All we do is talk talk! Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ 'attitudes poll' launches language experiment to capture how we speak in the British Isles today
David Beckham may be the biggest football and fashion icon in
the world but when it comes to public speaking it's the red card for
'golden balls'.
Also up there in the hall of fame of those with the least pleasant
accents in the British Isles are Janet Street-Porter, Jasper Carrott,
Cilla Black and even Billy Connolly.
Super-smooth Sean Connery, however, wins hands down
as the 'most pleasant speaker' – with only the Welsh disagreeing.
Patriotic to the core, they consider Huw Edwards and
Richard Burton easier on the ear.
Other 'pleasant speaking' individuals include Terry
Wogan, Trevor McDonald, Hugh Grant and Moira Stuart.
Having a newsreader's voice does come in handy.
Along with the Queen's English it's good for getting
a job but if the candidates hail from Birmingham, Liverpool or Glasgow
their chances may not be so good...
Launched today - these are just some of the results
of a Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ commissioned online poll which across the British Isles sampled
5,000 people's attitudes to accent, dialect and the way we speak.
It is a light-hearted precursor to an ambitious investigation
into the English language currently being collected and delivered by
the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ.
It kick-starts the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Voices project in which
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ audio-gatherers will record the voices of at least 1,000 interviewees
from an eclectic mix of people from all corners of the UK.
It also aims to drive a minimum of 10,000 people to
have their say on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Voices online survey.
Much of this audio and online information will translate
into Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ content in August.
On Wednesday 19 January 2005, as part of the Voices
launch, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 has invited Dermot Murnaghan to
give up the breakfast news agenda for the day to dig down into dialect
and connect with communities of speakers across the UK to find out how
local, local talk really is.
In a Word for Word special, live at 9.00am, he
will be asking if listeners have ever profited from a five-finger discount,
taken their tranklements to work or wear daps and sweat cobs at the
gym.
Off air, the audio material collected by the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ using
methodology from the School of English at the University of Leeds will
be used to make a significant contribution to updating Leeds' revolutionary
Survey of English Dialects (c 1962) - the first methodical and scientific
attempt to map the accents we have and the special local idiosyncrasies
in our language.
It will also provide content for an online interactive
dialect map of the British Isles.
The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ audio interviews will also be deposited with
the National Sound Archive at the British Library and sound archives
in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Mick Ord, Project Director for the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Voices project,
said: "We are combining Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ journalism and story telling with academic
input and rigour to bring to life, in an accessible and entertaining
way, a linguistic blueprint for Britain.
"The challenge between now and August will be to
turn the raw material into content.
"But first we really want to hear what our audiences
think by logging their views on the official Voices website bbc.co.uk/voices
or by phoning 0800 0566787 for a survey."
Linguistics expert Dr Clive Upton, from Leeds University,
said: "Scratch the surface and language can create huge debate.
"We are passionate about it because it's about
our identity, who we are and where we are from.
"What we want to unearth is real language and how
it affects real people.
"For example, who is to say that non-standard English
phrases like 'I'm not going nowhere' is substandard English. This goes
back to Shakespeare and beyond.
"It's the same with accents, who is to say one
sounds more educated than another?
"Many of our prejudices and misconceptions about
language are just not logical."
Notes to Editors
A summary of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ poll with more detail on beliefs about accents,
language and votes on the 'pleasantness' and 'unpleasantness' of a range
of accents in the British Isles and beyond is available on this page
as a pdf document.
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Audience and Consumer Research commissioned today's attitudinal
poll for Voices.
The poll was undertaken by Greenfield Online.
Cardiff University also had input into the design of
some of the questions.
Fieldwork was conducted between 17 and 26 November via
an online survey hosted on the Greenfield website.
The final sample yielded was 5,010 respondents (15 +) all of whom completed
the entire survey.
The sample was drawn from Greenfield Online's proprietary
panel of UK individuals.
The final sample nationally was 49:51 male:female.
There was a 'middle-age-spread' in the sample with 25-64s proportionally
over-represented and 15-24s and the 65+ under-represented.
Social class data was not collected.
Maximum quotas for each of 63 identified local areas
were used to ensure a wide geographical spread within the sample and
broadly robust regional reporting.
Research following today's poll – the audio-collection will inform
the much larger scientific survey conducted by the University of Leeds.
Clive Upton will be available for selected interviews.
On 19 January Word for Word is a one-off live
programme. A further six 45 minute live interactive programmes will
air in August.
Penguin will be publishing a hardback book relating to the series in
August.
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