Media Attitudes to Accent Variation - DR WILLIAM BARRAS

Question 1

Stephanie McGovern

Answer 1

2013

• BBC presenter spoke of the discrimination due to her Teesside accent
  e. g. tweets asking whether she went to uni, end of interview: “I didn’t realise people like you were clever”

Question 2

English teacher from Cumbria

Answer 2

Instructed to sound less Northern after Ofsted inspection

Question 3

Daily Mail report - Essex school

Answer 3

Headteacher of Essex primary school arranged elocution lessons for her pupils - thought it would improve spelling

Question 4

Accents only involve…?

Answer 4

Phonetics and phonology - not morphology and syntax - poor way to assess a person’s speaking capability

Question 5

Standard English more to do with…?

Answer 5

Morphology and syntax but still associated with RP

Question 6

Accent Case Study - News Readers

Answer 6

DR WILLIAM BARRAS
- Played news readings to his students - different accents (Cumbria, Liverpool, Yorkshire etc.)

• Feedback: Cumbria “Friendly but not well suited to delivering serious stories”, Liverpool dismissed as a terrible newsreader
• Evaluative factors: preparation levels and performance style