Accent and adialect by Neil Hussey https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc Made with big dreams en-us 2020-01-13 12:03:00 UTC 2025-11-15 14:06:41 UTC hello@padlet.com Aziz Coorperation https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/430694546 Ran a survey to rate UK accents in relation to their business appeal.
79% of business people thought a strong regional accent was a disadvantage.
77% believes that Home Counties accents are generally successful.
Followed by American (75%), Scottish (65%), continental European accent (52%) and Indian or Asian accents (25%).

Scottish was the only successful regional accent, 43% said they were successful, 40% hardworking and reliable, 31% trustworthy.
Liverpool's scouse was the worst, 15% believed them to be successful, 9% hardworking and 8% trustworthy.

Cockney was thought to be successful but not trustworthy.
Geordie was thought to be warm and caring
Indian and Asian accents are hardworking and reliable

]]> 2020-01-13 12:24:42 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/430694546 Labov - Martha's Vineyard https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/430694702 Study into how people adapt to accents and dialects over time. Looked at an island with 6000 people but had over 40,000 visitors each summer.

Residents adapted their speech to accommodate visitors and over many years the islanders adapted their speech to the majority and it became the norm.

Younger generations spoke most like the visitors (popularity and socio-linguistic maturation)
Fisherman changed their vowel sounds to sound different to the visitors to seek solidarity/covert prestige]]> 2020-01-13 12:25:13 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/430694702 Cheshire and Edwards (1997) https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/430695125 Looked at Grammatical Variations found in over 80% of schools in Britain:

- Unmarked plurality
- Demonstrative use of them/those
- Should of/Could of
- Never as a past tense negation for a single event
- What as a relative pronoun
- Ain't/in't
- Present participle use of stood/sat
- Adverb minus ly
- Very little plural variation]]> 2020-01-13 12:26:34 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/430695125 Petyt (1980) https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/430695403 Research into 'h' dropping in Bradford.
Found a non-Standard English and class positive correlation.
Upper middle-class 'h' dropped 12% of the time, lower working class 93%]]> 2020-01-13 12:27:21 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/430695403 Trudgill (1983) https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/430695899 Research in Norwich on the substitution of velar nasal 'ng' for alveolar nasal 'n'.

His study was more in depth than Petyt, was placed in different contexts such as reading and writing and speaking formally and informally.

He found that men are less formal than women in all classes]]> 2020-01-13 12:28:37 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/430695899 Labov - New York (1966) https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/430696047 Looked at 3 different department stores (Saks, Macys and S.Kleins) in New York and asked for directions to departments on the fourth floor and then asked them to repeat it.

Looks at different classes, conscious and unconscious speech.

264 'interviews' which were representative of numbers in each class

Lacks some validity as relies on perception.

Found an increase of 'r' in careful speech, Saks used the rhotic 'r' the most and was used most in word final position.]]> 2020-01-13 12:29:12 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/430696047 Milroy and Milroy https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/430696394 Looked at inner-city Belfast in the 1970s and 3 working class communities with an alternative approach to the theory by coining social variation in language e.g. the study of social networks.

Milroy lived within the community which reduced Hawthorne effect but also meant more bias and human error.

They looked at the correlation between the integration of people in the community and they way they speak.
Each person was scored between 1-5 about how integrated they were/

They found that a high score was correlated with the use of more non-standard forms.

This suggests that accent/dialect was strongly influenced by the level of integration into a social network.

Close-knit networks are important for dialect maintenance as it promotes solidarity and identity]]> 2020-01-13 12:30:30 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/430696394 Bernstein https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/430696571 Classified language into 'restricted code' and 'elaborated code' as believed that the titles 'Standard English' and 'Regional Accent's detract from observing the complexity of language and only look at the use of regional words.
Elaborated Code - formally correct syntax, more subordinate clauses, fewer unfinished sentences, more logical connectives such as 'if' and 'unless'.
Restricted Code - looser syntax, simple connectives like 'and' and 'but', more clichés, compound sentences and pronouns]]> 2020-01-13 12:31:04 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/430696571 Ives - Bradford (2014) https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/430697227 Eight teenage boys interviewed and found that they spoke the way they did as an exclusionary strategy and that they code switched between Punjabi and English, the respondents said that it's due to where they live connecting with 'poshness'. One of the respondents claimed it's due to the music industry and other popular culture.]]> 2020-01-13 12:32:54 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/430697227 Ives (2014) - South London https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/430697468 Respondents discussed use of lexis they felt set them apart from elsewhere many of the words have origins from other languages e.g. 'Bare' Afro-Caribbean for totally, 'Bruv' used widely in 70's/80's Black America, 'Ends' from Jamaican slang and 'Yard' also has Jamaican origins.]]> 2020-01-13 12:33:52 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/430697468 Prestige Theory https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431270332 One theory is that women are socially insecure so they are more careful to use the overtly socially prestigious forms than men.

