dialects-in-australia-blog

[dialects-in-australia-blog]

Come on! Let’s be mindful of the labels society places on individuals that are based on stigmatization. Regional variation resulting in dialects does not mean that the individuals dialect is lesser in status. We can break the stigmatization. 

It starts now with us! 

[dialects-in-australia-blog]

Let’s make a change! The association with dialect and the stereotypes that follow it are not fair. Just because somebody sounds a little different doesn't make them any different from you. It does not mean that the person will not function to the same degree in the workplace. What can we do to change this? It starts with awareness! We need to educate society that all dialects are okay. We need to break the stigmatization that has been in place since the colonization of immigrants to Australia. Be the change!

Knowledge is power!

[dialects-in-australia-blog]

Preconceived opinions and stereotypes happen all the time. We can not ignore this. Lets get educated and bring awareness to this stigmatization! 

[dialects-in-australia-blog]

“Positive and negative opinions about accent are usually based on the social connotations associated with an accent and not on the accent itself. There is nothing inherently good or bad about any accent.”

http://clas.mq.edu.au/australian-voices/australian-english

[dialects-in-australia-blog]

This article was written with the purpose of investigating High Rising Tone as a socio-cultural phenomenon. The results indicates that there is a socioeconomic correlation with High Rising Tone in   traditionally lower classes and often teenage girls. This speech is often called valley girls’ speech. This study indicated that there are preconceived associations with high rising speech and a socioeconomic status.

[dialects-in-australia-blog]

"The traditional way of categorizing accents in Australia, is to think about to think about them not in terms of geography, as in terms of class," argues Dr Gawne.”

Source: https://www.abc.net.au/education/learn-english/learn-english-six-facts-about-the-aussie-accent/8963136

[dialects-in-australia-blog]

"Daily I'm juggling with who I am, how I talk, how I act and look and whatever," an anonymous respondent in the study said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-27/aboriginal-people-pressured-to-lose-culture-study-says/7790928

[dialects-in-australia-blog]

Australian English has been largely influenced by the British convicts that immigrated from Britain to Australia. The features of Australian English that are unique to the language indicate that the language has developed its own norms and characteristics.  However, Horvath stated that the presence of clear socioeconomic differences from the colonies immigrating to Australia highlight that there would be linguistic variation from the onset.

[dialects-in-australia-blog]

What if a client cannot understand the Speech Language Pathologist’s dialect?

Suppose you are a Speech Language Pathologist and the client you are working with to improve their voice fluency. You overheard the client in the waiting room talking with their caregiving voicing their concerns that they cannot understand your speech because your dialect varies from their own. What do you do?

A) You can sit down with the client have a conversation discussing the clients concerns they may have with the dialect difference. Within this conversation you can ask the client if they would feel more comfortable with another clinician continuing their treatment services.

B) You may decide to not bring up the concerns voiced since they were not voiced to you and see if the client is improving and meeting the objectives within the treatment sessions with no changes made.

C) You may ask the client if they would benefit from additional resources within the treatment sessions to improve the client's understanding of the clinician’s speech.

What would you do?

[dialects-in-australia-blog]

An example of a speaker of the Cultivated Australian English dialect is Geoffrey Rush. Speakers of this dialect are perceived to be of a higher social status due to its similarities to Received Pronunciation. 

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/AustralianAccent

[dialects-in-australia-blog]

Australian Cate Blanchett is a famous speaker of the General Australian English dialect. As a speaker of the General dialect, Blanchett may use more American and British idioms and word phrases. 

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/AustralianAccent

[dialects-in-australia-blog]

We call know one speaker of Broad Australian English really well, Steve Irwin! When thinking of Broad Australian English your thoughts may jump to labeling the speaker to country or from the city. If you are perceived to have the country variation you may be considered a “bumpin/hick.” 

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/AustralianAccent

[dialects-in-australia-blog]

Research conducted by Horvath shows that the negative stigma associated with the Broad Australian English dialect may come from the adult migrant population. This population was often represented by individuals whom were frequently classified to be from a lower social class. Of course there may be other factors that contribute to the negative stereotype, but Horvath associates these factors to be a reason for the criticism towards Broad Australian English.

Ball, Martin J. The Routledge Handbook of Sociolinguistics Around the World : A Handbook. Routledge, 2010.   

[dialects-in-australia-blog]

Research conducted by Mitchell and Delbridge found evidence that supports regional or cultural boundaries within language. The results found the greatest source of language variation in FLEECE, GOAT, GOOSE, FACE, PRICE and MOUTH vowels. Previous research indicates that immigrants traveling to Australia has influenced the language and contributed to the differences in vowel production among the different Australian English Dialects.