A question all my participants were asked during my questionnaire was what features of an accent appealed to them and why, many of these answers included specifications that could be seen to fit the criteria of the Geordie accent. This is supported by another piece of research by ComRes (2013), however in this one it was concluded that Geordie is the second most friendly accent in the United Kingdom (the Devonshire accent was first but however is not included in my data.) These answers my participants gave on what makes an accent desirable included that if it ‘sounds different’, ‘sounded fun’, ‘welcoming’ and ‘gentle’ they were more attracted to someone’s accent. It could also be speculated that part of the reason for the Geordie accent being so favourable is due to the external exposure my participants have to the accent through the incredibly popular television series Geordie Shore. If I was to eliminate the Geordie accent from the data, it would leave Heightened Received Pronunciation and BBC English as the top two accents in this category which would therefore match my hypothesis.

How Children learn to read

Finding the best way to inspire children to become fluent readers has long been debated. The "look and say" approach, where children learnt to memorise words, dominated in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. But now the pendulum has swung towards phonics-based teaching, where children decode words by sounds. The Department for Education says international evidence demonstrates that phonics is the most effective way of teaching early reading, and this year introduced a phonics reading test for six-year-olds.

The revised national curriculum, coming into force from September 2014, requires reception and year 1 students to be taught Synthetic phonics (where children learn to recognise letters with their associated sounds – and how to blend those sounds to "read" the "words.") Students aren't meant to get help from clues such as context, meaning or illustration. It's difficult to gauge how rigidly this will be enforced, but the situation certainly suggests there'll be a significant increase in pressure on schools and teachers to conform.

A child's ability to learn to read, known as reading readiness, begins in infancy, as the child begins attending to the speech signals in their environment and begins producing spoken language.[3] Children make some use of all the material that they are presented with, including every perception, concept and word that they come in contact with; thus the environment in which a child develops affects the child's ability to learn to read.[3] The amount of time that a child spends together with parents or other important caregivers while listening to them read is a good predictor of the level of reading that the child will attain later in life.[3][4] As a child sits with a caregiver, looking at pictures and listening to stories, he or she will slowly learn that all the different lines on each page make different symbols and then that together these symbols refer to words.[3] Taking time to read to children is the most important precursor to a child's development of reading.[3] Preschool-aged children with limited exposure to books and reading in their home, including limited experience of being read to, are at risk of reading difficulties.[3] For example, these children tend to have less exposure to literary phrases, such as "Once upon a time",[3] and have smaller vocabularies,[5][6] both factors that affect the ability to read by limiting comprehension of text. The environment in which a child lives may also impact their ability to acquire reading skills. Children who are regularly exposed to chronic environmental noise pollution, such as highway traffic noise, have been known to show decreased ability to discriminate between phonemes as well as lower reading scores on standardized tests.

Many of today’s primary school teachers are dissatisfied with the way children are taught to read, with the teachers leaders saying it causes children ‘long term damage.’ In a recent poll of about 1500 year one teachers 90% said they discovered nothing new about their pupils reading abilities after phonetics tests, the government still believe the test is vital.

The benefits of children reading at a young age include:

·         Mental Stimulation

·         Stress Reduction

·         Knowledge

·         Vocabulary Expansion

·         Memory Improvement

·         Stronger Analytical Thinking Skills

·         Improved Focus and Concentration

·         Better Writing Skills

·         Tranquillity     

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_to_read

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-19812961

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-19438535

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