judged on our experience and intelligence instead of the way I pronounce scone and bath!
It seems ridiculously unfair that your career choices could be hindered due to where you grew up. Should anyone with a ‘Non-Standard’ accent just give up all together then? Not achieve their dream job, because of an accent. No. People use a different lexis to present themselves as more formal, perhaps when speaking to authority, which really is no different to people changing their lexis phonologically to present themselves as formal as well. Should it even have to come down to that!
The language we use has always been subject to change. An individual may either make the unconscious or conscious change to weaken their accent if it is believed to be ‘less professional’ in a work environment. Dissimilar, someone might want to strengthen their accent to be seen as an individual and to hold their identity or to represent where they come from and be proud of their accent. We`ve probably never been so aware of identity as we are now due to modern technology.
Received Pronunciation is the standard form of British English pronunciation, based on educated speech in southern England, widely accepted as a standard elsewhere. Is it intelligent and reliable? Or haughty and unfriendly? The idolisation of accents results in a rise of accent softening. A removal of part of your identity to fit in makes you uncomfortable, right? Well for some this is their only option to be taken seriously. Lessening an accent when surrounded by people with the same predominant accent but strengthening it when visiting back home just goes to show how suggestive and conforming we are. We all know a friend or maybe you are the friend that is known for changing the way they speak or behave depending on who they are with. It`s a natural instinct to fit in but what if I challenged you to step outside of the box society pushes you in and to embrace your accent! Or change it! Why do I care!
Angela Rayner, the shadow secretary of the state for education, who has a strong Northerner accent has been criticised relentlessly by the public and media for her accent and grammar rather than being listened to for her political views. It could be assumed that some people care more about how things are said rather than what is being said. Angela herself said that she had to work twice as hard to get to where she is today because she is a woman with an accent. I wonder if she`d get an equal amount of hate if she was a man speaking The Queen`s English from the Tory party…but let’s not start that now shall we…
Accents is just the tip of the iceberg so changing it really doesn`t impact anyone other than the person changing it. It is a human right to express yourself however you want. If you want a different accent, use a different accent. Whether it is for occupational purposes, abandoning stereotypes, to fit in socially(jargon), or even just because you take a strong favour towards a particular accent, it is down to you and is utterly your choice. SO, WHO CARES!?
GEN:Journalism 