Australian English

Within Australian English there are trademarks of Aboriginal vocabulary such as, billabong (a waterhole) and boomerang(a curved throwing stick). However, this is only a small number of Lexis used, focusing on plant names(calombo), animals(wallaby) and place names which are of a greater number, with a third of all Australian place names coming from the Aboriginals. 

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Australian population were either convicts, ex-convicts or of convict descent from the south and east of England, London, Scotland and Ireland so the beginnings of Australian English lie within these places. A few examples, are words like corker, dust-up, purler and tootsy all of which came to Australia from Ireland; billy comes from the Scottish bally, meaning “a milk pail”. A typical Australianism like fossick, meaning “to search unsystematically”, is a Cornish word. Cobber came from the Suffolk verb tocob, “to take a liking to someone”. Tucker is widely used for “food”. Clobber has Romany roots and is originally recorded in Kent as clubbered up, meaning “dressed up”.

The Australian Accent in non- rhotic, with the example of Star, which would be pronounced, Sta. 

Further phonological examples are:

The long oo sound is heard as o, so that soup turns into soap.

The short u sound (as in love) tends to be fronter too, sounding as if it begins the diphthong i (as in lie).

The first element of the diphthong ow (as in now) is produced at the front of the mouth and it is raised, so that it sounds as a (as in bad).

Grammatical variations between Australian English and British English are: 

A grammatical similarity between Australian English and British English is that they both tend to use irregular forms of past participle of verbs and neglect definite articles in few words such as 'in hospital' instead of using ‘in the hospital’.

Prescriptivism and Descriptivism

Definition of Prescriptivism:
Prescriptivism
Prescriptivism is the attitude or belief that one variety of a language is superior to others and should be promoted as such. A key aspect of traditional grammar, prescriptivism is characterized by a concern for "good," "proper," or "correct" usage. Contrast with descriptivism.

Definition of Descriptivism:
Descriptivism is the study of the grammar, classification, and arrangement of the features of a language at a given time, without reference to its history or comparison to other languages.

A list of Prescriptivists:

• Henry Watson Fowler
• Shadyah A. N. Cole
• Geoffrey Nunberg

A list of Descriptivists:

• Merriam-Webster
• Dr. Alexandra D'Arcy
• David Crystal

Why? - Prescriptivist

Henry Watson Fowler - These grammars were a formative influence on language attitudes in Europe and America during the 18th and 19th centuries. Their influence lives on in the handbooks of usage widely found today, such as A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (1926) by Henry Watson Fowler (1858-1933), though such books include recommendations about the use of pronunciation, spelling, and vocabulary as well as grammar."

Why? - Descriptivist
Merriam Webster - I was learning lots of rules about grammar and usage and style, but before I had gotten into my major classes in English language, which introduced me to a much more descriptivist approach.
 

The Rastamouse Controversy

http://urbanislandz.com/2011/02/21/british-kids-tv-show-rastamouse-sparks-racist-row-video/

British Kids TV Show “Rastamouse” Sparks Racist Row [Video]

A new kids cartoon series that debut in the UK last month called “Rastamouse” has sparked much controversy among some parents.

The Rasta mouse is a patois-speaking puppet, who fights crime and spreads love and respect. According to reports he has been a huge hit with the BBC’s younger viewers since the show hit screens at the end of last month.

He has dreadlocks, a Rasta Tam (woolly hat), rides a skateboard and uses words like “irie” (happy) and “wagwan” (what’s going on?).

This is not going down well with some parents and members of the Rasta community in England according to a report by the Mirror.

According to the Mirror report, one of those unhappy with the show is Levi Roots, the man behind the Reggae Reggae sauce brand.

“I was asked to do the voice of the mouse, but I said no. I am a Rastafarian and I wouldn’t want to portray a Rastafarian as a mouse,” Levi said.

“I’d never portray a Rasta as a pig or a mouse as I don’t think the values of being a Rasta are served by that. If it was a lion that would be very different, a lion is strong symbol in Rastafarianism.” He added.

Levi also said although he does not support the show, Rastafarianism does need representation on TV.

“Personally, I do not support this representation of us. But we do need representation on TV and as this is the first it should be given a chance. People need to decide whether it is right or wrong for themselves. I have seven children and I would most certainly not want them to watch this show.”

Peep a video clip from the show Rastamouse below

Overall, the article offers a negative attitude towards the cartoon, 'This is not going down well with some parents and members of the Rasta community' showing that the author is relating to his audience, particularly as the article has been produced by 'Urban' Slandz' which has a subheading of 'Caribbean Urban Entertainment Culture' highlighting that this audience would mainly be from the Caribbean culture and therefore, would be his main audience. This is then reinforced by a well known, Caribbean man 'Levi Roots' giving his views, helping shape the author's audience as they are likely to look up to him and agree with his opinions. 'I do not support this representation of us.' Levi states in his interview with 'The Mirror' using a first person plural inclusive pronoun, grouping himself with the audience and allowing the author to gain the ideal response from the audience which is for them to comply.  However, the author does recognise that the programme, 'Rastamouse' 'has been a huge hit with the BBC’s younger viewers' which is the cartoons targeted audience delivering an underlying debate for the audience, of whom are likely to also be parents, about whether this programme really is a problem for (their) children. This is then reiterated through Levi's comment of 'People need to decide whether it is right or wrong for themselves.' Showing less control over the audience and giving them freedom for their own decision. The author seems to represent himself as unbiased as he seems to have an informative approach whilst also persuading the audience through the interview which could show that the audience are adults as they prefer to know facts. 

