Category Archives: Listening/Watching

The variety of English we study in class

Received Pronunciation (RP), also called the Queen’s (or King’s) English,[1] Oxford English,[2] or BBC English, is the accent of Standard English in England,[3] with a relationship to regional accents similar to the relationship in other European languages between their standard varieties and their regional forms.[4] Although there is nothing intrinsic about RP that marks it as superior to any other variety, sociolinguistic factors give Received Pronunciation particular prestige in England and Wales.[5] However, since World War II, a greater permissiveness towards allowing regional English varieties has taken hold in education[6] and in the media in England.

RP English – Youtube