Aims:
In November 2004, the BBC produced a poll to find out how people feel about accents and languages across the United Kingdom. The people who took the poll were asked to rank celebrities in order of how good they thought their voices sounded.Methodology:
The poll was set out between the 17th and 26th of November and it attracted 5,010 respondents, that were 15 and over, who completed the entire survey. The final sample nationally was a ratio of 49:51 Male and feamle respectively. There was a 'middle age spread' in the sample, with 25-64s proportionally over-represented and 15-24s and the 65+ under-represented however social class data was not collected.97% of the whole sample said that English was their first language. 26% of the overall sample said they spoke at least one language as well as English, and the most common languages that were mentioned were French (17% of thesample), German (11%), Spanish (7%), Italian (4%), and Welsh (2%).Findings and Analysis :
Sean Connery and his dulcet Edinburgh tone was most popular throughout the UK and Pierce Brosnan, who was raised in England and lives in USA was also high up the list. More popular, however, were newsreaders Moira Stewart and Trinidad-born Trevor McDonald. Sir Trevor's appealingly authoritative voice put him in second place overall as his voice was very distinctive and recognisable. results showed a preference for accents local to them: Scots said they loved Ewan McGregor's Perthshire accent, the English were fond of Hugh Grant's accent, people in Wales preferred listening to Welsh actor Richard Burton and newsreader Huw Edwards, while those in Northern Ireland found Terry Wogan's Limerick accent more enjoyable.
Conclusions:
- People living close to the accents being polled found them more appealing than those further away, indicating signs of bias
- The scottish accent was seen to be more favourable to the British Public, whereas accents such as the Scouse accent and the Birmingham accent were seen as more harsher and less professional
- Recieved pronunciation is seen to be more professional and is more favoured when looking for a job, however people have said that the cockney accent is seen to be less pleasent to listen to
