Boston, Massachusetts dialect

When you click on the following link you can experience a Boston accent:

Objective: The world is full of different dialects. In America alone, there must be hundreds of different dialects throughout the regions. For the sake of simplicity, we have chosen to focus on the Massachusetts dialect with the emphasis on Boston. Individuals with Boston accents would not face as many problems as other individuals might face from other regions. However, they may have trouble obtaining high professional jobs because a negative stigma could be attached to their region of origin.

Introduction: Attention all English teachers! Here is a lesson plan for you. Have you ever wanted to find a way to tie history and English together in one project? Well we have found a way to make your life easier. The following lesson plan is designed for freshman level high school students and it is a mix of history and language. The main point of this lesson is to teach students about the dialects that are present in the Massachusettes area with a focus on the Boston region. Not only will students be learning about the language of this society, but they will also be learning about the history as well. They will learn about prominent cultural events that happened in Boston and how this has affected their use of language and dialect. Students will learn the difference between slang and dialect as well as how dialect affects the day to day activities of these people.

Assessment: We are reaching the end of our dialect unit. Over the past few weeks we have learned the historical importance Boston obtains. We have recently been studying how this city has evolved over time and how its past has impacted the current Massachusetts' metropolitan. As an effort to better help you understand the present culture we are going to examine the specific dialect Boston is known for. It is important you explore both the provided links to learn the basic linguistics and rules of Boston's accent and dialect. After you carefully read through the information, click on the sound link to hear what a native Bostonian sounds like. Listen to the words and try to distinguish the terms and pronunciation rules you read about. Next, the class will be divided into groups and each group will develop a dialogue. The content of the dialogue should be over something you have learned about during this unit. You will be presenting these dialogues to the class in your best Boston accent! You can also expect there to be questions over this specific dialect on the final exam which will encompass everything we have covered throughout the unit.

Conclusion: Now you know the dialect of Boston, MA. The purpose of this exercise was to show that even though we are all Americans and from the same country, we are all different and that is what makes us so great. We are able to see the differences, embrace them, and learn from them. I hope you all have learned something from this exercise and use it as a way to educate yourself on the many different dialects of this country and of the world.

Pronunciation Link
Vocabulary Link

Lindsay Buettner, Jessica Berry, Alex Gholson, Stephanie Tillery