An Introduction to Common Regional Accents in the UK
Level:
Pre-Intermediate to Upper Intermediate
Timing: 60 mins to 3 hours+; you may adapt the material to fit the time you have:
Shorter lesson:
Longer lesson:
Focus on the key points of the lesson
Study everything that the lesson presents
Miss out optional warmer activities
Include optional warmer activities
Focus on only 2 accents
Focus on all 4 accents & others from the list, if time
Miss out or shorten free practice activities, e.g. role plays
Include free practice activities
SS have little time for research
SS have time for research, e.g. in the library or online
And so on...
Lesson Aims:
•
•
•
•
Learn about the different parts of the UK
Be introduced to different regional accents in the UK, with a special focus on four: Glaswegian, Liverpool (Scouse),
Welsh, and South Yorkshire
Learn about Standard Pronunciation and how it differs from regional accents – the same language, the same
country, but different accents cause problems for learners of English
Identify some of the problems for language learners when listening to British native speakers who have nonstandard English accents
Main Teaching Points:
•
•
•
•
•
The main problem that SS have in understanding speakers of English who have non-standard pronunciation is that
the sound spine – the sequence of stressed vowel sounds in a sentence – is different from what they expect and
need to hear in order to understand the content
English speakers with regional accents use other features which can confuse SS, including: unusual contractions
(e.g. innit for “isn’t it”), glottal stops, non-standard stress patterns, dialect words, and slang
Native speakers of English don’t always understand each other! For example, a speaker from the Midlands may
have problems understanding a person with a strong Glaswegian accent
Native speakers sometimes change or “lose” their natural accent in order to fit in. Regional accents are markers of
origin, status, class, income, and even perceived intelligence. Speakers often look down on people who speak in a
different way from themselves, because they consider them to be inferior. To “get on” in life Standard
Pronunciation (SP) is generally preferred. Speakers can end up with two different ways of speaking: SP at work or
at a job interview, and their natural regional accent at home with family and friends. Like with spelling: we can
write messily for ourselves, e.g. a shopping list or text message, but we write correctly during an examination
[see Useful Resources, below]
Students may ask why there are so many different distinctive accents in such a small island! The answer concerns
the history and geography of the UK, but I wouldn’t get sucked into this complex point during this lesson. Instead
perhaps ask them to do some research for homework. A good starting-off point is here:
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100525044530AAwOkDC
Material:
•
•
•
blank accents map (handout)
annotated map – answer sheet (handout)
videos on YouTube (Note: you could use different videos and focus on different accents, while still following the
same basic lesson plan]
Before the Lesson (Planning):
1.
2.
3.
Prepare the videos
Read all the notes in this pack
Print handouts for students
Lesson Outline:
Warmer (including optional activities):
1.
Discuss in pairs: regional accents in SS’ countries. How many different accents are there? Are there big regional
differences? In the UK there are an estimated 60+ different regional accents. T talks about the origins of their
own accent – how they speak English, including their parents’, grandparents’, siblings’ accents
2.
SS try to draw a map of the UK on the board. Then give out the blank maps. Use resource books or the internet
to help you. Label the following places:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Scotland
England
The Republic of Ireland
Wales
Northern Ireland
The United Kingdom (the UK)
The British Isles
Great Britain
(Optional) Locate the following places on the map:
1.
2.
3.
4.
3.
Newcastle
Upon Tyne
Liverpool
Birmingham
Glasgow
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Belfast
Norwich
Cornwall
Nottingham
Bristol
10.
11.
12.
13.
Essex
Manchester
Sheffield
East London
(Optional) Match the places with the following regional accents (T may provide examples!):
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Cockney
Brummie
Estuary English
Geordie
Scouse
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
Cornish
Mancunian
Midlands
Norfolk
Glaswegian
k) Mid-Ulster English
l) South Yorkshire
m) West Country
(See annotated map for answers)
Main Part of the Lesson:
1.
2.
We’re going to focus on 4 different accents: Glaswegian (Glasgow), Liverpool (Scouse), Welsh (Wales),
and South Yorkshire (Sheffield)
Watch short sample extracts from the four videos, e.g. approx. 1 minute from each:
Glasgow: (00:39)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti2rqlUycM4&feature=player_detailpage#t=39s
Liverpool (15:07)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa-EsOB38cU&feature=player_detailpage#t=907s
Welsh (02:01)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=mZffknnPUoI#t=121s
South Yorkshire (0:44)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB3ieNhEsDY&feature=player_detailpage#t=44s
Can you hear what they are saying? Write notes. Discuss them with your partner. What is the
context? Does knowing the context help? Discuss the accents. What differences/similarities can you
hear? Are they easy to understand or not? Compare them. Which are easier/harder? Why?
3.
Standard Pronunciation (SP) is the generally-accepted yardstick by which we judge other accents:
watch / listen to two examples – BBC Newsreader Mishal Husain and David Cameron. How does how
we speak (e.g. SP) influence life opportunity, wealth, and success. Is there SP in your language? Does
it connote the same things?
