Group 3's research proposal

Group Members:

By writing my name below, I agree to carry out the following learning agreement by the stated dates and I will make sure that I and my group achieve each of the milestones along the way.
1. Elsa Heath
2. Bronwyn Ayers
3. Natalie Hancox
4. Kasey Robinson
5. Melissa Thompson
6. tutor name

Topic and Research Design

The question that we are going to research is:

‘In what ways, and to what extent do the regional accents featured in the television programmes ‘Geordie Shore’ and ‘Made in Chelsea’ reproduce, under represent or exaggerate cultural and social attitudes about these regions?’


We chose the TV programmes ‘Geordie Shore’ and ‘Made in Chelsea’ as they give a clear distinction in their cultural and social attitudes. Furthermore, they have varying accents and so we can see how this is represented and if this has any impact on how they are portrayed.

Also, these two programmes are based on real people and real situations. Therefore, the data we collect will give a more accurate representation of these accents in real terms.

We will see how linguistic features such as sociolect, received pronunciation and standard English feature in the data we collect and how this represents the speaker in their environment.

Additionally, through language analysis of the data we have collected, we will be able to see how this represents the TV programme and how this influences the way in which the audience receives and interprets the programme.

Type and Amount of Data:

Our data will be collected by each member of the group. We will be transcribing data from each of the two television programmes which include; ‘Made in Chelsea' and ‘Geordie Shore’.

Each member of the group will do this so for each of the programmes we will have 5 transcriptions which we can analyse, giving us a spread of data and a more sound base to answer our research question.

Methods

As a group we have decided that the means in which we will collect our data is by watching the two tv shows we have selected to analyse for a minute each (and different clips for each group member), making sure to choose both different episodes and observe different characters speaking to make sure we collect as wide range of data as possible.

We have decided to transcribe the data phonetically as we are looking at the ways in which the accents vary and if they are portrayed in a stereotypical way for the geographical area they are based in by the media.

Also it will be interesting to see if there is a consistency between the different characters and the phonetic sounds that make up their regional accents.

When analysing our data we will look for patterns in the speech of what sounds are formed and look for key themes for each of the different regions. This could be done through deciding on certain sounds we expect each accent to use regularly which will differ from the norm.

We can then count how many times these are used within our data and therefore see if there is a consistency between the accents the audience expect to hear being used by the characters.

We will also be open to analysing anything new we think about whilst collecting our data and anything we spot in the process of other analysis regardless of whether or not it supports our hypothesis and what we expect to find.

We will portray the results in forms such as graphs and diagrams to incorporate into our final PowerPoint presentation and voice recording.

Routes, strategies and resources

We will use the following routes, strategies and resources during our investigation:

1. Several online clips from both Made in Chelsea and Geordie Shore- transcribed
2. A questionnaire that gives us an insight into what our friends/peers think about how well the media represents accents.
3. Weekly group meetings to check everyone is up to date and clear on the next weeks deadlines/plans
4. Keeping up to date with V lectures and referring to Alison’s book throughout each step.

Bibliography:
1. Burridge et al (2004), A handbook of the varieties of English: Phonology, Volume 1 Muoton de Gruyter: Berlin.

2. Chambers, J.K. (2003) Sociolinguistic Theory (Second edition) Blackwell Publishers Ltd: London.


3. Evans, B.G. and Iverson, P: ‘Vowel normalization for accent: A comparison of northern and southern British English speakers.’ Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, University College London: London. Sourced at: http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/paul/icphs_0575.pdf on 7th October 2011.

4. Sealey, A (2010) Researching English Language: A resource book for students Routledge: Oxford.

5. Trudgill, P,(1994) Dialects Routledge: London

6. Wray, A and Bloomer, A (1998) Projects in Linguistics: A practical guide to Researching Language, Arnold Publishers, London

Presentation

We will present our research through a powerpoint slide. We will first meet to discuss what to put on the powerpoint slides. We will clarify our information before the presentation, whilst ensuring everyone understands what we are trying to convey.

We will discuss roles needed for the presentation, and ensure everyone is happy with their roles. We will support and respect everyone’s ideas and wishes for the presentation.

We would like to create a voice recording to accompany the slideshow instead of a video as members of the group were not comfortable with the idea of being videoed, and we did not want to sacrifice the quality of the presentation due to this.