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Page 1: Me and my accent

Sasha-Gaye Medley

Page 2: Me and my accent

What is an accentAn accent is a way of pronouncing a language. It

is therefore impossible to speak without an accent. My accent results from how, where, and when I have learned the language I am speaking and it gives impressions about me to other people. People can change their accent without even realising it when they are speaking to different types of people. I know for a fact that I do that all the time. I think that when I do this I am adhering to codes and practices of this person to make them feel more comfortable around me, therefore I take part in convergence.

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My accent makes me who I amI have a mixed Jamaican/English

accent. Throughout my primary school years I was taunted and ridiculed because of my funny accent. This used to really hurt me but now that I am a young adult I think that in some sense it has made the person that I am today. I am very a strong minded individual and I think that it takes a lot for something such as being the butt of a horrid joke to move me to the core now.

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Stereotypes about my Jamaican accent I think that when most people hear my Jamaican

accent they automatically think laid back, lazy, good humoured, it also gives the impression that I am not every intelligent or a very serious person that takes things to heart. It comes over as if nothing that I say is serious, everything seems to be a big joke. But I know that I am a very intelligent Jamaican individual that loves to work hard for what I want. On the other hand I can be the life and soul of the class room but when it is time to do the work I am ready for it. If you were to look at me as a person you would be able to see that I have a lot of things going on in my mind.

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This is a video of my form assembly I am the that jumps in and says “pause”. This video was shown to all of my year and people still say I that sounded funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhXN7WVniE4

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Where my Jamaican accent comes fromThe correct word for speaking Jamaican is

Jamaican Patois, known locally as Patwa spoken primarily in Jamaica and near by country such as Panama and Costa Rico . Jamaican Patois contains many loanwords these mostly come from English, but are also borrowed from Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, Arawak and African languages

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Is it a language . I believe that when I was in Jamaica I spoke broken English. That

is a mix of everything. Language in Jamaica today reflects the history of the country’s interaction with a variety of cultures and languages from many ethnic, linguistic, and social backgrounds.

Aside from the Arawaks, the original inhabitants of Jamaica, all people were exiles or children of exiles. Over 90% of the 2.5 million people living in Jamaica today are descendants of slaves brought from western Africa by the British. The local Jamaican language is a reflection of a history of contact with a variety of speakers, but the official language remains to be Standard English (Pryce, 1997).

So the accent that I have is a reminder to me of how I came to be here. It is a part of my blind-self that I don't get to see but other people do they get to hear it when I speak. This concept comes from Johari Window.

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Is there a big differencePatois comes from English I am in England.

I have spoken some form of English my whole life so why is my accent so distinguishable from other people accent after all Patois did derive from English.

I think that it is because of me as a person I want to hold to the only part of the heritage and culture that is noticeable to others. If I do, it means that there will always be something special about me no matter what.

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What is received pronunciation? It is a perceived idea that people in certain jobs

or people of certain status in society should have a certain kind of accent or pronounce word in a certain way. Someone like the queen speaks standard English in the form of received pronunciation.

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What is Standard English and do I speak it.Standard English is the diversity of English that

is seen by many to be 'correct' in the sense that it shows none of the local or other variations that are considered by some to be inaccurate, or non-standard English. Many people have to speak in standard English an example of this is my teacher they speak in standard English because it is formal and it sounds very professional. If you were doing a presentation you would speaks very professional

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Do I speak it?I think that I speak non-standard English most

of the time. I think that I do this because it makes me feel closer to my ideal-self I want to forget the fact that I was troubled so much because of my accent. Received Pronunciation is the way Standard English is spoken this is without regional variations. Standard English and RP are widely used in the media and by public figures. Received pronunciation spoken in standardized English shows that a person’s prestige and status is regarded by many as the most desirable form of the language.

