The Speech Mechanism

Abstract

According to the 2001 census of India, English is spoken by more than 35 million Indians. This means that India is the fourth largest English speaking country in the world. Since there are fifty five countries which use English as an official language, this makes India of major importance in the English speaking world. Each country where English is used has its own 'accent'-that is its own characteristic method of pronunciation. In each country, however, there is a 'received' or 'approved' accent which is normally used for business, administration, in the legislature, On the Radio or T.V or for academic work. These accents are called 'received' because they are most widely understood by people, even by people who speak their own accents. They are called 'approved' because they spoken as 'correct' or 'good' accents. The whole purpose of learning English is to be able to communicate with other people easily.