Beteckning:
Akademin för utbildning och ekonomi
Avdelningen för humaniora
Corny or Cool
Swedish Teenagers Attitudes towards Australian
and British English Accents
Malin Blackmore
April 2010
C-uppsats
Engelska
Engelska C
Examinator: Tore Nilsson
Handledare: Erik Smitterberg
Table of Contents
1. Introduction………………………………………………………………….……3
1.1 Aim………………………………………………………………………...4
1.2 Previous Research……………………………………………………….....4
1.2.1 The Varieties of Standard English in Focus..........................…...4
1.2.1.1 Australian English…………………………….5
1.2.1.2 British English………………………………...5
1.2.2 Stereotypes………………………………………………….......6
1.2.2.1 Australian Stereotypes…………………….......7
1.2.2.2 English Stereotypes…………………………...7
1.2.3 Speech and personality traits…………………………………...8
2. Material and Method………………………………………………………….….9
2.1 Matched Guise Technique……………………………………………...…9
2.2 The Speakers……………………………………………………………...10
2.3 The Text…………………………………………………………………..10
2.4 The Questionnaires……………………………………………………......11
2.4.1 The Students…………………………………………………....11
2.4.2 The Teachers…………………………………………………...12
3. Results and Analysis…………………………………………………………......13
3.1 First Part: Assessing Each Accent………………………………………...13
3.1.1 Speaker A………………………………………………….…...13
3.1.2 Speaker B………………………………………………….…...15
3.1.3 Speaker C………………………………………………….…...17
3.1.4 Speaker D………………………………………………….…...19
3.1.5 Analysis of Assessing Each Accent……………………….…...21
3.2 Second part: Comparing the Accents………………………………..…….22
3.2.1 Most Pleasant and Most Authority………………………….….22
3.2.2 Job Suitability……………………………………………….….23
3.2.3 Likability…………………………………………………….….24
3.2.4 Analysis of Comparing the Accents……………………….…...25
3.3 Questions Concerning Respondents......................................................…...26
3.4 Teachers attitudes to different English Accents……………………..…….26
4. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………...……27
References………………………………………………………………………..….29
Appendix………………………………………………………………………….…31
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1. Introduction
English accents have always, on one hand, fascinated me and, on the other hand, given me a
headache as I have always found it really hard to adjust to them. The day I started travelling
the world I was forced to interact with different accents; it was never easy. As the years went
by I lived for longer periods of time in different English-speaking countries so I got used to
the different accents. However, to this day, I find myself being prejudiced towards certain
accents.
Attitudes toward accents have been evaluated and documented in a number of
surveys through the years. Giles and Powesland (1975) had one speaker talk RP accent to a
number of respondents and Birmingham accent to another group of respondents in a survey
they called “Speech style and social evaluation”. They found that the “RP accent was rated
higher than the Birmingham accent in terms of competence, intelligence and industrious”
(Kwary 2009). In another survey Giles and Ryan (1982) concluded that “a certain accent can
change public opinion and show the speaker’s social class” (Kwary 2009).
One day I was watching Steve Irwin, “The Crocodile Hunter”, on TV. Listening
to his broad Australian accent I wondered how young Swedish people perceived him. Did
they think the accent was corny or cool? Would they associate Australian accents with
adventurers like “The Crocodile Hunter” and “Crocodile Dundee” or an attractive
adventurous lifestyle in general? Or would the broadness of the accent be associated with a
rural and conservative lifestyle? Furthermore, how would British accents stand in
comparison? I decided to conduct a survey to find out what Swedish teenagers think of
Australian and English accents.
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1.1 Aim
The aim of this essay is to find out about Swedish teenagers’ attitudes towards Australian and
English accents. By attitude I refer to Allport (1954) who, in a text by Gardner, describes attitude
as “a mental and neural state of readiness, organized through experience, exerting a directive or
dynamic influence upon the individual’s response to all objects and situations with which it is
related.” (Gardner 1982:132). The definition of accent used for this survey is “the characteristic
mode of pronunciation of a person or a group, esp one that betrays social or geographical origin”
(Collins 2003:8).
Students will listen to recordings of native English speakers and fill out a
questionnaire grading the accents in terms of psychological qualities, social significance, job
suitability and likability.
1.2. Previous Research
1.2.1 The Varieties of Standard English in Focus
There are three different English accents to be evaluated in the survey. Two are from England,
one from the northern part of England and one from London. There are also two speakers
from Australia, one from Melbourne in the south-east and one from the more northerly
situated Brisbane however they speak with the same accent. So how come the dialect areas
are fairly small in England compared to virtually non-existing in Australia? The reason for
this, according to Trudgill (2000:153), is that English has been spoken in England during the
last 1500 years but in Australia only for the last 200 years or so. Any differences in the
accents within Australia are more likely to be socially determined than geographically
determined (Svartvik 1999:118).
