A plea for help to British English speakers
(Note to self: no getting distracted by shiny tags until you've finished your homework.)
LJ, I need help. I DESPERATELY need help. And you're the only one I can turn to.
I'm studying English at the University of Amsterdam, and am currently working on a Phonology project. My research group needs to interview native speakers of British English, and we need to do it THIS weekend, because the results are due next Tuesday. I'll spare you a lenghty rant/nervous breakdown about miscommunication, internet failure, illness and all that, and just go straight to my knees. I BEG YOU, help us! If you're from Britain and/or grew up speaking British English, whether it's England, Scotland, Wales or Ireland, please answer this questionnaire? You'd be a lifesaver!
It would help us if you answered every question, but if you really do not want to, or feel you cannot, answer any of them for whatever reason, feel free to leave those blank. The only thing we absolutely MUST know is your sex and your place of residence.
Sex: ...
Place of residence (current and past): ...
Age/Age range (10-15/15-20/20-25 etc): ...
Family situation (married/involved/single, living alone/with parents, children/childless, etc): ...
Work situation (occupation, status within company; boss/employee): ...
Have you ever heard of the terms... RP English; Oxford English; BBC pronunciation; the Queen’s English?
...
How would you describe your own accent? (e.g. rural/urban, specific to a certain geographical region, posh/coarse, formal/slang-y, etc) And if you had to point it out on a map, where would you say your accent comes from?
...
Do you always use the same accent? Has the way you pronounce English change at all in the course of your life?
...
Please rate audio clips A through E, from the accent you like best (1) to the accent you like least (5). If the on-site file won’t play, click “PLAY this recording using your usual player” or “Open in your default media player”.
A http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=021M-C0908X0027XX-0200V0.xml (Cornish male 1)
B http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/harrow-school/ (RP male 1)
C http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=021M-C0900X05012X-0300V0.xml (London male 1)
D http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=021M-C0908X0041XX-0700V0.xml (Northumberland male 1)
E http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=021M-C0900X18541X-2800V0.xml (West Midlands male 1)
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
What did you like about the higher ranked accents, and what did you dislike about the lower ranked ones?
...
Please rate audio clips A through F, from the speaking voice you like best (1) to the speaking voice you like least (6). If the on-site file won’t play, click “PLAY this recording using your usual player” or “Open in your default media player”.
A http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/harrow-school/ (RP male 1)
B http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/hexam/ (RP female 1)
C http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=021M-C0900X09636X-0100V0.xml (Lincolnshire male 1)
D http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=021M-C0900X09555X-0100V0.xml (Lincolnshire female 1)
E http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=021M-C0900X00650X-0200V0.xml (Bristol male 1)
F http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=021M-C0900X00509X-0200V0.xml (Bristol female 1)
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
6 -
Do you often use ‘tags’ at the end of a sentence (like “Heather arrived, didn't she?” “You didn’t close the door, did you?”)? And if so, why do you think you use them a lot?
...
Do you feel you talk different when speaking to a man than speaking to a woman? If so, why do you think this is?
...
Do you/Would you ‘clean up’ your pronunciation when speaking to... (your) children? ...(your) boss? ...(your) employees/subordinates? And if so, why?
...
Do you/Would you ‘clean up’ your pronunciation when addressing or being addressed by a random person on the street (e.g. about the time)? Do you think you would be more conscientious about your pronuniation when this person were a man, or when this person were a woman? And why?
...
Do you feel that a person’s accent influences other people’s judgement of that person? Do you think this is more important for men or women?
...
Do you think there are different attitudes toward ‘correct’ pronunciation between men and women?
...
Do you feel that the pronuniation of British English has deteriorated any over the course of your life? If so, less/worse among which gender?
...
Is the dominant speaker in groups (i.e. friends, family, colleagues) more often male or female?
...
When it comes to spoken language, who do you feel is more conscientious about phrasing things politely and using non-offensive words: women or men?
...
Do you feel any assymetry of labels and names applied to women and men? (i.e. swear words, nicknames, off-hand characterisations, when repeating the person’s name over and over again gets tiresome)
...
When someone says: “A child goes to school when he is six years old.”, do you think of a boy or a girl?
...
Similarly, when someone says: “Man should not eat too many chocolate cakes.”, do you think of a woman or man?
...
‘He’ or ‘man/’men’ often gets used to refer to people in general, or mixed groups which include women. Animals are also standardly referred to as ‘he’. What would you think of introducing a new word for people, creatures or groups the gender of which is either unknown, ambiguous or mixed? (e.g. gender-neutral pronouns, like ‘hir’, ‘ze’, ‘xe’)
...