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Most T.V host & New readers have a really posh accent

Broadcaster’s choice In my opinion TV producers are very conscious

that choosing someone with a regional accent to read the new or to host a TV programme might run the risk of alienating some listeners. This to me is okay because if someone with an annoying accent was reading the news I would change the channel as quick as possible. I think that this could be changing because Britain has a diverse variety of languages that comes with many different accent. Nationally the news readers speak standard English in the form of received pronunciation but regionally the accent of the news reader are very different. On west midlands today there is a black weathergirl by the name of Genelle Aldred that sounds as if she has got a Caribbean roots ,there is also an Asian news reader by the name of Shefala Oza has an Indian accent and they are both very successful individuals in their field of knowledge.

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Can an accent make a career?Various surveys have shown that a

'posh' accent can be a hindrance to being taken seriously, that a south-east accent is the best one to get ahead in finance, that regional accents are considered more trustworthy and that young staff modify their accents when talking to their seniors.

Perhaps the overall message is that, in almost any business, it is an advantage to be a clear communicator. In the case of certain strong accents that non-speakers struggle with (such as Geordie and Glaswegian), this may mean toning things down.

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Celebrity accents Britain’s best accent: The Geordie

accents of pop singer Cheryl Cole and TV presenters Ant and Dec headed the poll for the nation's favourite celebrity accents. From research I have found that popular celebrities with regional accents in advertising is a good thing. The research also shows that the popularity of celebrities - such as Cheryl Cole and Ant and Dec with their Tyneside accents has been responsible for increasing the favourability of regional accents in advertising. People love hearing their regional accent in the media.

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How can accent be interpreted by the media?I think that if someone speaks with a

weird accent and they are in the public eye, we automatically look down at them and think that they are stupid an example of this is David Beckham the name of his accent is cockney twang. From the way that he speaks a stereotype has been created that he is an idiot. In a survey done by Travelodge it showed that he had the most hated accent in Britain. In my opinion David Beckham is not an idiot because after all is the one with almost 400 hundred million in the bank he knows exactly what he is doing.

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An accent can show what social class you are is this true?In general, I can tell with some precision

whether someone is educated or not by their accent. Most people that are upper class have had wonderful educations. To me they speak very refined and polished. I think that someone’s accent can tell people what social class they are this is because people that have very rough accents are normally labour worker that didn't have a proper education.

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Prince Charles accentI find Prince Charles accent very

weird. Maybe it is because it is not the type of accent that I hear on a daily basis. To me accent is very refined but at the same time bizarre because to me no one really talks like that anymore it is as if he is trapped in the time of Old England. I think that maybe as a younger member of society I will not appreciate the sophisticated accent that he speaks in.

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Do I feel pressure to change my accent?Yes I do but at the same time my accent

makes me who I am; it is a part of my identity.But there are so many influences as to why I feel pressure to change my accent. Some times I think to myself what are people thinking about me when I speak people look at me as if they are captivated. Maybe they are thinking how unusual my accent is.

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Society My accent sometimes makes me withdraw from

certain things to do with being in the public eye an example of this when I was doing a big business project with my class and we managed to get an interview with our local radio station wolves 107.7. I was picked to do it but I told myself that I wont sound good on the radio, wont make sense and get mixed up when talking so I gave the opportunity to someone else, because of knowing that my accent will not be liked by people in our society.

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My peers I don't think that my accent is such a big thing

around peers.I know this is because I feel comfortable with them I am being my open-self so therefore there is no need to pretend to speak like someone else.

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I think that as time goes on my Jamaican/English accent will fade away in to the backgrounds of my life. I will always have an accent the only thing is the story behind why I have it will always change. I love my accent and I know that I will love whatever my accent becomes. Everyone is different just like how my accent is different to everyone's. No two people can ever be the same.

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Sourceshttp://www.managementtoday.co.uk/search/

article/969295/10-things-unexpectedly-ruin-career/

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Showbiz-News/David-Beckhams-Cockney-Twang

http://coi.gov.uk/press.php?release=287