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The accent that will be compared to when trying to explain the accents in focus
in the following section is RP, Received Pronunciation, also known as the Queen’s English. It
is globally known as being the accent that second language learners want to learn. Svartvik
(1999:170) further explains the reason for that: The pronunciation of RP is socially accepted
and is easy to understand all over the world. Additionally, most English course books use RP
as a standard.
1.2.1.1 Australian English
As previously stated there are not different accents throughout Australia despite it being the
sixth largest country in the world. However, Australians as a whole, speak with a distinct
accent. Typical features of the Australian accent are related to cockney, mainly due to the first
settlers or prisoners who for the most part came from the London area. For example, a word
like “say” is pronounced like /aɪ/ where in RP it is pronounced like /eɪ/ (Svartvik 1999:120).
Further examples from Svartvik (1999:120) are:
Table 1: The differences between RP and the Australian accent.
Word
RP
Australian accent
father
/fɑ:đə/
/fa:đə/
see
/si:/
/səɪ/
do
/du:/
/dəƱ/
now
/naƱ/
/næƱ/
1.2.1.2 British English
There are many different accents and dialects on the British Isles but in this survey the focus
is on Northern English and Estuary English.
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Around half of England’s population speaks with a northern accent. The most
defining feature of the Northern England accent, compared to the southern accents, is the use
of /u/ when pronouncing words like “love” and “dozen” instead of RP /ʌ/. Thus the Northern
English accent does not distinguish between the pronunciations of certain words like put and
putt, could and cud (Svartvik, 1999:186). Other examples of the Northern England accent
from Svartvik (1999:186) are:
Table 2: The differences between RP and the Northern England accent.
Word
RP
Northern England accent
bath
/bɑ:ɵ/
/bæɵ/
ham
/hæm/
/hɑm/
One of the Southern England accents is called Estuary English. It is spoken
mainly in the area surrounding the mouth of the river Thames in the south eastern corner of
England however it is rapidly spreading beyond the south eastern corner of England.
According to Svartvik (1999:182) Estuary English is in between RP and Cockney some
believe it will become a common ground where people from all social contexts can meet as it
is spreading socially and geographically. Some typical features include a glottal stop instead
of /t/ in words like “airport”, “lot” and “about”. (Svartvik 1999:182) Some more of Svartvik’s
examples include a short /u/ replacing the /l/ in words like “bill”, “fault” and “tall”. When
pronouncing a word like “enormous” Estuary English speakers will say /w/ instead of /r/.
1.2.2 Stereotypes
For most of us it is enough to find out the nationality of a stranger, to get an opinion about the
person. That preconceived perception of somebody is called a stereotype, as Ronowitz further
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explains: “all societies, groups and individuals have tendencies to create stories,
interpretations and clichés about their own and other cultural groups, which are not
necessarily true or only partly true.” (Ronowitz 2007:10). Furthermore, Ronowitz stresses that
myths and cultural stereotypes are generalizations (Ronowitz 2007:11). Despite the fact that
stereotypes are generalizations that are not true or only partly true there seems to be a need for
them. One theory for their existence is that “people love their stereotypes since they give
structure to life and are reassuring.” (Sharwood-Smith 2007:45).
1.2.2.1 Australian Stereotypes
Ronowitz claims that, based on their history and traditions, the typical Australian male has got
an image internationally “as a tough, suntanned resourceful adventurer” (Ronowitz 2007:10).
He continues that it may have been true some 150 years ago but hardly today. Another
stereotype worldwide is that “Australians do not like hard work” (Ronowitz and Yallop
2007:89). This perception of a typical Australian is likely to be based on the belief that
everybody can be lazy on the beach all day, every day. In fact, it takes quite a lot of hard
earned money to be able to enjoy the beach life from time to time. There are also many hardworking Australians on low income (Ronowitz and Yallop 2007:89). A final example of an
Australian stereotype, as seen by other nationalities, is that “Australians are crude and
primitive when it comes to what is sometimes called high culture.” (Ronowitz and Yallop
2007:94). There are surveys conveying a different result. A majority of Australians are
interested in the development of the Australian cultural life (Ronowitz and Yallop 2007:95).
