Contents Introduction Chapter Theoretical background of English pronunciation

Received Pronunciation
It’s evident that all the English-speaking nations have their own standard variants of English pronunciation, which, in their turn, may have educated regional and uneducated local types of pronunciation. These variants have their own peculiar features that distinguish them from other varieties of English. It is generally accepted that for the "English English" it is "Received Pronunciation" or RP, for the "American English"-"General American Pronunciation," for the Australian English - "Educated Australian". If we observe the British Isles there are three types here: Southern English Pronunciation (RP), Northern English Pronunciation and Standard Scottish Pronunciation.
Let’s take into consideration Southern English Pronunciation. It’s variously known also as Standard English-Pronunciation, Received English Pronunciation (RP), and Public School Pronunciation.
For reasons of politics, commerce and the presence of the court the pronunciation of the southeast of England, and more particularly that of the London region began acquire in the 16^th century an exception social prestige in England. In time it lost some of the local characteristics of London speech. It may be said to have been finally fixed as the speech of the educated, through the stabilizing influence of the public schools of the 19^th century- the select and expensive boarding schools for the children of the rich, such as Eton and Harrow. Hence the name Public School Pronunciation. Since such public schools existed in all parts of the country and prepared their pupils for the universities, this type of pronunciation was soon disseminated throughout the country and began to be recognized as characteristic not so much of a region as of a social stratum. With the spread of education, the situation arose in which those dialect-speaking schoolchildren and university students who were eager for social advancement felt obliged to modify their accent in the direction of the social standard and acquire this type of pronunciation. Hence the term Received Pronunciation (RP), introduced by D. Jones. Pronunciation was, therefore, a marker of position in society.
In present-day England, great prestige is still attached to this implicitly accepted social standard of pronunciation. It has become still more widely known and accepted through the advent of radio and television. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) adopted this form of pronunciation for its announcers mainly because it is the type which is the most widely understood and which excites least prejudice of a regional kind. Thus, RP often identified in the public mind with "BBC English". This special position occupied by RP basically educated Southern British most commonly described in books on the phonetics of the British English and Traditionally taught to foreigners.
It’s for these reasons that RP is accepted as the teaching norm in most countries where English is taught as a foreign language.