D-essay Language and Attitudes: A Study among Upper-Secondary Students Catrine Modig Prof Moira Linnarud The first part of the essay discusses the fact that, in English, it is possible to place people not only regionally, but also socially, through their speech. The question is raised whether this is important to know as a foreign speaker. A study was carried out among Swedish upper-secondary students to find out if they were able to distinguish different accents and if so, whether they also classified the speakers according to the hypothesized stereotypes of different accents. The method used was that four different speakers of English were recorded reading the same short text. This recording was then played to the students. The students then answered questions about their views on the speakers and their characters in a questionnaire. Previous research shows that speakers of a standard variety are rated higher regarding education and occupation than those who speak with a dialect. The results of this investigation show that the Swedish students did recognize the varieties and made associations corresponding to those mentioned in the previous research. The essay points at the importance of knowing more about the different varieties of a language and the associations they give rise to in order to be more successful in communicating in English.