Article - Do accents matter in modern Britain?
The article “Do accents matter in modern Britain?”
shows that quite a lot of people are very conscious about the accent that they
have, as well as the accents people around them have. Things like voice tests
that large, popular companies like the BBC required people to carry out before
they could speak on national television I believe have made people feel as
though the way that they speak and have spoken for their lives is seen as “wrong”
or even “worse” than someone else. However I think this is unfair and the
article is right, that it can be seen as a sort of “accentism” (discrimination against
people because of how they speak).
I think that nobody should be prejudiced
against or judged because of their accent to an extent which means they cannot
get a job or role that they desire in life.
I believe that people shouldn't feel “ashamed about
flattening their accents”; however I completely understand why people may feel
this way. Relating to myself, if anybody was to ask me I would say that I do
not like my accent, like many others would say about themselves. I always try
my best to avoid “glottal stop” when I speak but I find that sometimes I don’t even
realise I’m omitting letters or not pronounce them correctly. But, is there
really a “correct” way to pronounce words or even to speak in general? I think
no. In relation to Dr Alexander Baratta’s findings, I don’t think people should
need to alter their accents to “fit in”, because I don’t believe in a moral or
general way to speak. Speech has no rules and limitations.
I think it speech, accents and the way people
pronounce words will continue to change and adapt, some may see it as changing
for the better, and some may believe that it is for the worse, and that it
sounds “awful” (again, showing accentism). But it is just keeping up to date
with this day in age and society.
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