Essay.

Text E and F both express ideas and opinions on accents and language varieties although their ideologies are very different. Text E expresses hate and disgust for the working class accent, suggesting that it is undesirable by using adjectives such as 'riddled' or wincing' but emphasizes the value of convergence in social situations in order to present yourself in the best possible way dependent on the situation. Text F reinforces the importance and significance of received pronunciation, it suggests that the RP accent is the way forward and everybody is obliged to learn to speak properly. 


Text E is a newspaper article aimed at an upper-class audience, as suggested by the title 'I hate my son's working-class accent'. It is written in a formal tone with occasional colloquial terms thrown in for effect e.g. 'matey'; the effect of such colloquialisms helps the article seem more realistic and shows contrast to the RP accent. The purpose of the text is to inform the reader that whilst the RP accent is seen as 'higher' in society, the power to converge and appear 'classless' is the ideal attribute to have. The fact that Chloe's son is technically upper class but is able to converge and appear classless reinforces Peter Trudgill's research which suggests that the more formal the conversation, the closer to RP the language becomes. 


Text E uses a lot of techniques to present their ideas about accents, e.g. In the first sentence, there is  a dynamic, finite verb 'sent'. The effect of this is to show that sending her son to a private school was a process that was completed and should have had a significant effect on his accent. The use of 'sent' creates the feeling that it was a forced action and automatically engages the reader to find out more. 


The text also uses antonyms - 'help or hinder'. This shows that accents and language varieties have both advantages and disadvantages and it is possible to view regional accents positively, despite the fact that the text appears to disapprove of the working class accent. The antonyms help create a feel of balance when presenting their argument and allows the reader to make their own interpretations about the effects of accents and language variety. 

The text also uses a subordinating clause introduced by a relative pronoun 'who'; 'who has assumed a working-class accents for his or her own reasons'. The effect of this is to create a more personal feel and relate language change to a real situation; this is further reinforced by the use of 3rd person objective personal pronouns 'his or her.'


In addition, text E uses examples of Estuary English 'If ya know wha' I mean', it shows that Estuary English has replaced RP as the more popular dialect form. This reinforces Rosewarne's research that suggested that in time, RP will diminish with Estuary English taking its place. 

The fact that the text suggests that convergence is somewhat necessary in order to fit in expresses that language variation is becoming more accepted and valued in society - it is true that in contemporary society, people use their speech to show a sense of identity and individuality; this is reinforced by the fact that people in the mass media now feel comfortable communicating in their original accent and famous people in the media are increasingly asserting their identity by talking with their strong regional accents. 


Text F is an article from a website which offers communication skills training - the text expresses ideas that everybody should speak in the RP accent. It is aimed at a lower-class audience who it is assumed, possesses a strong regional accent.The article is written with direct mode of address, constantly addressing 'you'. The use of the 2nd person, subject pronoun makes the reader feel involved and entices them to  take the 'advice' given. The purpose of the article is to persuade the audience to learn to speak with an RP accent. 


The text repeatedly uses words and phrases with negative connotations .e.g 'holding you back' , 'not taken seriously' and 'frustrated'. The effect of these lexical choices suggests that anything other than RP is undesirable and should be amended. This is reinforced by the way in which RP is referred to, using positive predicative adjectives 'authoritative and professional'. The text supports the communication accommodation theory which suggests that people can and do alter their accent and language in order to achieve a particular effect. 


Text F uses a deontic modal auxiliary verb 'need' - 'we will explain the precise changes you need to make'. The use of such an obligatory term reinforces the necessity of action, which is what the text is trying to express, this creates a strong feeling of obligation and urges the reader to get involved in the actions being advised. 


In addition,the text repeatedly uses the phrase 'we will explain'. This phrase makes it seem as if the audience is uneducated and needs to be told what to do; to some, this may seem patronizing and unnecessary although it it put in for effect - the clause expresses certainty that they are there to help and reassures the reader that the 'goal' is achievable. 


In conclusion, both texts express clear ideas about accents and language variation and reinforce the prestige of RP but also acknowledge that language variation is everywhere and although some accents are seen as undesirable,it is necessary to use the accommodation theory in different situations in order to achieve desired results.