Most Influential Cultures in Our Language

English, French, and Spanish cultures were the mostStandard English is understood as a uniform
influential, but subsequent groups of immigrants fromvocabulary, spelling, grammar, and pronunciation, often
other countries became equally as influential. Theidentified as "educated English."
settlers interacted and mixed with non-English-speakingIt is actually not any of those things. There is really no
immigrants from other nations, and those unionshomogeneous or generic English accent, yet many
developed and spread diverse accents across thepeople associate regional and national accents with
United States.negative stereotypes and bias constructs. Language
Immigrants from the same country of origin oftenteachers sometimes contribute to reinforcing these
tended to cluster in specific geographic areas and thusstereotypes by portraying "nonstandard" regional and
contributed to the development of regional accents.national accents as belonging to categories of
Language and accents are always changing becauseinferiority and superiority.
of social, cultural, political, and economic influences, suchIn business communities, people may adjust their
as globalization and the transnationalism of the 21staccents in order to fit into the socially prescribed
century. In the United States, however, the mythspeech of a particular environment in which accents
persists of a nonaccented, standard English.can be a burden or an advantage. For example, a
According to Lippi-Green, this relates to the wayperson from the southern United States desiring to
myths function to control people with superstition andwork in a law firm in New York City may adjust his or
fear. A standard view of English ignores the region,her accent in order to fit into the cultural context of
country, level of education, culture, religion, andNew York City, as well as that of a corporate law
socioeconomic class of the people who speak it.firm.