Universidad de Guadalajara

Maestría en Enseñanza del Inglés como Lengua Extranjera

Module: I A Language and Social Context

Reflection 5
Implications of RP for Second
Language Learners

Tutor’s Name: Sara Quintero Ramírez

Name: Humberto Marino Ramírez

E-mail: humber_marino@hotmail.com

October 6th, 2013

 Reflection
Holmes (1992: 144) argues that only five per cent of English native speakers speak received
pronunciation (RP). If this is the case, what are the implications for second-language learners?

Send a word document with your reflection.

Received Pronunciation (RP) is the accent of the best educated and most prestigious
members of English society. It is said that this name comes from the accent which was
‘received’ at the royal court and it is sometimes identified with “the Queen’s English’,
although the accent used by Queen Elizabeth II is a rather old fashioned variety of RP. RP
was promoted by the BBC for decades. It is essentially a social accent, not a regional one.
Indeed it conceals a speaker’s regional origins.

In the 1970’s this accent was used by less than 5 per cent of the British population. With
this being the case what are the implications for second-language learners? First of all an
ESL student must be aware of the different varieties of the English language. His teacher
needs to tell him that there are different accents, different varieties and dialects spoken not
only in different countries but also within nations and communities. Language varieties
give identity to communities and provide individuals with a sense of belonging to a certain
social group by speaking in a given way.

Students must be aware of this so that when they encounter variations they will be able to
know that not every speaker of English talks in the same way. For example students will
know that when they go to England and listen to RP accent the people with this regional
accent is more educated and they will need to behave correctly, if they try to learn English
by listening to hip-hop songs sung by African-American people, they won’t be understood
if they go to England or to a prestigious University in the United States. If they learn
standard English with RP the people in the slums of New York will not understand a single
word of what they’re saying.

So students must decide which variety of English they would like to use in the future.
Business English, airport English, specialized English (in a certain profession), tourist
English, if they want to use any of these or other variations it would be really helpful to
start practicing from the beginning of their English courses. If a student would like to work
in the USA in the future he needs to learn standard American English, if someone else
would like to do a Master’s degree abroad he has to practice university English.
Of course it’s not wise to focus on a variation of English and forget all the other ones. A
good language learner will be aware that there are many variations of his target language
and will try to learn as many expressions as he can in all the different speaking varieties.
He will always keep in mind that language has a social nature and that it changes within
groups, it evolves and adapts to social communities’ characteristics.

In this essay I have discussed about RP, which is a regional accent which is very
prestigious in England. ESL students must be aware of this variation and other ones as
well in order to choose which one they will be in touch with in the future so that they can
start practicing it in their present situation. Students must practice not only their favorite
variation but also many other ones, as much as they can, so that when they speak English
and encounter different accents they will be able to understand them.