Regional Language Variation

Question 1

State 4 things people associate the RP accent with

Answer 1

Any 4:

1. Education
2. Wealth
3. Prestige
4. Social Status
5. Intelligence

Question 2

The RP accent rates highly for things like competence and authority, but what does rate less highly for?

Answer 2

Attractiveness and personal warmth

Question 3

Give one reason as to why people might associate RP with social status, authority and wealth

Answer 3

Because it is spoken by the royal family

Question 4

What percentage of people are born nowadays into a family speaking RP?

Answer 4

3%

Question 5

Why might RP not be associated with personal warmth and attractiveness?

Answer 5

Because people feel distanced from the class of people that speak RP

Question 6

What were the original 3 classes/types of RP? And who created them?

Answer 6

Conservative, General, Advanced

A.C. Gimson (1962)

Question 7

What are the modern day classes/types of RP? And who created them?

Answer 7

Upper crust, mainstream, adopted

John Wells (1982)

Question 8

Give an example of an upper crust RP speaker

Answer 8

The Queen

Question 9

Why might people have a more favourable view on regional accents than urban ones?

Answer 9

Because of the connections made between the accents and the places they derive. So people associate the countryside with positive imagery, therefore, regional accents are looked upon more favourably

Question 10

Where does the term ‘BBC English’ come from?

Answer 10

In the early years of broadcasting, all presenters spoke with an RP accent. Because RP was an accent everyone could understand, but also because it was an accent people took seriously and had an air of authority

Question 11

Why are regional accents likely to be heard on local news programmes?

Answer 11

Because it makes it easier for local viewers to identify and relate with content more, due to a familiar accent

Question 12

Give an example of how sports commentator accents can reflect the social standing of certain sports

Answer 12

Darts commentators usually have regional accents, reflecting the working-class image of the sport

Tennis and showjumping will have RP commentators, due to the class of people that play those sports

Question 13

Give 2 reasons as to why people are now using more standardised vocabulary, rather than our own regional variation norms

Answer 13

• Communities are less isolated, people travel and mix, the fore accents and dialects are dissolving.
• Universal compulsory education means everyone is encouraged to learn and use standardised English

Question 14

Who coined the term ‘Estuary English’ and in what year?

Answer 14

David Rosewarne, 1984

Question 15

Where did Estuary English originate?

Answer 15

South East London, Thames estuary

Question 16

Which two accents is Estuary English between?

Answer 16

RP and Cockney

Question 17

Give two reasons as to the spread of Estuary English

Answer 17

Cockneys modifying their speech, moving it closer to RP, known as upward convergence

RP speakers modifying their speech to integrate into the rest of society, known as downward convergence