Do children know what it means to 'talk posh'? as we say in gb english

[Aubrey Nunes]

Dear all,

What I am asking about is perhaps a very British English phenomenon - or
perhaps a point of sensitivity sharper in britain than elsewhere.

My question is this: how early and how accurately do children learn to
detect corelations between a particular sort of speech and the exercise of
authority and power?

I once read an unpublished BEd thesis from the early 90's showing that the
issues at stake here were pretty well understood by children of around 8;0,
as I recall. Since the implications are kind of obvious, I am sure that this
must have been well studied and reported.

I would be most grateful for any pointers to literature on this.

Aubrey


Aubrey Nunes,
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