1.2.2.2 English Stereotypes
Based on the old days of colonialism and the new English-speaking countries mother England
left behind, there are conceptions of England as “old (perhaps negatively as staid and old-
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fashioned, perhaps positively as solid and stable)” (Sharwood-Smith 2007:52). However, the
most striking quality of the English is that Englishmen “are amazingly polite and perhaps
artificially so.” (Sharwood-Smith 2007:67). Despite differences in class and other barriers,
English people in general are well-mannered. Whether it is genuine politeness or not, one
theory explaining the phenomena is that with that many people on the island there have to be
strong social rules to be able to coexist (Barkman and Hedin, 1996:13). Other perceptions of
the English are that they are private, as one should not “wash one’s dirty linen in public”
(English proverb from the 19th century). That is one reason why the English tabloid press has
caused so much damage when they, for instance, have exploited the privacy of the royals
(Gerlitz and Gerlitz, 1997: 100). Not only is the Englishman a private person but also an
individualist. A typical English proverb from the 17th century is “If you want a thing done
well, do it yourself” (Gerlitz and Gerlitz, 1997: 100). Finally a proverb to sum up the English
stereotype as being private and individualistic “Every Englishman is an island on an island”
(Gerlitz and Gerlitz, 1997: 104)
1.2.3 Speech and personality traits
The importance of the link between voice/speech and personality traits was emphasised by the
onslaught of large-scale broadcasting, gramophone and telephone technology. (Mobärg,
1989:4) Nowhere else in the world is the accent such a determiner of social status as in the
UK. It may even prevent either participating in a certain social circle or advancement in a
profession (Svartvik 1999:168). Edwards (1984:30) concludes from going through a vast
number of studies and surveys that “Language varieties which diverge from Standard English
are liable to be viewed… less favourably than the Standard. This is especially so when
evaluations are being made of traits relating to a speaker’s competence.” Standard English is
the language used by media such as the BBC, CNN and the major newspapers and magazines
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from different parts of the English speaking world. Grammatically Standard English is
surprisingly uniform although the vocabulary may vary due to social and geographical needs,
linguistic history etc. (Svartvik 1999:361). Svartvik is referring to a major survey in the US
when claiming that respondents listening to an accent similar to theirs perceived the speaker
as warm, friendly and honest but also slow and less intelligent. On the other hand the
respondents perceived a Standard English speaker as cold and dishonest but also fast,
intelligent and ambitious. (Svartvik 1999:153) Trudgill claims that it is quite common in
Britain to perceive rural accents, from Devonshire, Northumberland and the Scottish
highlands for instance, as “pleasant, charming, quaint or amusing”.(Trudgill 2000:9) On the
other hand he claims that urban accents, the likes of Birmingham, Newcastle or London, are
often considered as “ugly, careless or unpleasant”. (Trudgill 2000:9)
2. Material and Method
The method used for this essay is a questionnaire survey conducted at an upper secondary
school in mid-Sweden. Three classes from the social science programme participated. They
listened to recordings of four different speakers reading one part each from the beginning of
the first Harry Potter novel. The students’ task was to fill out questionnaires revealing their
attitudes toward the different accents. I also asked their teachers to fill out a different
questionnaire. The design of the survey and questionnaires draws on a previous essay made
by Wikström. (2002)
2.1 Matched Guise Technique
Lambert, Hodgson and Fillenbaum (1960) introduced the Matched-Guise technique as a
means of assessing language attitudes. Originally one tape-recorded speaker would read the
same text in two or more language varieties, the purpose being that the listeners would not be
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distracted by different voices but concentrate on the accents. The listeners would then fill out
a questionnaire to evaluate the speaker’s personality in forms of psychological qualities,
social significance, job suitability and likability (Mobärg 1989:22).
There has been some criticism towards the use of the matched guise technique.
Even if the speakers are multi-lingual there is a possibility that they are “modifying their
output in more ways than one when going from one language to another” (P.M Smith
1985:89) which would undermine the original idea of a neutral speaker in different guises also
known as accents. Further criticism was delivered by Giles and Bourhis (1973) who claim that
the tendency to repeat one and the same reading passage over and over to the listeners would
seem to distort reactions in various ways (Mobärg 1989:38).
2.2 The speakers
From the very beginning I was determined to use authentic accents for this survey basically
because there was no available speaker who authentically knew different accents. I believe
that it is extremely difficult to replicate the genuine accents of a native English speaker.
However, a modified version of the Matched Guise technique was still the best option since
the purpose of the survey was to measure the respondents’ attitudes toward different accents. I
do acknowledge the risk of the respondents giving the speakers personality traits based upon
the sound of their voices rather than their accents. To prevent this to the fullest the speakers
were given some instructions when recording the text passages. All speakers were asked to
read loudly, clearly and as naturally and neutrally as possible and try to avoid adding traits
based on the actual use of the voice rather than the accent. The speakers were:
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Table 3: Information on the speakers.
