Prestige and Prejudice

A Study of Danes’ Evaluations of Selected Accents of English

Abstract

This article examines Danes’ attitudes towards selected accents of English drawing on data from an experiment where 21 Danes were asked to evaluate speakers of Australian English, Received Pronunciation (RP), General American (GA), Southern American English and Danish-accented English. It is argued that Danes have internalised multiple stereotypes about speakers of these accents and that the media play a vital role in the creation and reinforcement of these stereotypes. It is also argued that RP is considered the most prestigious accent of English, that GA is considered the most ‘standard’ accent of English and that Danish-accented English is disliked by Danes.