Accent and Teacher Identity in Britain: Linguistic Favouritism and Imposed Identities

Description

In British society, we celebrate diversity and champion equality across many areas, such as race and religion. However, where do British accents stand? Do notions such as 'common' or 'posh' still exist regarding certain accents, to the extent that people are deemed fit, or not, for certain professions, despite their qualifications? Accent and Teacher Identity in Britain explores these questions and Alex Baratta's research shows that those with accents regional to the North and Midlands are most likely to be told by mentors and senior staff to essentially sound less regional, whereas those from the Home Counties are less likely to be given instructions to change their accent at all. Baratta investigates the notion of linguistic power, in terms of which accents appear to be favoured within the context of teacher training and from the perspective of teachers who feel they lack power in the construction of their linguistic teacher identity. He also questions modifying one's accent to meet someone else's standard for what is 'linguistically appropriate', in terms of how such a modified accent impact on personal identity. Is accent modification regarded by the individual neutrally or is it seen as 'selling out'?

Alex Baratta is Lecturer in the English Language for Education programme at the Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, UK.

This book is a thoroughly engaging examination of important practical and ethical issues affecting the British school system, and teachers-in-training in particular. It also provides a window on the complex status of regional and class accents in Britain ... I encourage anyone interested in accents to read this book. * Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development * In this original work, Alex Baratta has contributed significantly to sociolinguistic understandings of accent and its relationship to teacher identity. He does this through a careful and comprehensive review of the literature, which both locates and informs the research on which the book is grounded. I would recommend this to any academic or student whose research intersects with accent, regional and class identities and the self-perceptions of teachers. * David Hyatt, Lecturer in Education, University of Sheffield, UK * This refreshing book raises some fundamental issues: the crucial importance of sociolinguistic reflexivity in teacher training, and the delicate play of accent inequalities affecting not just learners but teachers as well. Both are urgent and pressing educational matters; both remain largely unaddressed in scholarship and policy. Baratta breaks ground by bringing them up as relevant topics for debate. * Jan Blommaert, Professor of Language, Culture and Globalization, Tilburg University, The Netherlands *