Join the Linguistic Diversity Collective for a talk by Dr Alex Baratta on accent bias to mark International Mother Language Day 2025.

A study involving 41 British teachers, most of whom were trainees at the time, was conducted to discover the role that accent plays in the construction of a teacher identity. The results show that it was largely Northern/Midlands accents that were disfavoured, with specific phonological advice given by mentors. For some teachers this was accepted, but for others it created a linguistic tug of war between themselves and their mentor. The results suggest that more ‘general’ varieties of regional accents are preferred, as a means to create a more ‘professional’ linguistic identity.

This talk is presented in partnership with Creative Manchester and Manchester Museum, and is part of the Manchester City of Literature International Mother Language Day celebrations.