Another is that working class language is associated with being rough and tough. In a survey people were asked to rate how well they thought recorded speakers would do in a street fight. Those with regional accents came out on top every time. 

These traits are considered macho and tough so men tend to lean towards talking like this and women seem to lean away from talking like this.]]> 2020-01-14 13:32:29 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431270332 Trudgill - People's Self Evaluation https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431270621 He found that women of all classes tend to over-report (claim they're using the prestigious variant when they actually don't). 

Men of all classes tend to under-report (claim they used the non-standard form when in fact they use the prestigious one). 

This suggests that men and women as well as upper and lower class are aiming to speak a different type of language.]]> 2020-01-14 13:33:01 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431270621 Cheshire - Reading https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431271167 She explored non fluency features of young boys and girls in regards to who did and didn't approve of minor criminal activities. 

All children who approved of peer group criminal activities were more likely to use non-standard forms, but boys more so

Suggests that variation in dialect is a conscious choice, influenced by social attitude

Males are more susceptible to covert prestige but social attitude is more of a determining factor than gender.]]> 2020-01-14 13:33:58 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431271167 Milroy - Further Explained https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431271793 Open and Closed networks.

 In most cases this meant that men whose speech revealed high usage of vernacular or non-standard forms were also found to belong to tight-knit social networks. Conversely, vernacular or non-standard forms are less evident in women's speech because the women belong to less dense social networks.

This was reversed in Clonard where they have high unemployment rate so many women were out working and many more men participated in domestic household tasks. 

 The idea of closed and open networks can be usefully applied to any case of language variation - e.g. the spread of MLE. Whereas in the past working class London children might have belonged to very closed networks, because of changes to society such as high levels of immigration, exposure to the media and greater sense of identity as teenagers as opposed to class.]]> 2020-01-14 13:34:58 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431271793 Bernstein - Code https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431272083 Elaborated code : more formally correct syntax 

An elaborated code arises where there is a gap or boundary between speaker and listener which can only be crossed by explicit speech.

Restricted code : looser syntax, uses more word of simple coordination]]> 2020-01-14 13:35:26 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431272083 Giles - Capital Punishment https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431272573 He presented five groups of students with identical sets of arguments against capital punishment. 

Presented differently: one written, RP, Somerset, South Welsh, Birmingham.

RP speaker was most impressive. 
Birmingham least impressive.
Regional speakers most persuasive.]]> 2020-01-14 13:36:18 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431272573 Sebba (1993) https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431274469 Sebba discovered that the Catford Girls Posse (a group of London girls of Caribbean origin) code-switching depending on whom they were talking to and what they were talking about. Depending on the context they might use, for example: 

Standard English: "with" 
Cockney: "wiv"  
Creole: "wid"

London Jamaican has evolved due to the language needs of immigrant communities that have settled in England and produced second, third, further generation speakers.]]> 2020-01-14 13:39:36 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431274469 Joanna Thornborrow 2004 https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431274868 One of the most important ways of establishing our identities is through our language, including: specific lexical choices, grammatical variation, variation in phonology.]]> 2020-01-14 13:40:18 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431274868 John Honey (1977) https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431275874 Accent and dialect
 - Children should be taught SE at school (equal opportunities
 -children will be disadvantaged if they don't know how to use it
 -SE ensures everyone will be able to understand each other ]]> 2020-01-14 13:42:06 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431275874 Paul Kerswill https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431276138 Increased social mobility has increased leading to 'breakdown of tight knit working class communities', he adds 'increased interaction with people of other speech varieties' as a potential cause of dialect levelling. This is summarised as movement of people has led to greater dialect contact, movement of people has led to radical changes in people's social networks, away from strictly local ones.]]> 2020-01-14 13:42:32 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431276138 Ellen Ryan https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431276164 As status and solidarity increases (social status & wealth) language improves and moves towards RP.

She concluded that varieties and accents that were considered as 'Status' varieties were least likely to be labelled as friendly, trustworthy etc. 