Speaker Gender
A
Female
B
Male
C
Female
D
Male
Age
Origin
Profession
Accent
Late
30’s
Early
40’s
Late
30’s
Early
40’s
Brisbane, Australia
Nursing Aide
Fulham, London,
England
Cumbria, NW
England
Melbourne,
Australia
Printer
Australian
English
Estuary English
Kindergarten
Teacher
Gardener
Northern
England
Australian
English
2.3 The Text
Since the students were supposed to listen to the accents rather than worrying about the
content of what the speakers were talking about, I chose a well-known text. Each speaker was
allotted a passage from the beginning of the very first Harry Potter novel Harry Potter and the
philosopher’s stone (Appendix 1). I decided to let the speakers read different passages so that
it made a story, to prevent the students from being bored and thus losing concentration.
2.4 The Questionnaires
2.4.1 Students
The questionnaires were divided into two parts. The first section investigated the respondents’
familiarity with the accent and a more in-depth analysis of one accent at a time. The second
part was aimed at comparing the accents and finding out whether they were connected with
certain jobs etc.
The first part (appendix 2) evaluated each accent separately. I played one accent
at a time. The respondents were asked to grade the accent on four-graded scales similar to
semantic differential scales. Those scales are commonly used for measuring social attitudes
within the areas of linguistics and social psychology. Typically they would have two opposite
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adjectives and the respondents would have to grade the accent between the two. In this case
the semantic differential scales have four grades since an even number forces the respondents
to take a stand omitting the passive choice in the middle. They are unnumbered “in order to
prevent the listeners from making assumptions about one end of the scale being worth more
than the other.” (Wray and Bloomer 2006:156) Questions asked were: Was the accent familiar
to them? Did they understand the accent? What country did they think the speaker came
from? Finally, they were asked to grade the accents in terms of psychological qualities (e.g.
trustworthy, unreliable or friendly) and social evaluation (e.g. well educated or little formal
education).
The second part (appendix 3) included playing the accents again, only this time
all in a row without stopping. The respondents were asked to compare the accents and grade
them in terms of job suitability. The different professions were chosen based on the aim of
this survey; whether the broad Australian accents are perceived as adventurers or farmers,
whether the posh British accents are perceived as politicians or sales Persons and finally,
which accent is most commonly associated with actors and teachers. The respondents then
graded the accents in terms of likability where they had to fill out the four-grade scale ranging
from “very well” to “not at all” and also motivate their choice.
Finally, the respondents were asked to state whether they had been to an
English-speaking country and whether their teacher exposed them to different English accents
in class.
2.4.2 The Teachers
Each teacher in each class filled out a questionnaire (appendix 4) with three yes or no
questions. They were: Which English accent do you speak? Which English accent do you
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teach? Do you involve other English accents in class, other than British English and American
English?
Finally, the teachers were asked whether they thought that it was important to
teach different accents or whether it confused the students. They were also asked to explain
their point of view.
3. Results and Analysis
As previously stated the survey was divided into two parts: in the first part each accent was
assessed one at a time and in the second, the accents were compared with each other.
3.1 First Part: Assessing Each Accent
These are the results from the questionnaires grading the accents in terms of psychological
qualities and social significance.
3.1.1 Speaker A
Speaker A was a female speaker from Brisbane, Australia. The first questions were whether
the respondents were familiar with the accent and how well they understood the accent.
Very well
Not at all
No of respondents
50
40
30
20
10
0
Familiarity
Comprehensibility
Figure 1: Grading speaker A in terms of familiarity and comprehensibility
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It turns out the respondents were quite familiar with the accent and understood it very well.
What country did they think the speaker came from?
Table 4: Speaker A’s suggested country of origin
Country
Percent of
respondents
England
59.6%
Australia
22.8%
Ireland
8.8%
USA
5.3%
Wales
1.8%
New Zealand 1.8%
A staggering 59.6% voted for England, Australia came in second at 22.8% and Ireland in third
place. USA, Wales and New Zealand were other suggestions mentioned.
The next task was to grade the accent in terms of psychological qualities and social
significance.
Friendly
Reserved
Trustworthy
50
Respondents
Respondents
40
30
20
10
Rural
20
10
40
Respondents
Respondents
10
30
Cool
30
20
40
0
0
Posh
Unreliable
0
30
20
10
0
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Corny
Well educated Little formal education
Respondents
50
40
30
20
10
0
Figures 2-6: grading speaker A in terms of psychological qualities and social significance
The respondents considered the accent of speaker A to be quite friendly and trustworthy.
Furthermore they thought the accent was neither posh nor rural but fairly corny. Finally the
accent of speaker A was considered rather well educated.
3.1.2 Speaker B
Speaker B was a male speaker from London, England. Once again the respondents were asked
if they were familiar with the accent and how well they understood it.
