A group of A-Level English Language students from Richmond Sixth Form College were privileged to learn from one of the world’s leading linguists. The 15 Year 12 students were given the opportunity to hear Professor David Crystal at a lecture in Reeth during the acclaimed Swaledale Festival. Professor Crystal is a highly regarded linguist with over 100 books to his name and in his talk he spoke about British accents, their past, present and future.
David Burton, Lead Teacher of English at Richmond School and Sixth Form College, had heard about Professor Crystal’s visit through the Swaledale Festival’s programme, and booked the tickets as soon as they went on sale, as so much of the material used in A- Level English has been written by Professor Crystal.
A-level English Language student Lucy Turner commented: “Professor Crystal’s knowledge was truly beneficial for our English Language A-Level and to have him appearing in a local Reeth church was just too good to miss. I really enjoyed the talk because I have been looking into studying linguistics at University next year and it was amazing to listen to an actual linguist who has studied it for almost 60 years.”
The students were very interested in what Professor Crystal had to say about different accents and why we need them to express our identity. They learnt about how British accents have emerged and how they continue to evolve in a changing world.
To find out more about Professor Crystal visit http://www.davidcrystal.com/ and for further details on the Swaledale Festival visit https://www.swalefest.org/