Dreda Say Mitchell has made the error of confusing accent with variations in the spoken word (Why is there still so much prejudice towards working-class accents?, 12 July).
I taught in a former mining village in west Cumbria, where the headteacher, a passionately proud local who could use his native dialect with aplomb, was insistent that in the classroom the pupils spoke with correct grammar and speech while talking to teachers and other adults.
He did this because he knew that to succeed in a world outside the area the children needed to be understood. Accent had nothing to do with it. Language is a means of communication.
I hate sounding snobbish about this, but as a retired teacher who has had more than her fair share of secretaries of state telling me how to teach, I expect politicians to speak in any accent they like, just so long as they place an “ng” sound where appropriate and practise the “th” sound Dreda finds so difficult. That’s what we teach our pupils. It’s doing children a disservice otherwise.
Janet Mansfield
Aspatria, Cumbria
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