Language and region

Question 1

David Abecrombe

Answer 1

Coined the idea of the accent bar
a metaphorical bar illustrating the divide in prestige between accents
He argued that any accent above the bar had higher life chances while any accent below would have less chance of success.
This is related to the psychological phenomenon of the Pygmalion effect where people who are faced with higher expectations often perform better than those faced with lower expectations.

RP
All other accents.

Question 2

Wilkinson

Answer 2

First class accents - RP and certain forms of scottish and irish were associated with confidence, ambition, intelligence and wealth

Second class accents - british regional accents were associated with honesty, generosity but a lack of intelligence.

Third class accents - certain large industrial towns were associated with blue collar jobs.