AccentandClass口音和社会等级.doc

Accent and Class 口音和社会等级 The film My Fair Lady dealt with accent and class ?Ive heard that theres class distinction in the accent of English. It sounds strange to me and Im curious about it. Could you please explain it in detail? Alfred, Tianjin In Britain there are lots of different accents and dialects. Generally speaking you can tell a lot about a person’s social, educational and geographical background from the way he or she speaks. But it doesn’t mean that everyone wants to copy one particular way of speaking. You might be surprised to find out that there is no standard accent in English, like there is in Chinese. In the past the most prestigious accent was what we call RP but this is no longer as fashionable as it once was. To find out more, join Yang Li and Jo Reffin for a special programme on accent and class. Once youve listened to the report, try our quiz to check your understanding.