Accentism article: How does the author represent ideas about language and identity?

In the article, the author represents ideas about language and identity through the critism the author speaks about which those with a Birmingham accent receive, throughout the entirety of the article. Firstly, the author uses an informal register to portray his anger towards the backlash Brummies receive, Greg Woodin himself being one. This is proven through the statements 'continually rips the piss out of' and 'I'm sick of seeing memes about how the Birmingham accent is the aural equivalent to a kick in the balls, or the world's shittest roast dinner.' The lexical field of the foul language used to describe the ways people mock the Birmingham accent has been represented by the author to make the article relatable to their readers, their intended audience.

Furthermore, the author has used a report from a university student from Manchester Dr Alexander Baratta to emphasise the point across that he has experienced people having to 'flatten out their accents to escape judgement and progress in their careers' and 'simultaneously feel ashamed at this betrayal of their self identity'. The noun 'betrayal' used here gives us an insight on a Brummie's perspective as because they're having to flatten out their accents to escape judgement and progress their careers, this is preventing them from being their true self which society doesn't seem to want to accept. Other reports also show that teaching is a big issue if you have an accent which doesn't seem to be easy to understand, mainly if you're from the North, and this is starting to strongly affect individuals self confidence as they're not being labelled as the norm.

Following this, the university student shares their experience; 'As a Brummie, I can relate to this - and painfully so'. The adverb 'painfully' has been used by the author to reinforce the extent of how much mockery those with a Birmingham accent receive, and the fact they 'want to be proud of their Brummie roots' suggests how they feel our accents should define us, as it's a major part of our development and upbringing. Yet they continue to be held back because of the discrimination against their accents from individuals in the wider society which is turning them into 'self-hating Brummies'.