Changing Dialects

Nowadays people would identify your dialect from the area in which you live or social group you hang out with. This can also be the way of identifing everyones individual idolects. Depending on the specific dialect in your region, people can identify it more quickly and easily. This can be because of the types of ways you can pronounce or say certain words. But are certain dialects changing and merging into one? Are accents becoming the same?
Accents can vary from different parts of the UK. A Geordie accent would sound conpletely different to a North London accent. This can occur when certain regions either pronounce words or single letters differently. If you were to move from one side of the UK to the other your accent would be stronger to the people you are now with. For example, a Brummie accent would stanjd out more if you were to move to the South West where it is also different there. If you were to stay there for a while your accent may merge into the accent region you are now living in. This could be down to social groups or generally picking up on the slang or pronounciation of things.
With the ability to travel more across the world than we did 10 years ago, people can go to other countries and explore foreign dialects. Some might be harder to understand than the others. This can also affect certain peoples idiolects too. If you move across the country with your idiolect it can be very different to your new region. This can have a big difference on your now social groups as them too can speak differently than what your old friends did back home. Social medias and television is also a big impact. Watching shows like 'Friends' can also change a persons dialect without realising it. 'Friends' is an American show in which they might say things differently to British people or we might not have heard of. These can be interpreted overseas can cause habits and could affect some children/ teenagers when it comes to exams. It can also enable yourself to fit into a society easier so you feel less uncomfortable. Accents can also be very recognisable if you were travelling abroad. If you were at a hotel resort and had other people from different countries speaking, you could tell by the way thaty they are speaking and also the prononciation of specific words.
Proffessor Crystal states that dialects are 'due to immigrant groups' in urban areas. This states that the main centre of a region (town not the outskirts) can be changed due to the variation in dialects. This being said it means that people with different types of background live within the UK and when in a certain region it can change certain peoples dialects and also idiolects. It can also be passed on to social medias and social groups.