In a study by the University of Manchester, the teachers admitted to modifying their regional accents because they felt they were seen as “inappropriate for education”.
Dr Alex Baratta, a lecturer in linguistics who led the research, says that the teachers feel they are “selling out” by neglecting their regional accents in favour of more “standard” classroom speaking voices.
Dr Baratta last year undertook research into the affects of “accent modification” on how people feel about themselves in Britain. He found that many people admit to “poshing-up” their accents to fit in to certain work and social situations.
However, the affect of this is that many “feel like fakes” and the research raised concerns that this phenomenon could even threaten personal identities and cause “anger and frustration”. His latest study explores teachers’ accents and was qualitative research involving 11 trainee teachers and five qualified teachers with Northern accents.
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