Questionnaire analysis

Questionnaire analysis

For our research task on accents and dialect, we were required to piece together a questionnaire and hand them out to a number of people in order to collect their opinions. I handed out 11 questionnaires and they were all answered by different genders, ethnicities and ages.

My results show that people in the south east region of the country believe that the countries language has had a large influence from the current multicultural. Some answers touched on modern day music and how that especially through media, modern day English language has adapted e.g. colloquialisms. In terms of accent and dialect, many of the recipients stated that they changed the way the spoke when speaking to a member of their family. The way they changed to was to fit a “posher” received pronunciation. This was as the recipients believed that that accent is more approachable. The other recipients stated that sometimes they picked up the accents and dialect which fit the region the family member came from. Family members from northern areas of the country had a greater influence as many of the recipients stated then when spending long periods of time with them, they began understand their accent a lot clearer.

In terms of personality judgement, many of the recipients believed that they do make judgements that fit the stereotypes that conform to that accent. E.g. Essex accent relating to lack of intelligence, Geordie accent relating to aggression and rowdiness. Some people opposed to judgement as they felt that as everyone speaks differently, you cannot pin specific personality traits to someone that you do not know.

Many of the recipients stated that they were unemployed and when asked about improving chances of employment, they stated that they believe that they would have a higher chance of getting a job if they spoke using Received Pronunciation. They believe that the accent appears to make you sound of higher intelligence. This had links to the current national media. When asked about National broadcasters, many of the recipients stated that it is positive that the newsreaders speak using Standard English, as it is a good advocate for the country, they believed that speaking using “The Queens English” embodies power and makes the news more readable because of it. When asked about the potential change of broadcaster, many of the recipients said that a change to a more regional accent should stay associated with the specific regions, not on a national scale as the believed that especially in the north of England, the accent is hard to understand.

Finally when asked about foreign views on the English accent, the recipients stated that especially from America, the British are mocked for having a “posh” accent, some said that this offends them as not everyone in the country speaks the same and is an inaccurate representation of the UK. Some believed that if Americans were to visit urban areas of the country, their opinions would change to a less stereotypical view.