Are dialects changing?
Incredibly, the United Kingdom has so many different accents and dialects although the area of the UK is so small compared to other countries where you wouldn't quite be able to distinguish different accents and dialects. With people roaming the country when a new job approaches or going to university, many people are constantly leaving their original area of living and encountering new places - so do their accents, along with their dialect which they use unconsciously, and suddenly people have a strong idea of where you originate from. This is an effect of geographical dialect, whereas social dialect wouldn't have as much as an effect due to the fact that no matter where you come from, your social dialect is due to your class and how you were brought up, for instance a man from Glasgow and a woman from Devon may have similar social dialects, but their geographical dialect and their accents will be clearly and hugely different from each others.
With people constantly moving nationally and internationally, people are hearing different dialects from different regions and countries, and this can then influence people to start to use the dialect they come across, passing onto friends and family and that's it - the simple process of dialects being passed on to other regions. Understanding these different dialects allow geographically and culturally diverse people gain an understanding of one another, and can possibly create a fusion between multiple dialects, hence the fact that dialects are changing. Feeling that you fit in is essential in this modern era, and using different dialectal colloquial language helps people to have that feeling. The Geordie accent and dialect is popular, and this liking is influenced by aspects such as social media and television, with popular show Geordie Shore and tv presenting pair Ant and Dec in the forefront of this as both of these examples are tv regulars of popular shows. Due to their popularity (and popularity and status being required in our era) people decide to use their dialect to feel on the same level of credibility as they have.
However, there is the argument that dialects are not changing as fast as many researchers say, as people have an idiolect, created by their upbringing and dialect from their area they have grew up in, and want to keep that with them for the rest of their lives as a tool to show they are unique, and have not used any other dialects they have came in contact with in their lifetimes.
Some good awareness of relevant issues. You need to read a lot more of the articles on my blog to get a feel for the kind of voice you need to create and the journalistic expertise and focus needed. Think about what you're saying e.g. in which era were popularity and status not important? Do other countries not have dialects - you could have researched some examples of those that do and don't and whether they are changing as much as British dialects are and why/why not. There's no bibliography so I can't tell how much research you did. Please add one in the comments and let me know.
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