Any strong regional accent is coded as working class. The upper class speak Received Pronunciation, which is broadly viewed as a "standard" accent and was once

Any strong regional accent is coded as working class. The upper class speak Received Pronunciation, which is broadly viewed as a "standard" accent and was once the only accent allowed on the BBC. The middle class will avoid using dialect and significantly soften their accent, shifting towards RP. There has been a long-standing debate about whether aspirational members of the working class should moderate their accents in order to advance professionally, but the reality is that most feel obliged to do so. Accent bias is still recognised as a major barrier to social mobility. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Accents-and-social-mobility.pdf https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Accen...