Very well
Not at all
No of respondents
40
30
20
10
0
Familiarity
Comprehensibility
Figure 7: Grading speaker B in terms of familiarity and comprehensibility
The respondents were fairly familiar with the accent and understood it very well. The next
fact to establish was what country the speaker came from.
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Table 5: Speaker B’s suggested country of origin
Country
England
Ireland
Scotland
Wales
USA
Australia
Percent of
respondents
49.2%
13.1%
13.1%
11.5%
9.8%
3.3%
Nearly half of the respondents thought the speaker came from England. Ireland and Scotland
shared second place and then Wales, USA and finally Australia on 3.3%.
When grading the accent in terms of psychological qualities and social significance the
diagrams turned out like this.
Friendly
Reserved
Trustworthy
40
Respondents
Respondents
40
30
20
10
30
20
10
0
Posh
0
Cool
Rural
40
20
10
Respondents
Respondents
40
30
Unreliable
30
20
10
0
0
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Corny
Well educated Little formal education
Respondents
40
30
20
10
0
Figures 8-12: Grading speaker B in terms of psychological qualities and social significance
Speaker B was considered slightly reserved but quite trustworthy. The accent was also
branded as rural and corny but with an in between level of education.
3.1.3 Speaker C
Speaker C was a female speaker from Cumbria, Northern England, and these are the results of
what the respondents answered to the questions of familiarity and comprehensibility.
Very well
Not at all
Respondents
40
30
20
10
0
Familiarity
Comprehensibility
Figure 13: Grading speaker C in terms of familiarity and comprehensibility
The results indicate that the respondents were quite familiar with the accent and understood it
well. So what country did they think it came from?
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Table 6: Speaker C’s suggested country of origin
Country
Percent of
respondents
England
39.6%
Ireland
20.8%
Australia
13.2%
Scotland
13.2%
USA
3.8%
Wales
3.8%
Northern Ireland 3.8%
New Zealand
1.9%
Once again England came first with Ireland in second place. Australia and Scotland shared
third place and other suggestions were USA, Wales, Northern Ireland and New Zealand.
As the respondents graded the accent in terms of psychological qualities and social
significance this is how it turned out:
Friendly
Reserved
Trustworthy
30
Respondents
Respondents
40
30
20
10
Rural
40
Respondents
Respondents
10
10
Cool
30
20
20
0
0
Posh
Unreliable
0
30
20
10
0
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Corny
Well educated Little formal education
Respondents
40
30
20
10
0
Figures 14-18: Grading speaker C in terms of psychological qualities and social significance
The accent of speaker C was considered quite friendly and trustworthy, neither posh nor rural
but fairly corny. The respondents thought that speaker C was rather well educated.
3.1.4 Speaker D
Speaker D was a male speaker from Melbourne, Australia. For the last time the respondents
were asked to grade the accent in terms of familiarity and comprehensibility.
Very well
Not at all
Respondent
40
30
20
10
0
Familiarity
Comprehensibility
Figure 19: Grading speaker D in terms of familiarity and comprehensibility
Most respondents were fairly familiar with the accent and understood it even more. Then they
had to answer the question as to what country the speaker came from.
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Table 7: Speaker D’s suggested country of origin
Country
Percent of
respondents
USA
34.0%
Australia
30.2%
England
13.2%
Scotland
7.5%
Ireland
5.7%
Northern Ireland 5.7%
Wales
1.9%
Canada
1.9%
Just over a third of the respondents thought that the speaker was from USA. Almost equally
the same amount went for Australia. In third place came England and then Scotland. Ireland
and Northern Ireland ended up with 5.7% each and the final suggestions of countries of origin
were Wales and Canada.
Finally the accent was graded in terms of psychological qualities and social significance.
Friendly
Reserved
Trustworthy
30
20
Respondents
Respondents
25
15
10
5
20
10
0
0
Posh
Rural
Cool
20
10
40
Respondents
Respondents
40
30
Unreliable
30
20
10
0
0
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Corny
Well educated Little formal education
Respondents
40
30
20
10
0
Figures 20-24: Grading speaker D in terms of psychological qualities and social significance
The respondents considered the accent of speaker D to be very friendly and trustworthy. The
accent was thought to be very rural and quite corny. Finally speaker D was thought to have
fairly little formal education.
3.1.5 Analysis of Assessing Each Accent
Over all the respondents thought they were familiar with the accents and understood them all
very well. The respondents thought that speaker A, B and C all had accents from England.
However, there were quite a few respondents who accurately thought that speaker A and D
originated from Australia.
When grading the accents in terms of psychological qualities and social
evaluation the respondents thought all accents to be friendly apart from accent B. That
particular accent is Estuary and part of London and as previous studies show, urban accents
have been considered less favourable than rural accents. Stereotyping also points out that the
English are considered as private people. Nevertheless, all accents were perceived as
trustworthy, obviously no apparent connection to being considered friendly or not.
