Class and Responsibility

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Class in Britain


Class and Language

Language Samples



RP or Oxford English

A pronunciation of British English, originally based on the speech of the upper class of southeastern England and characteristic of the English spoken at the public schools and at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Until recently it was the standard form of English used in British broadcasting.

About two percent of Britons speak with the RP accent in its purest form. Researchers generally distinguish between three different forms of RP: Conservative, General, and Advanced. Conservative RP refers to a traditional accent associated with older speakers with certain social backgrounds; General RP is often considered neutral regarding age, occupation, or lifestyle of the speaker; and Advanced RP refers to speech of a younger generation of British speakers. - Received_Pronunciation

sound examples and spelling alternatives

Estuary English

  • estuary:

- ger.: die Mündung, das Mündungsgebiet

  • Def.:

- Estuary English is a name given to the dialect(s) of English widely spoken in South East England, especially along the River Thames and its estuary (around London). It's called "Standard English spoken with the accent of the southeast of England". The name comes from the area around the Thames Estuary, particularly London, Kent and Essex. - middle-class speech - may evenetually replace received pronunciation

  • special sounds

- Non-rhoticity - T-dropping (Cockney-influence) - Sometimes H-dropping - Use of intrusive R.

  • Listening Example

http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/london/

Being Middle Class isn't funny ...

When you are Middle Class

Musts Problems/Fears
  • house in the countryside with big garden
  • children must go to public school
  • leading role in church
  • gardener,swedish au pair
  • horses, dogs
  • educated friends
  • garden parties
  • membership in the conservative party
  • way of life could be too expensive (heating, school fees, personel, animals)
  • biggest fear: losing friends and no longer being middle class

Social Exclusion - if you can't be middle-class

See David Batty. Social exclusion: the issue explained


Signs of/factors leading to social exclusion:

  • unemployment, poor skills ==> low incomes
  • poor housing
  • high crime
  • bad health, drug addiction
  • lack of medical care in deprived areas
  • family breakdown
  • high teenage pregnancy rate
  • homelessness
  • high number of young people not in education/training or employment and truancy/school exclusion


Solutions: Government tries to establish institutions that

  • analyse the causes and publish the results in reports.
  • critically evaluate local governments' work to improve efforts to help socially excluded groups
  • help to improve cooperation of departments / institutions to solve the multi-faceted problem
  • initiate programmes to improve health of children, reduce teenage pregnancy and school exclusion and to counsel young people about education and employment
  • coordinate efforts to encourage private investment in deprived communities.



Essay - Every child growing up in poverty is a ticking social timebomb

Collection of ideas

These children will often ...


Thesis Statement Supporting Points (more general/abstract) Examples (specific, images)
  • become criminals
don't have money to buy special things -> steal girls steal e.g. a Prada handbag
  • turn to violence
can't express themselves, envy, surroundings are bad -> learn solving conflicts by violence, aggression as a way of getting money throwing stones at expensive cars/ scratching with keys
  • have no positive idols
unemployed parents -> missing successful role models/ belief in working your way up girl sees her mother prostituting herself -> role model for her later life
  • have no motivation
children think they don't have a chance to get out of poverty/bad money situation parents don't give their children any hopes (no disappointing later)

parents can't afford university -> tell them that from the start

  • be in danger of becoming depressive
can't afford, what makes your dreams come true; work hard -> nearly no result; often have been rejected s.o. wants to found a company but he doesn't even get the money from the bank
  • have no education → find no jobs
no money/supporting background
  • elect extremists
believing in wrong promises, no achievement of big parties for poor people total equality (left party), electing the right party against foreigners taking their jobs
  • develop anger and hatred
-> see violence
  • make money with prostitution
only way of getting money very fast, no need of qualification
  • face teenage pregnancy/parenthood
girls want something that loves them, role models -> seeing it as normal

Writing an introduction

Check if the introduction ...

  • introduces the topic (+)
  • gives readers an idea of what dirction the essay will take (+)
  • provides an overview of the structure/line of argument (+)
  • implies/poses a question and creates an expactation/interetst in the readers (+)
  • states general truths/defines what needs no definition (-)
  • asks questions/announces answers but does not give them (-)


Possible Introductions

  • Question:
  • Basic thesis/contrast ==> Definition:
  • Surprising fact / statistic:
  • Quotation: