Accents and Dialects theories

1. Disproof of Giles' study

Old, based on regional stereotypes, limited to England-based locations
No context to the trials, so maybe they were in fact guilty
no study, was just his own descriptivist opinions
only New York specific, unsure on how many conversations and hours of study was conducted to come to the conclusion

1 of 10

1993. Suggested 3 theories on negative accent viewing. Incorrectness was it is incorrect to RP. Ugliness was that it doesn't sound nice. Impreciseness was it is sloppy and lazy
2011. Produced a courtroom study in Australia, finding that a more guilty person had a foreign accent. Showed accent discrimination
2004. Replication of Giles' study with BBC, asking 5000 people to rate 34 accent labels. Found the same as Giles. Illustrated consistency with accent perception over the past 3 decades
1970. Set out to map British listeners evaluation of 16 accent labels, ranking them on prestige. 4 accent categories: standard, non-native, ethnic, and regional. Clear pattern of evaluation. Standard had highest rating, Urban Vernaculars had the lowest. Own Accent was rated high by people. Concluded that standard accent carries authority

New York department store study. Showed interest in the post-vocal 'r' which is a prestigious pronunciation in NY. Investigated in 3 stores: Saks (highest class), Macy's (middle class) and Klein's (lowest class). Results showed Saks assistants used post-v
1993. Suggested 3 theories on negative accent viewing. Incorrectness was it is incorrect to RP. Ugliness was that it doesn't sound nice. Impreciseness was it is sloppy and lazy
2011. Produced a courtroom study in Australia, finding that a more guilty person had a foreign accent. Showed accent discrimination
2004. Replication of Giles' study with BBC, asking 5000 people to rate 34 accent labels. Found the same as Giles. Illustrated consistency with accent perception over the past 3 decades

1993. Suggested 3 theories on negative accent viewing. Incorrectness was it is incorrect to RP. Ugliness was that it doesn't sound nice. Impreciseness was it is sloppy and lazy
1970. Set out to map British listeners evaluation of 16 accent labels, ranking them on prestige. 4 accent categories: standard, non-native, ethnic, and regional. Clear pattern of evaluation. Standard had highest rating, Urban Vernaculars had the lowest. Own Accent was rated high by people. Concluded that standard accent carries authority
2004. Replication of Giles' study with BBC, asking 5000 people to rate 34 accent labels. Found the same as Giles. Illustrated consistency with accent perception over the past 3 decades
New York department store study. Showed interest in the post-vocal 'r' which is a prestigious pronunciation in NY. Investigated in 3 stores: Saks (highest class), Macy's (middle class) and Klein's (lowest class). Results showed Saks assistants used post-vocal 'r' the most and those from Klein's the least- Macy's showing the greatest upward shift when asked to repeat. this established that New Yorkers upwardly converge to prestigious accents