Accent A, B and C were all balancing between being considered posh or rural.
Accent D, on the other hand, was voted overwhelmingly rural. As speaker D is Australian,
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one of the Australian stereotypes suggests that they are crude and primitive when it comes to
high culture, putting the accent directly opposite to posh. None of the four accents were
considered cool and finally, accents A and C were thought to be well educated whereas the
accents of speaker B and D were considered to have little formal education.
3.2 Second Part: Comparing the Accents
These are the results from the questionnaires grading the accents in terms of job suitability
and likability.
3.2.1 Most Pleasant and Most Authority
25
Students
20
Most pleasant to
listen to
15
Most authority
10
5
0
1
2
3
4
Speaker
Figure 25: Comparing the accents in terms of most pleasant to listen to and most authority
Speaker B (2) had the accent which got voted the most pleasant to listen to, closely followed
by the accents of speaker A (1) and speaker D (4). When assessing which accent had the most
authority, once again speaker B (2) came out on top with speaker C (3) and speaker A (1) not
far behind.
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3.2.2 Job Suitability
Respondents
Job suitability
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Speaker A
Speaker B
Speaker C
Speaker D
r
er
er
re
on
an
i
h
u
m
s
nt
ac
ar
er
itic
l
e
e
p
F
o
v
T
P
es
l
Ad
Sa
r
to
c
A
Figure 26: Comparing the accents in terms of job suitability
The respondents thought that the accent of speaker A would be suitable for being a politician
first and foremost. A teacher is almost as attractive for that accent, followed by a sales person
and an actor. However, an adventurer and a farmer are not likely to suit speaker A.
According to the respondents the accent belonging to speaker B was most likely
to work as an actor but sales person and an adventurer would also suit the accent. A job as a
politician could suit speaker B but not a farmer or a teacher.
Speaker C’s accent is suited for a teacher, followed by an actor and a sales
person. However, being an adventurer, politician or a farmer is not suitable for speaker C.
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Finally, the accent of speaker D is destined to be a farmer or an adventurer by a
great margin. None of the other trades, actor, politician, sales person or teacher would suit the
accent of speaker D.
3.2.3 Likability
Like the most
Respondents
25
20
15
10
5
0
Speaker A, B, C, D
Figure 27: Comparing the accents in terms of likability
The respondents had different reasons for liking each accent. Comments concerning speaker
A’s accent were that it was easy to understand and pleasant to listen to. The latter also applied
to the accent of speaker B but also that it was harmony in it, it had a good flow and the accent
was laid back and cool. Speaker C’s accent sounded friendly and was easy to understand
according to the respondents. Finally, comments regarding speaker D’s accents were that it
sounded cool and laid back but also nice, calm, friendly and like a farmer’s accent. Overall,
the respondents chose speaker D to be the favourite accent, followed by speaker B, A and
finally speaker C.
Reasons for not liking the accent of speaker A were that it was perceived as too
posh, too aggressive and difficult to understand. Some respondents thought that speaker B
was hard to understand, sounded posh and some actually thought that the accent was made up.
Speaker C was also difficult to understand according to the respondents. They also thought
the accent was boring, annoying and could put you to sleep. Finally, reasons for not liking the
accent of speaker D were that it sounded boring, too rural and hard to understand at times.
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The accent belonging to speaker C was the least liked among the accents followed by accents
B and D and finally accent A.
3.2.4 Analysis of Comparing the Accents
The accent which was voted the most pleasant to listen to and had most authority belonged to
speaker B. The respondents thought the accent was most suited for an actor followed by a
sales person and an adventurer. Speaker B’s accent was rated the second most liked accent,
the reasons being, among others, that the accent was laid back and cool. That also applied to
accent D which was rated the most liked accent. Here, the respondents agreed with the
internationally recognised stereotype of an Australian male as accent D was voted the most
suited for an adventurer. However, the accent of speaker D was voted to suit a farmer as well,
which some of the reasons for liking that accent implied: nice, friendly and like a farmer’s
accent. Previous research shows that rural accents are perceived as pleasant.
The accent of speaker A was a close second in terms of being the most pleasant
to listen to and was allotted the jobs of a politician, a teacher and a sales person. Some of the
reasons why the respondents liked the accent were that it was easy to understand and pleasant
to listen to. From a somewhat contradicting point, the reasons why the respondents did not
like the accent of speaker A were that it was perceived as too aggressive and difficult to
understand. The least liked accent belonged to speaker C but got voted second for the most
authority, joining the other British accent on top of the “most authority” list. As some
stereotypes suggest, English are considered solid and stable and unarguably individualistic,
traits for authority indeed. Some respondents also thought it sounded friendly and was easy to
understand. The accent was most suited to be a teacher followed by an actor and a sales
person.