What to look for in the data Non-standard varieties and positive views/responses to them; negative attitudes to use of RP; complexity of attitudes to varieties.]]> 2020-01-14 13:42:35 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431276164 Foulkes and Docherty 1999 https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431276430 Dialect tends to spread as follows:
London area
South East: Reading, Milton Keynes
Central England: Midlands,East Anglia, South Yorkshire
Northern England: Hull
North East of England and Lowland of Scotland: Newcastle, Glasgow]]> 2020-01-14 13:43:00 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431276430 Cockney https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431276654 The term refers to both the accent and the speakers of it. It is known to be the broadest form of a London accent that originally came from the working classes of London. Traditionally, a person had to have been born within earshot of the bells of St Mary leBow church in the east end of the city. This was a working class area of London. As time has passed and buildings have been built and traffic grown heavier the sound of the bells do not carry as far as they had done once and so now a lot of people can say they are Cockney.]]> 2020-01-14 13:43:26 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431276654 Dixon, Mahoney and Cocks 2002 https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431276919 'Matched Guise' approach see a correlation between accent and perceived guilt. Participants listened to dialogue between police and suspect, some participants heared a Brummie accents while others heard a more standard accent . Suspect was seen as more guilty when they spoke with Brummie accent.]]> 2020-01-14 13:43:51 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431276919 Howard Giles (1970) https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431276924 It suggests that we adjust our speech to 'accomodate' the person we are addressing. This may result in convergence and divergence.


]]> 2020-01-14 13:43:51 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431276924 Paul Coggle 1993 https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431277113 "Just as upper-class English evokes in many people's minds an image of Hooray Henrys and Henriettas, chinless wonders, Land Rovers, green wellies and in the case of women - Jacqumar scarves and velvet headbands, so Estuary English evokes a similarly stereotypical image of shell suits, beer bellies, Ford Escorts, chunky gold chains, flats in Marbella (at least for those at the dodgy dealings end of the spectrum) and again the in the case of the women white high heels shies preferably worn with no tights. The stereotypes are living reminders of Britain's continuing class system. They are there to enable members of British society to go on disdaining each other in an old age manner"]]> 2020-01-14 13:44:11 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431277113 Sue Fox Multicultural London English https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431277920 Her research investigated a sample of teenagers from across London- groups of students from white Anglo-Saxon backgrounds along with those of Arab, South American, Ghanaian and Portuguese descent, and they all spoke with the same dialect.
People are beginning to sound the same regardless of their colour or ethnic background.]]> 2020-01-14 13:45:32 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431277920 Peter Trudgill https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431278212  Norwich speech was studied by Peter Trudgill in the 1970s to find out how and why people's ways of speaking varied. One of the variables Trudgill studied was the final consonant in words like walking, running. In standard British English, the sound spelled -ng is a velar nasal. In Norwich, however, the pronunciation waikin', talkin' is frequently heard, as if there was simply 'n' on the end. Trudgill notes that this feature is not unique to Norwich: "Nearly everywhere in the Eng-speaking world we find this alternation between higher-class/formal ng and lower class/informal n” Trudgill's study discovered the following: 1. In all social classes, the more careful the speech, the more likely people were to say walking rather than walkin'. 2. The proportion of walkin' type forms was higher in lower social classes. 3. The nonstandard -in' forms occurred much more often in men's speech than in women's, and this was true for all social classes. 4. When women were questioned about what they thought they were saying, they tended to say they used the standard -ing forms more often than they really did. 5. When men were questioned about what they thought they were saying, they tended to say they used the nonstandard -in' forms more often than they really did. ]]> 2020-01-14 13:46:00 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431278212 https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431278294 What is convergence?
Changing your way of speaking (register) closer to the register of another.

What is divergence?
Changing your way of speaking (register) to move your language use away from the register of another.
]]> 2020-01-14 13:46:08 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431278294 Douglas S. Bingham (2012) https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431279050 The most important life events tend to occur post-18, after 'emerging adulthood'. Hence, chronological age may therefore still be an influential factor in examining the use of language by younger speakers]]> 2020-01-14 13:47:24 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431279050 https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431279076 What is a Koine?
A Koine language is produced when two existing dialects come into contact with one another and create a new variety which has influences from both.
]]> 2020-01-14 13:47:26 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431279076 Ignacio Palacios Martinez (2011) https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431279292 Teenagers use negatives much more than adults, as they are in general more direct and less conscious of offending face (e.g. "no way" and "nah")]]> 2020-01-14 13:47:48 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431279292 https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431279363 What is Code-Switching?
Sometimes speakers of English use different forms of English depending on who they are or who they are with. Being able to use different varieties is known as code switching.
]]> 2020-01-14 13:47:56 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431279363 Christopher Odato (2013) https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431279651 The use of "like" as a discourse marker, originating from as young as the age of four.]]> 2020-01-14 13:48:25 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431279651 https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431279868 What does overt-prestige mean?
A form of status valued and shared by mainstream society and culture.

What does covert prestige mean?
Status gained from peer group recognition rather than public acknowledgement
]]> 2020-01-14 13:48:36 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431279868 Neuliep and Speten-Hansen (2013) https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431280042 Ethnocentric people more likely to be biased in their interpretation of different speakers]]> 2020-01-14 13:48:50 UTC https://padlet.com/nhussey1973/acc/wish/431280042