Subject: TEP Students: Ailén Moller Poulsen Unit: 3 Assignment number: 1 Tutor: Cecilia A. Zemborain

How do you think the present-day (21 st Century) situation is different from that described by Prof. Gimson? Alfred Charles Gimson (1917 – 1985) was an English phonetician, who completed Jones’ description of Received Pronunciation –in his ‘Introduction to the Pronunciation of English’–. Prof. Gimson.

Received Pronunciation -The term Received Pronunciation was coined in 1869, by Ellis - RP is an accent, and not a dialect. - RP is the most broadly studied variety of English. -The BBC chose RP as their broadcasting option, because it was thought to be the most understood variety of English. -It can be divided in three categories: Conservative RP –the traditional variety–; Mainstream RP –neutral accent–; and Contemporary RP –younger RP speakers–. - Back in the 1970s, English people would consider that a ‘wrong accent’ would be “an impediment to social intercourse or to advancement or entry in certain professions.” 2 So the new and acceptable accent that emerged was RP. 2 A. C. Gimson: An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English, 3rd edition, Edward Arnold, 1975, p. 87.

Estuary English But as time passes, and society changes, also does the way people speak, and RP is not the exception. Throughout the 20 th Century, “RP represented the voice of education, authority, social status and economic power.” 3 But, nowadays as a result of social changes, almost every English accent is represented in almost every aspect of life in general. As Gimson predicted, RP could be so diluted, that a new variety of English could take its place; and this is happening. Today, this new variety of English has come in the form of what is referred to as, Estuary English (term coined by Rosewarne in 1984), which is often referred to as a combination of RP and Cockney. EE, or Estuary English, is gaining popularity and territory in Britain; although with some rejection from the older generations. 3

‘Conclusion’ It can be said then, that in today’s’ world, with the increasing globalization and the new acceptance for different things, in this case varieties of English, has lead people to choose between a wider range of English accents (maybe as a way of identify and differentiate from others) and this has cause that the more ‘traditional’ ones lose their status of prestige. But this is not necessarily a bad thing, as society changes, people need to adjust and this may imply changing some aspect of vocabulary and language in general. Although RP has still some prestige and is the basics of Standard English, which is taught in schools, it does not have the same ‘value’ as in times of Gimson (students found it a bit old-fashion), even now, in some schools worldwide, American English in being taught. Finally, it could be said that Gimson, in a way, predicted what was going to happen with the ‘evolution’ of English. I think that the difference between the 21 st Century and Gimson’s time has to do with the tolerance people have towards the different accents of English, and how these variants start to appear in the different aspects of live (sports, politics, and so on).

Bibliography: Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (2009) g