Accents relevant to politeness?

[Dave Hause]

I've waited for one of the professional linguists, but since there were no
responders, here is a rank amateur's thought:  From an Army officer's
viewpoint, where rank is significant, accent is basically irrelevant.  There
are dialect differences in some speakers, but I haven't noticed any number
of speakers who shift accent based on person addressed (or for any other
reason than humor.)  This strikes me as a Japanese cultural question that
doesn't translate to American culture.
Dave Hause, dwhause at jobe.net
Ft. Leonard Wood, MO
----- Original Message -----
From: "yass67 at poppy.ocn.jp" <yass67 at POPPY.OCN.NE.JP>
Sent: Sunday, June 15, 2003 7:56 AM

Is it 'politer' to say "Can/could you blah, blah, blah?" in General American
accent or Received Pronunciation (UK) than in New York's or London's local
accent when you speak to someone with a higher social status or your
superiors? Do you think that politeness or 'power relations' are relevant to
accents or dialects? In other words, when you have two people with two
different accents (one with a standard and another with a non-standard),
which person do you think respects you more?

I look forward to your comments. Thank you!

Yass Shoji