BBC Voices

Aim:
To find out how people feel about accents and languages across the British Isles.

Methodology: 

5000 people took part in the on-line poll. 

The final sample yielded 5,010 respondents (15+) who completed the entire survey with a 49:51 male to female ratio. 

Findings and Analysis:

There were four categories- 

Celebrity voices
What do you think of your voice?
Attitudes towards accents
Languages other than English

Celebrity voices:

Participants were asked to rank celebrities in order of how pleasant their voices sound.

Scottish Sean Connery swept the board, bowling people over with his dulcet Edinburgh tones. Throughout the UK, his voice was consistently voted the most pleasant in the BBC-commissioned poll.

Fellow Bond actor Pierce Brosnan - who was born in the Republic of Ireland, raised in England and has lived in the USA for over 20 years - was also high up the list. More popular, however, were newsreaders Moira Stewart and Trinidad-born Trevor McDonald. Sir Trevor's appealingly authoritative voice put him in second place overall.

Respondents indicated a preference for accents relatively local to them: Scots said they loved Ewan McGregor's Perthshire accent, the English found Hugh Grant's voice attractive, people in Wales preferred listening to Welsh actor Richard Burton and newsreader Huw Edwards, while those in Northern Ireland found Terry Wogan's Limerick accent irresistible.

What do you think of your voice?

59% of respondents wish at least occasionally that they had a different accent. This rises to a massive two thirds in Northern Ireland. The most wished-for accent is a Standard English accent.

People suggested that having another accent would sound more pleasant, and some claimed that it would help others understand them better. One person complained that "People outside Northern Ireland find me hard to understand," and another said, "I cannot believe how thick my Geordie accent is. It makes me very reluctant to speak at meetings."

Throughout the country, people voted "an accent identical to your own" as one of their favourite accents, and in most places, voters considered their own accent to be prestigious or helpful for getting a job.It's not all doom and gloom, as most people are proud of their own accents. One contributor described their voice as "nice and Welshy" and another said that they had been complimented on their lovely Newcastle accent.

More than 4 in 5 admit to changing their accent on occasions, particularly when meeting people for the first time or when talking to more senior work colleagues. Intoxication was also implicated: "I have a Yorkshire accent which becomes more obvious when I drink alcohol (I'm afraid to say)," commented one unnamed respondent.

Attitudes towards accents:

Three quarters of people in the UK think they hear a lot more accents in everyday life and on BBC TV and radio than they used to, and 78% enjoy hearing a variety of accents.

In general there was a close link between pleasantness and prestige: an Edinburgh accent was valued highly on both counts, while Asian, Liverpool and Birmingham accents were all deemed both unpleasant to listen to and lacking in social status.

There were two major exceptions to the pattern. Whilst a London accent was thought to be very helpful career-wise, people did not find it nice to listen to. Conversely, respondents liked the sound of Newcastle accents but did not think they were very prestigious or useful when job-hunting.

Scottish and Northern Irish respondents liked Scottish accents best of all, but English and Welsh voters put the Standard English accent out on top. Although the Queen's English beat other accents hands down in the prestige stakes, it was thought that a Standard English accent would be more beneficial when applying for jobs. The majority of those questioned liked the Queen's voice, but preferred Southern Irish, Scottish and New Zealand accents.

Languages other than English:

56% of people who took part in the poll believe that speaking more than one language is helpful in getting a good job in the British Isles.

Over two-thirds of respondents claimed that they hear more languages nowadays than they used to, but 22% said that they dislike hearing languages other than English. A fifth believe that in general we have become less tolerant of hearing a variety of languages.

In Wales, where English and Welsh are legally equal, bilingualism was seen as even more of a benefit than in the rest of the UK. Two-thirds of those who took part in the poll in Wales believe that a second language is helpful when it comes to getting a good job. Just 16% of Welsh respondents said they did not like hearing languages other than English.

Throughout the UK, the vast majority of multilingual respondents (84%) are glad they can speak languages other than English.

Conclusion: 

Overall, the people in the UK enjoy hearing other accents and have a variety of attitudes towards different ones. The majority of people would prefer to have a different accent occasionally, but voted their own accent as a favourite and people believe speaking more than your own language is helpful when job-searching. 

Evaluation:

This piece of research is a quantitative method, giving a more reliable result as this method allows a larger sample of people making it more representative of the wider population. Quantitative data gives a more reliable result as is can be replicated, however, this type of data doesn't allow the researcher to get a valid result as it is based on opinion rather than truth.