The Rise of RP Historical reasons Received Pronunciation (RP) was originally associated with a (1)______ spoken in the region (1)______ between central England and London, including Oxford and Cambridge. Its survival was due to its use by the (2)______ (2)______ in the 14lh century and by university students in tile (3)______Ages. (3)______ Its rise in importance resulted from its application in government and official documents. The prestige of its (4)______ pattern of (4)______ pronunciation came about with its use in (5)______schools (5)______ in the 19th century. As a result, its (6)______is accepted by Television (6)______ and the radio, the professions and teaching English as a foreign language. Three characteristics of RP 1) its speakers don’t regard themselves as connected with any geographical region; 2) RP is largely used in England; 3) RP is a "class" accent, associated with (7)______ (7)______ social classes Its present status Decline in the prestige of RP is the result of a) loss of monopoly of education by the privileged; b) (8)______of higher education in the post-war (8)______ period. However, it still retains its eminence among certain professional people. There is a rise in the status of all (9)______ac (9)______ cents. We are moving towards the (10)______position: (10)______ general acceptance of all regional accents and absence of a class accent that transcends all regions.