Week 2 - Lesson Actitivies: The Australian Accent.

In Joy Damousi's article, 'There is nothing wrong with Australian speech', she outlines the arguments that were made in regards to the use of the Australian accent by radio broadcasters. The hotly debated topic gathered momentum during the 1930's and 40's when it was custom to speak British English on Australian radio airwaves.

Those who argued against the use of the Australian accent described the Australian way of speaking as second hand English and argued that the Australian accent was bred out of ignorance for proper English pronunciation. It was therefore believed that it was better for Australians to hear the correct English or BBC radio voice presenting on Australian radio airwaves in order to better educate the masses.

The outlook is one that is reinforced by the descriptions of the Australian language provided by the article; 'Strine (Australian English); how it differs from British and American English'. The article attempts to outline what makes the Australian way of speaking different to others and does so successfully in some ways. It describes Australians as having a tendency toward humour, a relaxation towards formality and titles and a unique use of diminutives. I would however argue that the article does all of this with a tone of disapproval which therefore taints the explanations. The article describes Australian's as lazy in their speech and the Australian language is said to be one that is "almost impossible to understand and quite offensive to speakers accustomed to formality". The articles stereotypes and generalizes Australians in a lot of ways that come across as negative to the reader. The article reinforces some of the views described in the article by Damousi as being against the Australian accent.

Damousi's article however also outlines the opinions of those who were for the use of the Australian accent. It was argued that the use of Australian speech was not something to apologise for or to look down upon. In the end it seems it was agreed that replicated another country's accent was not the way to go instead Australian's need to look towards "the perception and promotion of a cultivated Australian accent."

References:
Damousi, J. The Australian Has a Lazy Way of Talking: Australian character and accent, 1920s-1940s, 'There is nothing wrong with Australian speech', viewed March 16th. http://press.anu.edu.au//tal/mobile_devices/ch07s02.html

'Strine (Australian English); how it differs from British and American English', viewed March 16th. http://www.convictcreations.com/culture/strine.html