Love, British Accent

One of the most frequent questions I have been asked as a teacher of English as a second language over the years has decidedly been: Which pronunciation do you think is best, British or American? Somehow people seem to be fascinated by the mere sound of English, which I find rather fascinating. Allow me, therefore, to share some thoughts on the matter.

But first things first: what does research say? Well, both polls and more in-depth research show that the most popular accent in the world is British closely followed by American. For example, a recent Time Out Global Survey conveyed among 11,000 people from across the world voted British accent the world’s sexiest; another study reveals that you are likely to be a more satisfied costumer if service is provided by a British English speaking person. And, if used in advertising, British pronunciation can increase sales. Similarly, it claimed that ‘the audio sparks places you might want to go, and things you might want to buy’ […] To many listeners, a British accent conveys gravitas, intellect or even sex appeal, while American accents are far less compelling.’ (Hence the British accent in recent Norwegian commercials, perhaps?)  Moreover, while Americans seem to love British accent – women finding it particular alluring – there are indications that this a case of unrequited love since only a small fraction of their British counterparts assess American accent positively.

What these studies do not say is what particular British accent, or American for that matter, they have in mind because ‘British accent’ is simply short for ‘one of many accents spoken in the UK,’ for example Scottish, Cockney, Brummie etc. Within the UK it is the non-regional accent, RP or Received Pronunciation, often called the BBC English or Oxford English, that wins the popularity contest. RP speakers are commonly seen as more intelligent, better educated, better mannered etc. purely on the bases of their speech. It is also true that despite the changing perceptions of accents among the British themselves ‘first impressions of unearned features, such as accents, still have an impact on success, in employment, social life and elsewhere.’

Proud of our dialects, egalitarian Norwegians find these attitudes hard to comprehend, but their awareness is a part of our cultural competence. However, unlike the Norwegian dialects, English accents pertain pronunciation only. In order for a variety of English to be called ‘dialect’ there have to be additional differences in grammar and vocabulary.

Thus far all of the above suggests that my students are not out of tune with the rest of the world. People do care about accents. Nonetheless, what do textbooks say? In short: accents do not matter. We do not teach accents, we teach pronunciation. In my opinion, such an approach reflects the ideas of the author(s) of how things should be rather than what they are like at the moment. This, in turn, is due to the fact that the question of accents, especially in the UK, has traditionally been associated with regions and social and political groups, where the ‘good’ accent has been the one of power and privilege, such as conservative RP. These perceptions are fortunately changing, but we are not quite there yet.

The attempt to distinguish between ‘accent’ and ‘pronunciation’ seems to be somewhat politically flavoured as well, and, in my experience, can be confusing to ESL learners. The moment you have to choose a model for pronunciation, you have to choose an accent as well and thus get caught up in a maze of circular logic you never get out of.  And for all the talk of English being an international language, both in theory and practice it is still predominantly Anglocentric or Anglo-American.

Now, what do I say about the whole accent business? In my opinion, what accent people think is the most beautiful is purely a matter of personal taste since there are no objective criteria to go by when deciding the first in the assumed hierarchy of English accents. Our preferences are often grounded on positive experiences we have had, be it a favourite celebrity, friends and family or characters in films or TV series. The strong cultural position of Britain and the United States contributes to these pronunciations being seen as exceptionally appealing.

Whereas a native speaker’s specific accent is bound up with their sense of identity, we, as speakers and learners of English as a second language, can choose our pronunciation model more or less freely. Our pronunciation is a result of artificial language acquisition and says more about our skill and effort we have put into emulating our model than about who we are as people.

If you are happy with the way you sound, do not change anything. Yet, if you would like to have a certain pronunciation, you should consider the context in which you expect to use your English, your personal preference, and intelligibility. For example, speaking RP while working in a pub in eastern London would only accentuate your outlandishness. There is no point hating the sound of your own voice, is there? Neither is it to your purpose to be a businessperson in an international environment speaking Geordie, a Newcastle based accent that is barely comprehensible to the rest of Britain itself. RP is taught at universities worldwide, not because it is superior, but because it is clear and therefore easily understood everywhere. Finally, there are few contexts requiring a native level of pronunciation, so unless you are a spy, you probably will not need it.

In conclusion, what accent people regard as best is subjective. If you want to, you can make a set of pragmatic choices to acquire a pronunciation that will help you fit into a certain environment, achieve your goals and be understood everywhere. If a British accent can render you more successful at work, more credible, and more importantly, more datable, why not learn it?  To Shakespeare’s ‘If music be the food of love, play on,’ I would say: ‘If British be the accent of love, speak on!’ What sayest thou?