If you have any questions or comments, do address them to me! The more feedback we get, the better. :)
LJ, I need help. I DESPERATELY need help. And you're the only one I can turn to.
I'm studying English at the University of Amsterdam, and am currently working on a Phonology project. My research group needs to interview native speakers of British English, and we need to do it THIS weekend, because the results are due next Tuesday. I'll spare you a lenghty rant/nervous breakdown about miscommunication, internet failure, illness and all that, and just go straight to my knees. I BEG YOU, help us! If you're from Britain and/or grew up speaking British English, whether it's England, Scotland, Wales or Ireland, please answer this questionnaire? You'd be a lifesaver!
It would help us if you answered every question, but if you really do not want to, or feel you cannot, answer any of them for whatever reason, feel free to leave those blank. The only thing we absolutely MUST know is your sex and your place of residence.
Sex: ...
Place of residence (current and past): ...
Age/Age range (10-15/15-20/20-25 etc): ...
Family situation (married/involved/single, living alone/with parents, children/childless, etc): ...
Work situation (occupation, status within company; boss/employee): ...
Have you ever heard of the terms... RP English; Oxford English; BBC pronunciation; the Queen’s English?
...
How would you describe your own accent? (e.g. rural/urban, specific to a certain geographical region, posh/coarse, formal/slang-y, etc) And if you had to point it out on a map, where would you say your accent comes from?
...
Do you always use the same accent? Has the way you pronounce English change at all in the course of your life?
...
Please rate audio clips A through E, from the accent you like best (1) to the accent you like least (5). If the on-site file won’t play, click “PLAY this recording using your usual player” or “Open in your default media player”.
A http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=021M-C0908X0027XX-0200V0.xml (Cornish male 1)
B http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/harrow-school/ (RP male 1)
C http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=021M-C0900X05012X-0300V0.xml (London male 1)
D http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=021M-C0908X0041XX-0700V0.xml (Northumberland male 1)
E http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=021M-C0900X18541X-2800V0.xml (West Midlands male 1)
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
What did you like about the higher ranked accents, and what did you dislike about the lower ranked ones?
...
Please rate audio clips A through F, from the speaking voice you like best (1) to the speaking voice you like least (6). If the on-site file won’t play, click “PLAY this recording using your usual player” or “Open in your default media player”.
A http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/harrow-school/ (RP male 1)
B http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/hexam/ (RP female 1)
C http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=021M-C0900X09636X-0100V0.xml (Lincolnshire male 1)
D http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=021M-C0900X09555X-0100V0.xml (Lincolnshire female 1)
E http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=021M-C0900X00650X-0200V0.xml (Bristol male 1)
F http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=021M-C0900X00509X-0200V0.xml (Bristol female 1)
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
6 -
Do you often use ‘tags’ at the end of a sentence (like “Heather arrived, didn't she?” “You didn’t close the door, did you?”)? And if so, why do you think you use them a lot?
...
Do you feel you talk different when speaking to a man than speaking to a woman? If so, why do you think this is?
...
Do you/Would you ‘clean up’ your pronunciation when speaking to... (your) children? ...(your) boss? ...(your) employees/subordinates? And if so, why?
...
Do you/Would you ‘clean up’ your pronunciation when addressing or being addressed by a random person on the street (e.g. about the time)? Do you think you would be more conscientious about your pronuniation when this person were a man, or when this person were a woman? And why?
...
Do you feel that a person’s accent influences other people’s judgement of that person? Do you think this is more important for men or women?
...
Do you think there are different attitudes toward ‘correct’ pronunciation between men and women?
...
Do you feel that the pronuniation of British English has deteriorated any over the course of your life? If so, less/worse among which gender?
...
Is the dominant speaker in groups (i.e. friends, family, colleagues) more often male or female?
...
When it comes to spoken language, who do you feel is more conscientious about phrasing things politely and using non-offensive words: women or men?
...
Do you feel any assymetry of labels and names applied to women and men? (i.e. swear words, nicknames, off-hand characterisations, when repeating the person’s name over and over again gets tiresome)
...
When someone says: “A child goes to school when he is six years old.”, do you think of a boy or a girl?
...
Similarly, when someone says: “Man should not eat too many chocolate cakes.”, do you think of a woman or man?
...
‘He’ or ‘man/’men’ often gets used to refer to people in general, or mixed groups which include women. Animals are also standardly referred to as ‘he’. What would you think of introducing a new word for people, creatures or groups the gender of which is either unknown, ambiguous or mixed? (e.g. gender-neutral pronouns, like ‘hir’, ‘ze’, ‘xe’)
...
If you have any questions or comments, do address them to me! The more feedback we get, the better. :)