Attitudes Towards Accents (Giles) Flashcards
What were the three criteria which people base their opinions of accents on?
Precision
Correctness
Aesthetics
How many of these criteria do people actually base their opinions on?
1 is the main motivator, however it is often the case that attitudes are based on more than one of the criteria
What are the words that people usually use when talking about the precision of someone’s accent and what are they referring to?
“sloppy” and “lazy”
Refer to the non-standard varieties (usually)
What are some features that attract such views about precision?
glottalling (bo’le = bottle)
h-dropping (‘ot = hot)
What are the attitudes for correctness?
Objection to non-standard varieties due to being “incorrect”
Different from “Standard” English which is uniform and high quality
What are the two criteria which are closely linked?
Precision
Correctness
Why are the two criteria linked?
“lazy” speech is often seen as being “incorrect”
What are the attitudes for aesthetics?
Accents being “harsh-sounding” or saying non-standard varieties are “ugly”
What are the attitudes for aesthetics based on?
Solely on sound quality or how something may “sound nice”
What are the varieties which are often regarded as “ugly”?
Urban varities
What do the attitudes for aesthetics suggest?
That there is a fourth motivation that people base their opinions of accents on
What is this fourth motivation and is it suggested by Giles?
Associations
No.
What are the attitudes for associations?
Urban localities are perceived in a negative light due to crime and deprivation
People associate the accent from these places with the negative connotations too
What was the study done by Giles to test people’s attitudes towards variation?
Lecture study 1970s
What was the concept of the Lecture study?
Person who can do perfect RP and Brummie accents presented the same lecture twice to two sets of pupils and then recorded their attitudes afterwards
What were the two ratings that Giles recorded in his study?
Intelligence
Friendliness
What were the results for the two ratings?
RP- high for intelligence but not friendliness
Brummie - low for intelligence and high for friendliness
What do these results say about people’s opinions towards different accents?
People have strong attitudes in society about different accents as it was exactly the same lecture and person, the only difference was the accent they used to talk in
What is another study which help supports Giles’ theory?
Ellen Ryan’s “status and solidarity”
- expanded on by Hopper and Zahn
How did Hopper and Zahn expand Ryan’s study?
Ryan only looked at status and solidarity, whereas Hopper and Zahn looked at superiority, attractiveness and dynamism
What were the values the three looked at which encompassed status?
Uneducated v. Educated Poor v. Wealthy Unintelligent v. Intelligent Illiterate v. Literate Lower class v. Upper Class
What were the values the three looked at which encompassed solidarity?
Untrustworthy v. Trustworthy Unfriendly v. Friendly Unkind v. Kind Awful v. Nice Hostile v. Good natured
When was Ryan’s study carried out?
1980s
Who did Ryan use as her subjects?
Male American and British middle and lower class speakers - shown to undergraduates
