The accent children are judging at age five
Children as young as five assume that people with Yorkshire accents are not clever, a study has found.
Research on 27 children from Essex found that they subconsciously linked intelligence with southern English accents.
They were played samples of three accents – Yorkshire, Essex, and received pronunciation – by researchers at the University of Essex.
The children were asked to link the accents with two cartoon characters: the 'very clever' Ziggy, who they were told could read, speak and write well, and the 'not very clever' Zoggy, who lacked such skills.
Across all measures, the children showed a strong association between received pronunciation – typically described as a middle-class accent, or the Queen's English – and cleverness.
Prof Ella Jeffries, a lecturer in linguistics at the University of Essex, told the Conversation website: 'This accords with what we know about how children will grow up to associate standard English as the 'correct' form in the UK.
'Our research suggests that by age five, this association is already fairly well-entrenched.'
For one of the measures, the children associated the Yorkshire accent with a lack of intelligence.
Prof Jeffries, who led the study, said: 'This corresponds with the prevalent accent prejudice against northern accents in the UK.
'Worryingly, this finding again suggests that bias may have already become embedded in children who are only just starting school.'
She has called for a better range of accents on children's TV and films to help address the bias.
Children perceived their home accent as being clever on one of the brain measures, despite previous research finding that young adults in south-east England have negative attitudes towards the Essex accent.
The study also found that children exposed to a range of accents at home were more positive towards different accents.
Researchers said that increasing children's exposure to a diversity of voices could be key to challenging 'accent prejudice' before it takes hold.
Prof Jeffries said: 'Children are not born judging speakers to be uneducated based on the way they speak. It is something they are socialised into believing.
'Our research suggests that exposure to accent variation may be key in tackling accent discrimination from a young age.'
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