Standard Pronunciation 1 – BBC Newsreader Mishal Husain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayaPoHHVYc&feature=player_detailpage#t=36s (00:36)
[Background: Mishal Husain was born in Northampton, grew up in UAE, where she was educated at the
international British School. She then attended a private school in Kent and later Cambridge University]
/
/
/
/
/
/
Changes to pensions and social care in Wednesday’s budget, but the...
Original
ei
e
eu
eir
e
u
SP
ei
e
eu
eir
e
u
(the same)
Features:
•
•
•
•
•
•
she is careful to pronounce all the vowel sounds on the stressed syllables (the sound spine) clearly
and in the expected way
stress on “and” = intonation
no glottal stop in “and” or “budget” = “correct” pronunciation, not “sloppy”
t for “to”
r-linking occurs but is very subtle
Question: why does she read the national news and not somebody with a strong regional accent?
Standard Pronunciation 2 – British Prime Minister David Cameron at Prime Minister’s Questions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5Q7qEMbybNw#t=5s (00:05)
[Background: David Cameron was born in Berkshire, and educated at private schools, including Eton, and later
at Oxford University]
/
/
/
/
/
/
But let us be clear – this is not a mission without an end.
Original
e
iy
o
i
au
e
SP
e
iy
o
i
au
e
(the same)
Features:
•
•
•
4.
he is careful to pronounce all the vowel sounds on the stressed syllables (the sound spine) clearly and
in the expected way
he is trying to stress the point he is making
the indefinite article “a” is pronounced ei instead of with a schwa sound – perhaps for emphasis
Take each accent one at a time and follow the procedure below. At each stage SS should “sound out”
the sentences:
a.
5.
6.
Listen a few times to one sentence from the video. Try to write it down; write as much as you
can!
b. A student writes the sentence on the board; T elicits corrections from other SS; T shows
which part is correct and which is wrong, then tries to elicit corrections again. T writes the
correct parts underneath
c. Find the sound spine: underline the content words; mark stressed syllables; mark vowel
sounds on stressed syllables
d. Compare this sound spine with SP (modelled by T); which stressed vowel sounds are
different? What happens to the function words, e.g. articles and prepositions?
e. Which other features make the regional accent different from SP? (See below for some
pointers, e.g. “rhotic” (rolled) r, glottal stops, different stress, slang, dialect words, etc.)
f. T elicits why SS couldn’t hear the wrong parts, e.g. the reasons above in point e. They
weren’t expecting them from a native speaker of English
(Optional) Discussion in pairs or small groups about the advantages/disadvantages of having a
regional accent. Why do some people choose to “lose” their natural accent, e.g. to become more
socially mobile, etc.? Make a list
(Optional) SS use their ideas as the basis for role plays with the following situations:
a. A candidate fails a job interview because of their strong regional accent
b. Parents are unhappy about their child’s choice of partner because this person has a strong
regional accent
c. Read the news with a strong regional accent
d. Somebody who speaks with SP feels out of place in a place where everybody else has a
regional accent
Or SS imagine their own situations!
7.
(Optional) Debate: the whole class splits into two groups; one argues for the motion, the other
against. SS could spend time researching and discussing their respective positions first
Motion: It doesn’t matter what kind of English accent you have, as long as people can understand you
Or SS think of their own motion(s)!
Homework:
Students choose 4 of the other accents from the warmer and prepare a short presentation about them,
including multimedia, e.g. video, audio, photos, maps, etc. They could work in groups or individually
Notes on the 4 different accents:
Glaswegian: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti2rqlUycM4&feature=player_detailpage#t=39s (00:39)
/
/
/
/
/
/
I was a youth worker there and I got to see for myself.
Accent (a)
u
u
eir
or
ee
(a) eir
SP
oo
er
eir
o
ee
(ai) e
(ai)
Features:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
rhotic (rolled) r (4 times) which causes confusion, because it is unexpected in English
u for oo
u for er
or for o
eir for e
a for ai (I, I, my)
a na Go_ t
“I got to...” = “I was able to...” / “I could...” (this construction is unfamiliar in SP)
Liverpool: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa-EsOB38cU&feature=player_detailpage#t=1092s (18:12)
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
And besides that, I don’t go there togged out like that, trying to cop off.
Accent
ai
a
eu eu eir o
au
a
ai
o o
SP
ai
a
eu eu eir o
au
a
ai
o o
(the same)
Features:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
the sound spine is the same, making this one of the easier accents to understand
use of dialect words: “togged out” and “cop off”. You need special knowledge to understand this
sentence due to these unusual phrasal verbs. “Togged out” means “dressed” and “cop off” means, to
put it politely, “meet a new partner”
glottal stops replacing final t, e.g. “that” = tha_
elision: d disappears, e.g. “besides that” = bi Sai ztha_
fast pace; rhythmical; 11 strong-stressed syllables in quick succession, mainly on monosyllables
rhotic r
d for th. See also: “You did that then though, did you though?” in the comedy sketch The Scousers
Visit London:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qamVB4ixxGs&feature=player_detailpage#t=478s (07:58)
Welsh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=mZffknnPUoI#t=121s (02:01)
What is your favourite colour? My favourite colour is red.
