Does Black Country twang lower tone?

"I hopped up and down and said: 'Coom on, buzz'. Jenny turned to me and said 'what did you say?' After that it just hit me that I sounded different."

That night, back in 1964, the Dudley-born broadcaster made a conscious decision to get rid of her Black Country accent.

But sadly, almost half a century on, it seems that speaking with a Midland burr is still considered to be a hindrance in the world of work.

Recently, Colley Lane School in Cradley, near Dudley, hit the headlines when it imposed a 'zero tolerance' policy on the use of Black Country dialect. Headmaster John White said the move was in response to a decline in standards in spoken English in school.

"We are seeing that some children coming in are not able to speak very much at all to be honest," he said. "We want to pick them up on that and improve their standards in English. It is important because it is the foundation of everything."

The school has been at great pains to point out that it is incorrect grammar and pronunciation, rather than the Black Country accent, which the school is cracking down on.

But there is still a perception outside the Midlands that anybody who speaks with a Black Country, Brummie, or any other Midland accent for that matter, is – not to put too fine a point on it – a bit thick.

There is little logic to the argument. A child who grows up on, for argument's sake, one of the tougher estates in Oxford, is statistically more likely to underachieve academically than a privately educated youngster from Tettenhall. But of course the Oxford youngster will speak with the fashionable accent, which it seems will still leave the Wulfrunian at a disadvantage when it comes to a job interview.

A survey by law firm Peninsular found that 76 per cent of employers admitted to discriminating against job applicants because they disliked their accents, with the Birmingham accent again being voted the worst, with Liverpool, Geordie, Glaswegian and Cockney also being considered unfavourably. The survey made no mention of Black Country, Staffordshire or Worcestershire accents, but it is a fair bet that employers who admit to such discrimination will probably do so with a fairly broad brush, and there is a good chance that Birmingham will be considered a metaphor for the whole of the Midlands. Indeed so concerned are many people about the impact that their accent will have on their job prospects, that they have been turning to 'accent softening' courses, which can either reduce or eliminate their regional twang.

"Most people, don't want to completely eradicate their accent," says Maureen Theaker, who runs classes at a centre in Wolverhampton.

"What they want to do is to learn how to project their voice better, often their accents are not that broad anyway. They either want to do it because they feel having a strong accent is a bit of a handicap at work, or because they have reached a level where they are going to be travelling more and more." Mrs Theaker, who lives in Newport, Shropshire, says the media has a lot to answer for when it comes to negative perceptions of the West Midlands.

"Very often in things like television, if they have a character who is a bit slow- witted, they will give them a Midland accent."

Certainly, television programmes such as The Grimleys, Auf Wiedersehen Pet and even Crossroads have done little to further the cause. But even the recent BBC period drama Peaky Blinders, which portrayed Midlanders as being reasonably intelligent, if not particularly likeable, probably did more harm than good. The characters might not have been slow-witted, but the accents – particularly those of the police officers – were so ridiculously overblown that it was hard not to view them without a degree of ridicule.

Mrs Theaker, who trained with the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, says another problem is that people from the Midlands tend to place too much emphasis on the front rather than the back of the throat. But she says the biggest challenge of all is one that is by no means unique to the Midlands.

"The biggest problem I find is that people speak to quickly," she says.

"That applies equally to people from the north, the south and the Midlands, everybody seems to be in such a hurry to get all their words out. But if you speak at a slightly slower pace, that also gives you more time to think."

Mrs Theaker says there is nothing wrong with a mild Midland accent as long as people speak clearly and follow the correct rules of grammar.

"Your voice is as personal as your face, it is something that is unique to you, and you shouldn't try to hide who you are," she says. But equally, she says there are many occupations where there is strong resistance to the Black Country burr.

"These days we do have people in the cabinet who speak with regional accents, a lot of them have northern accents, but could you imagine the Prime Minister at Prime Minister's question time, speaking in a broad Midland accent?

"The other thing, these days, is that there are far more different ethnic groups, so it is important to be able to speak clearly to somebody who might not be familiar with your accent." And while Mrs Theaker is fairly tolerant when it comes to different regional variations in speech, some of the other companies which offer 'accent softening' take a much tougher line.

One London-based company makes bold claims about the importance of speaking with a 'neutral accent'. "Being in absolute command of the English language, speaking RP and knowing the often unknown rules of intonation also enables a more polite and courteous communication," says the website.

"This is conducive for one's professional career development, particularly all those who are in positions, which require frequent communication with others."

However, the course's credibility it tarnished somewhat by the 'frequently asked questions' section, which tells prospective students: 'You must practice five times a week' – 'practice' should only be used as a noun, the correct word is 'practise'.

It is also worth remembering that two of the most influential people in the development of modern English – Samuel Johnson and William Shakespeare – are both thought to have spoke with Midland accents - Shakespeare, of course, being a working-class lad from Stratford-upon-Avon, and Johnson being born in Lichfield before moving to Stourbridge. And of course not everybody sees having a Midland brogue as being disadvantageous.

TV presenter Adrian Chiles, who was born in Quinton and grew up in Hagley near Stourbridge, believes people's prejudices about his tones have actually worked in his favour.

"I'm absolutely relaxed about the rest of the country pre-judging me as thick because there's no better starting point for any social or professional encounter," he says.