Does accent matter?: The Pygmalion factor

by John Honey

This is a study of the influence of accent in Britain today. It looks at such questions as "Can job prospects be affected by a candidate's accent?", "Why are some accents more popular than others?" and "Should our schools concern themselves with their pupils' accents?" The author explores our subconscious reactions to the different varieties of English pronunciation and argues that only a uniform accent can reduce the levels of misunderstanding and prejudice that currently prevail. The book shows how the prevailing attitudes have helped or hindered such public figures as Terry Wogan, Janet Street Porter, Margaret Thatcher and members of the Royal family.

Genres: Language

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Nick Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, for all that I couldn't completely escape some of my reservations about what was being said. The content that dealt with linguistics I found intriguing, but because this was published more than thirty years ago, I was aware some of the more sociological aspects didn't necessarily remain true (for all that they were a snapshot of attitudes in the last decades of the Twentieth Century). I guess, though there remain prejudices and assumptions, the importance of a RP accent perchance isn't as important as it once was in this more global age, and never really was massively important outside of a certain South-East centric group of occupations and cliques.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read- albeit outdated- Honey examines British accents with a critical eye in real-life applications.

Providing an insight into how accent effects everyday lives, he then provides a recommendation at the end for how he sees the situation will evolve. Although his predictions were a bit off-skelter, the observations of his study continue to be relevant today.

This book is well-written, and I recommend it to those who want an introduction into the subject.

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Honey's book studies the influence an accent can have upon a speakers life. Very much a comprehensive and insightful text, this book explores the prevailing attitudes that have helped or hindered predominate public figures of the 1990's. Detail questions of social issues such as "Can job prospects be affected by a candidate's accent?", "Why are some accents more popular than others?" and "Should our schools concern themselves with their pupils' accents?" help to articulate the misunderstandings and prejudices that can arise from how we sounds. An informative source on the subject of language and accent.

[Cuneiform · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prof. John Honey casts a fresh light beam onto the problem of English as a sociolect. Latest editions of traditional books on the English phonetics while contradicting to reality facts have been trying to present it the same way as if there is something here like the General American in the States is. On the other hand, as if it were no "posh" English of upper classes any more or the King's or Queen's English either. However, public speeches in Parliament readily demonstrate that landlords and the aristocracy are miles away from speaking English in a unitary would-be way of millions of common speakers countrywide. Just like Bernard Shaw saw that within his times.

[C⭐️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

whilst this satisfied my interest in linguistics in exploring both the history and attitudes of and towards language and the standard/non-standard forms of it, it is inherently outdated in its content. at the same time, this serves as an intriguing reference point for how technology has evolved the english language, as well as the level of importance associated with accent.