Glottophobia: Discrimination by Pronunciation

Britons will vote to elect their new representatives on July 4 and opinion polls show Labor winning by a wide margin. The Financial Times Notes The next House of Commons will certainly be less dominant “Acquired Pronunciation”, Or “RP”, English is considered standard and acceptable but is actually spoken by less than 10% of the population. While Labor talks less about PR than the Conservatives, according to Devyani Sharma, one of the academics at Accent Bias Britain, which launched in 2017, more than their fellow citizens.

Beyond the melodrama arising from prospective delegates and their discussions, that is for sure “Employers always look more critically at someone who speaks with a working-class accent than a PR speaker”. It is the latter that is most popular. Then come the French, Scottish, New Zealand and Australian accents. Birmingham and Liverpool accents, Cockney accents and Afro-Caribbean and Indian accents are the worst.

According to the daily, things haven’t changed much in half a century, and according to a 2006 survey, “76% of employers admit to discriminating against candidates because of their accent”.

However, a ray of hope shines across the channel: Devyani Sharma has been inundated with requests for training on glottophobia because employers are aware of the discrimination and now want to fight it, “Sharma, who conducts corporate workshops based on the project’s research, is struggling to keep up with demand.” Its clients are in the banking sector, but also in consultancy, public service and associations.

According to his research, non-English speakers can also compensate with RP pronunciation: “If they speak with confidence and show knowledge of their subject matter, they can reduce or even eliminate discrimination.”