[#字正腔圓] 2016年寫的文章，關於RP accent。
I believe that the author of this passage was trying to criticize learners who imitate "British" accents like RP, which in fact is used by an extremely small proportion of the country's population. Learners who are learning the accent out of the belief that it is "the standard accent of English" and therefore should be preferred to other accents. The author also pointed out that the concept of a "standard accent" is a myth, because there is a large variety of accents and they should be held equally.
The crux of the discussion, thus, lies in this: Is Standard English (SE) a "myth"? Should there be a form of standard English we acknowledge and embrace?
Labelling SE and RP a myth subjects us to the vulnerability of letting the true issue at question slip. Where does this concept of SE come from and why is RP seen as the standard?
RP is deemed to be the standard for historical reasons such as the RP orientated policies of the BBC. It is, of course, ignorant to contend simply that RP is the standard without knowledge of the reasons behind its status, but to say that we don't have to care about accents at all in English learning is fallacious and simplistic because, as a matter of fact, different accents have been, are, and will likely continue to be perceived differently.
You may, of course, say that these perceptions are rooted in prejudices in the sense that they're impressionistic and stereotypical. You may argue that these prejudices should be eradicated, that there should not exist a standard form of English, and that no forms of English should be held superior or inferior to any other, but fair or unfair judgements asides, teachers of English should make this clear to learners of English: there do exist associations between accents and perceptions. This is a Sociolinguistic phenomenon and a matter of culture, which learners of English cannot afford to ignore.
One of the prejudices used to be commonly held in favour of RP is that its speakers are educated, and thus credible and intelligent. Things have changed, and now, RP is increasingly associated with pomposity and the undeserved privileges of the upper class -the tides have turned, but we have to be aware that these perceptions, in their nature, are still prejudices. The BBC and other advocates for RP may have manipulated prejudices on the part of the public to gain credibility in the past and there may be people who are doing the same now - by learning an accent so as to sound more posh and "hoax" people into admiring or believing them.
Is such pretense contemptible? It is, but stupidity is no less a vice than pretense. People who speak RP to impress may be despicable, but we should find equal repugnance in those happen to be stupid enough to be fooled into idolatry as well as those who hold RP speakers automatically guilty of an intention to sound posh.
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