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The British accents were most suited to be actors where as the Australian
accents did not follow each other once. The accents of the female speakers were most likely to
be teachers and the male speakers’ accents got the adventurers vote. Whether this is gender
based or not is interesting, however, not part of this survey.
3.3 Questions to Respondents
The respondents were asked whether they had been to an English speaking country. 25% had
been to at least one English speaking country. The country most frequently visited was
England (88%). Secondly, 29% of the respondents had been to USA and in third place,
equally on 6 %, we find Ireland, Scotland and Canada. The final question put to the
respondents was whether their teacher exposed them to different English accents in class.
37% of the respondents claimed they were being exposed to different English accents in class,
subsequently 63% were not.
3.4 The Teachers Attitudes to Different English Accents
Three teachers participated in this survey as they were teaching the respondents included. The
first question asked was which accent they speak themselves and the unanimous answer was
British English. When asked which accent they taught the same answer occurred, British
English. On the matter of involving other English accents in class, apart from American
English and British English, one teacher claimed to use Scottish, Irish and African accents
although not very often. The second teacher involved accents like South African, Indian and
Australian for the simple reason that they occur in the course book. The third teacher claimed
not to use any other English accents as the course was only an A-course.
Finally, the teachers were asked whether they thought it important to teach the
students different accents or whether it confuses them. They were asked to state their point of
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view and explain why. One teacher considered teaching the students to understand different
accents important but insists on teaching them British since that was compulsory when she
started teaching. The other two teachers do not think the students get confused from learning
different accents. On the contrary, broken English is the world language number one and the
students should be aware of that.
4. Conclusion
Considering the fact that the teachers all were speaking and teaching English there cannot be a
surprise to realise that most respondents thought that three out of four accents were from
England. Nonetheless, bearing in mind that only a quarter of the respondents had been to an
English speaking country, quite a few respondents accurately thought that speaker A and D
originated from Australia.
Only a third of the respondents claimed to being exposed to different English
accents in class although two out of three teachers said that they involved different accents
when teaching. As for the respondents’ attitudes towards Australian and British English
accents, none of the accents were considered cool perhaps due to the likelihood of the
respondents being mostly used to Standard English, mainly through the flow of international
media. That would correspond with Edwards’ conclusion that other accents are likely to be
viewed less favourably that the Standard. However, three out of four accents were considered
friendly and they were all believed to be trustworthy. The two accents that were considered
rural were also voted most pleasant to listen to and most liked, which coincides with
Trudgill’s claim on how the British themselves perceive rural accents. Somewhat disturbing
are the links between the traits of the accents and job suitability as the two accents most suited
to be teachers were the least liked albeit considered well educated. The British accents topped
the actor suitability list which is not surprising considering the fact that the British accents
appear far more in films than Australian accents.
- 27 -
Finally, how do young people perceive the broad Australian accent according to
this survey? Actually, both as the adventurer and as the farmer. Whether it is the media or
Australians themselves, projecting their image into the world, there is no doubt the accent
travels far indeed.
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References
Primary Sources
Students’ questionnaires
Teachers’ questionnaires
Secondary Sources
Barkman, Clas and Hedin, Lotta, (1996), Englandsboken med Wales Borås: Dagens Nyheters
förlag.
Collins, (2003), English Dictionary 6th edition Glasgow: HarperCollins Publishers.
Edwards, John R, (1982), “Language attitudes and their implications among English
speakers” in E.B. Ryan and H Giles (eds.) Attitudes towards Language Variation: Social and
Applied Contexts. London: Edward Arnold.
Gardner, Robert C, (1982), “Language attitudes and language learning” in E.B. Ryan and H
Giles (eds.) Attitudes towards Language Variation: Social and Applied Contexts. London:
Edward Arnold.
Herlitz, Siv and Gillis, (1997), Herlitz kulturguide England. Uppsala: Uppsala Publishing
House AB.
Mobärg, Mats, (1989), English Standard Pronunciations: A Study of Attitudes. Gothenburg:
Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis.
Rowling, J.K., (1997), Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. London: Bloomsbury
Publishing PLC
Sharwood-Smith, Michael, (2007) “ British Shibboleths” in Eddie Ronowitz and Colin Yallop
(eds.) English. One Language, Different Cultures New York: Continuum.
Svartvik, Jan (1999) Engelska, Öspråk, världsspråk, trendspråk. Stockholm: Pan.
Trudgill, Peter, (2000). Sociolinguistics (4 th edition). London: Penguin books.