/
/
/
/
/
/
What is your favourite colour? My favourite colour is red.
Accent
o
e
u
e
u
e
SP
o
ei
u
ei
u
e
Features:
•
•
•
•
•
the stress pattern is different to SP – heavy emphasis on stressed syllables, and final syllables,
e.g. “colour”; in SP the final syllable of this word (the suffix “-our”) is just a schwa sound
rhotic (rolled) r
e for ei
Function words are not contracted, e.g. “What is...”; in SP we would normally say: “What’s...”
the rhythm is syllable-timed; “sing-song” rhythm
South Yorkshire: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB3ieNhEsDY&feature=player_detailpage#t=44s (00:44)
/
/
/
/
/
/
What does he like to eat? What’s he like for tea?
Accent
o
a
ee
o
a
ee
SP
o
ai
ee
o
ai
ee
Features:
•
•
•
•
•
•
delete h at the beginning of a syllable, e.g. “he”
stress on linking in vv (vowel to vowel) connections; in SP this would occur, but would be more
carefully hidden: t Wee_
a for ai
glottal stops
uu for u or schwa sound, e.g. “does”
unexpected contraction – “What’s” instead of “What does” = grammatical error in SP but accepted as
the norm in his accent; discuss how teaching a child to speak like this can lead to conflict later on
when they come to write down their words at school and are told that they are “wrong”. How can it
be wrong when all their family and friends talk like this?
Useful Resources:
Clear Alphabet Dictionary (English phonetic dictionary): http://www.scribd.com/doc/104105260/ClearAlphabet-Dictionary
Talk a Lot Foundation Course: http://www.englishbanana.com/talk-a-lot-foundation-course-complete-freedownload.html
We Love Accents: http://www.weloveaccents.co.uk/
Accent Tag Project (search on YouTube) – people with different accents read the same list of everyday English
words and answer the same set of questions
Dialect Blog: http://dialectblog.com/british-accents/
The Speech Accent Archive: http://accent.gmu.edu/
The Audio Archive: http://alt-usage-english.org/audio_archive.shtml
BBC Voices: http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/recordings/
Mastering the regional accent: http://blog.britishcouncil.org/2013/05/01/teaching-british-accents/
Daily Mail: Our great posh pretence: One in five people change their accent to sound more posh to get a job or
chat someone up, survey finds:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2302972/One-people-change-accent-sound-posh-job-chat-surveyfinds.html
The English Language In 24 Accents: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dABo_DCIdpM
Peter Sellers walks through different regional accents: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLsVh6Qrpew
Link between prejudice and regional accents:
“It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise
him.” George Bernard Shaw, Preface to Pygmalion
“In spite of the recent social changes and a greater tolerance of regional speech, there is evidence that some
varieties may still carry negative connotations in the public sphere... For example, advertisers on most local
radio and television stations rarely choose local accents to advertise their products...”
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=1XvHd0ecQ2AC&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&dq=poverty+in+accent+rp&source
=bl&ots=eHk0O6vix&sig=74EYGCGc56aeYsZYTdmRTx0lUKQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=PHGwUfnDEOes4AT7tIC4Aw&ved=0CEYQ6
AEwBA#v=onepage&q=poverty%20in%20accent%20rp&f=false
“The white working classes are discriminated against on a range of different fronts, including their accent, their
style, the food they eat, the clothes they wear, the social spaces they frequent, the postcode of their homes,
possibly even their names. But they are not discriminated against because they are white.”
http://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/publications/pdfs/WhoCaresAboutTheWhiteWorkingClass-2009.pdf
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/04/04/british-academics-try-hide-regional-accents-study-finds
http://whatculture.com/film/the-language-barrier-more-than-a-regional-dialect-problem.php
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/0512/051230-accents.doc (.doc file)
An Introduction to Common Regional Accents in the UK
An Introduction to Common Regional Accents in the UK – Annotated Map
The British Isles = this map
The United Kingdom (UK) = England,
Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland
Great Britain = England, Scotland & Wales
Scotland
Glasgow
Northern Ireland
Newcastle Upon Tyne
Belfast
Manchester
Liverpool
The Republic of Ireland
Sheffield
Nottingham
Wales
Norwich
Birmingham
England
Bristol
London
Cornwall
Newcastle Upon Tyne (Geordie)
Nottingham (Midlands)
Liverpool (Scouse)
Bristol (West Country)
Birmingham (Brummie)
Essex (Estuary English)
Glasgow (Glaswegian)
Manchester (Mancunian)
Belfast (Mid-Ulster English)
Sheffield (South Yorkshire)
Norwich (Norfolk)
East London (Cockney)
Cornwall (Cornish)
Essex