I recently carried out a questionnaire in order gather information about peoples views on Estuary accents, versus peoples views on received pronunciation. The questionnaire was given to a group of people, within in a 16-41+ age range. I decided to make it such a varying age range so I could compare the difference between the answers of this generation and another generation. From my results, there is quite a clear difference of opinion. I also asked a mixture of male and female candidates, to see if there was any variance in those answers. Here are the results I collected.
The first question I asked was "What are your views on an Estuary (Essex) Accent, compared to a Received Pronunciation (posh) accent?" I found out that people age 41+ actually dislike the Estuary accent, and agree with received pronunciation, where as the 16 year olds I asked didn't mind either, but gathered that it was better to speak received pronunciation. This told me that it is perhaps stereotypically though as better to speak 'posh' than 'common'. In comparison to this, there was no difference to the answers of a male and those of a female.
Later on, I asked the question "Do you agree that someone who speaks with a 'posh' English accent has an advantage over someone with a more common accent in a situation such as a job interview?" Six out of the eight people I asked agreed with the statement. 1 was 41+, and the rest were 16. Explanations of these answers included statements such as received pronunciation is better respected, it is seen as more formal, and people who speak with a common accent tend to have worse grammar dialect than people who speak posh. Two out of the eight disagreed with the statement. One answer stated "It depends on the environment of the interview. Interviewers may favour similar accents to their own".
The last two questions I asked were "Do you think it is acceptable to judge someone's intelligence on their accent?" and "Do you think it is acceptable to judge someone's intelligence on their regional dialect?" For those of you who don't know, regional dialect is the vocabulary and words and phrases you pick up form being in a certain place or region. For example, a commonly use work in Essex is 'peak', meaning unlucky, or bad. However, someone from Scotland wouldn't know what that means, because it isn't a word used in their region. The answers I got were what I expected to see. Everyone agreed that you cannot judge someone on their accent. Some of the reasons included were you cant help how you talk, someone could know everything, but if they live in a place that speaks with, for example, an Estuary accent, they would most likely pick that up, but that wouldn't effect their intelligence. Another example was that Sir Alan Sugar has an Estuary accent, yet he is one of the smartest and most successful entrepreneurs in the country. On the other hand, everyone agreed that you can judge someone on their regional dialect. Answers given said that if someone uses more creative and analytical words that are actually in the dictionary, rather than made up words, it is a sign of intelligence and good education. People in the UK that are in gangs and got kicked out of school and do drugs tend to use language like "bruv" and "cuz" and "bare". All of these words are made up and therefore are inarticulated and uneducated.
Overall, I have discovered that accent and dialect are an important factor in making a judgement upon someone, and the way you speak/what you say can make a massive impact upon what people think of you and how you are deemed.
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