A+D Theorists

Question 1

Thomas Pear (1931)

Answer 1

Found that people had different perceptions of a speaker according to the accent they heard them talk with.

Question 2

Howard Giles (1975)

Answer 2

• RP speakers were rated higher for: intelligence, self-confidence, ambition, determination, etc…
• However, they were rated lower for friendliness, warmth, talkativeness, good-natured and sense of humour.

Question 3

Dixon, Mahoney and Cocks (2002)

Answer 3

• Used the ‘matched-guise’ technique to study the correlation between accent and perceptions of guilt.
• Listeners rated individuals with a Birmingham accent as more likely to be guilty than if they used a ‘standard-accent’.

Question 4

Neuliep and Speten-Hansen (2013)

Answer 4

How a non-native speaker is perceived can depend on the ethnocentricity of the person in which they are talking to.

Question 5

Choy and Dodd (1976)

Answer 5

Teachers make judgement on students ability and personality based on the way they speak.

Question 6

Lambert (1960)

Answer 6

Age, social class and regional membership were found to be important determinants of evaluation.

Question 7

Survey done by University of Manchester on ‘bread roll’

Answer 7

• ‘Bread roll’ used by 36% nationally.
• ‘Bap’ 18% nationally, specifically Scotland and Ireland.
• ‘Teacake’ - Yorkshire

Question 8

Peter Trudgill - Isogloss boundaries

Answer 8

• In the past, you couldn’t really move around. Therefore people developed different accents and used different lexical choices.
• People developed a strong sense of identity.
• These isogloss boundaries have no weakened due to transport, the media, etc…

Question 9

Daniel Jones

Answer 9

• 1960, RP was the most prestigious way of speaking.
• Published a handbook on this way of speaking, he thought you needed it to be successful.
• He later said it’s up to the individual to decide whether to speak in a way which comes naturally, or whether they should alter it.
• Personal choice.

Question 10

Nicholas Copeland

Answer 10

• Code-switching.
• When we move from public to private discourse the context is key.
• May speak in your accent at home, but when you go to work you may alter it to be more ‘standard’.

Question 11

Lesley Milroy - links to Nicholas Copeland’s code-switching

Answer 11

• When we have a closed network, one solid group, more conformity to the non-standard forms.
• However, in a professional position, for example teachers, you may speak in a more standard, RP accent.

Question 12

Idioms in the North West and Yorkshire:

Answer 12

• ‘He’s got a right cob on’ - North West, he’s in a bad mood.
• ‘Were you born in a barn?’ - Yorkshire, shut the door.

Question 13

Cockney accent

Answer 13

• Glottal stopping, for example ‘better’ is pronounced ‘be’uh’.
• L vocalisation, L at the end of word often becomes a vowel sound, e.g. ‘pale’ ‘pall’.
• F fronting, ‘think’ to ‘fink’, also a feature of Caribbean English.

Question 14

Dr Alex Beaton - University of Manchester

Answer 14

• 100 participants.
• 1/3 of people feel that they have to modify their accent because of stereotypes and stigma on whether they would be employed.
• Very small sample size??

Question 15

People feel proud of their accents

Answer 15

• ‘Daft as a brush’ - Yorkshire
• '’Codswallop’ - Scotland
• ‘Apples and pears’ (stairs) - Cockney

People still use these phrases which shows they are comfortable and proud of their accents.