P
P
- 29 -
Wikström, Maria, (2002) Swedish Teenagers’ Attitudes to Spoken English: A Verbal Guise
Experiment Investigating the Influence from School and Mass Media University of Gävle
Wray, Alison and Bloomer, Aileen (2006) Projects in linguistics. London: Hodder Education.
Electronic References
Kwary, Deny A. http://www.kwary.net/linguistics/Language%20Attitude.ppt 20090323
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Appendix 1
Text from the beginning of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Speaker A:
Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were
perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved
in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.
Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big,
beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache.
Speaker B:
Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came
in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the
neighbours. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no
finer boy anywhere.
The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear
was that somebody would discover it.
Speaker C:
They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. Mrs. Potter was
Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended
she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as
unDursleyish as it was possible to be.
The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbours would say if the Potters arrived in the
street.
Speaker D:
The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him.
This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley
mixing with a child like that.
When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, grey Tuesday our story starts, there was
nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would
soon be happening all over the country.
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Appendix 2
Questionnaire for students on attitudes toward English accents
Four people from different parts of the English speaking world will read a few lines out of the first
volume of Harry Potter, one at a time. Please grade your answers in the questions below.
Remember to focus on the accents, not the quality of the voices.
Speaker A
1.
Are you familiar (bekant) with the accent?
Very well
Not at all
2.
Did you understand the accent well?
Very well
Not at all
3.
Which country do you think the accent is from?
______________________________
4.
How do you rate (gradera) the following qualities (egenskaper) when you hear this accent?
Friendly
Reserved
Trustworthy (pålitlig)
Unreliable (opålitlig)
Posh (snobbig)
Rural (bondig)
Cool
Corny (töntig)
Well educated
Little formal education
Other qualities: ______________________________________________
Speaker B
5.
Are you familiar (bekant) with the accent?
Very well
Not at all
6.
Did you understand the accent well?
Very well
Not at all
7.
Which country do you think the accent is from?
______________________________
8.
How do you rate (gradera) the following qualities (egenskaper) when you hear this accent?
Friendly
Reserved
Trustworthy (pålitlig)
Unreliable (opålitlig)
Posh (snobbig)
Rural (bondig)
Cool
Corny (töntig)
Well educated
Little formal education
Other qualities: ______________________________________________
Speaker C
9.
Are you familiar (bekant) with the accent?
Very well
Not at all
10. Did you understand the accent well?
Very well
Not at all
11. Which country do you think the accent is from?
______________________________
12. How do you rate (gradera) the following qualities (egenskaper) when you hear this accent?
Friendly
Reserved
Trustworthy (pålitlig)
Unreliable (opålitlig)
Posh (snobbig)
Rural (bondig)
Cool
Corny (töntig)
Well educated
Little formal education
Other qualities: ______________________________________________
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Speaker D
13. Are you familiar (bekant) with the accent?
Very well
Not at all
14. Did you understand the accent well?
Very well
Not at all
15. Which country do you think the accent is from?
______________________________
16. How do you rate (gradera) the following qualities (egenskaper) when you hear this accent?
Friendly
Reserved
Trustworthy (pålitlig)
Unreliable (opålitlig)
Posh (snobbig)
Rural (bondig)
Cool
Corny (töntig)
Well educated
Little formal education
Other qualities: ______________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
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Appendix 3
I will now play all voices again. Please listen carefully and compare the different accents.
Speaker A
Speaker B
Speaker C
Speaker D
17. Which accent is most pleasant to listen to?




18. Which accent has most authority (makt, pondus)?




19. Which accent do you think would suit each profession? (Tick only one/question)
Politician




Adventurer (äventyrare)




Teacher




Farmer




Actor




Sales person








20. Which accent do you like most?
Why? ________________________________________________________________

21. Which accent do you like least?



Why? ________________________________________________________________
Please fill out some details for practical reasons.
Age:
15
16
17
18
Sex:
Male
Female
Grade:
1st year
2nd year
Program:
____________________________________
19
3rd year
22. Have you ever been to an English-speaking country?
Yes
which one(s) ________________________________________________
No
23. Does your teacher expose you to different English accents in class?
Yes
No
This is the end of the survey. Thank you for your participation!
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Appendix 4
Questionnaire for teachers on attitudes to different English accents
1. Which English accent do you speak?
________________________________________
2. Which English accent do you teach?
________________________________________
3. Do you involve other English accents in class, apart from American English and
British English? Yes
namely _________________________________________
No
4. Is it important to teach different accents or does it confuse the students? Please, state
your point of view and explain why.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
______________________________
Thank you for your participation!
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