sciencetech-blog

comments

It can be a struggle to get children to listen to instructions with so many distractions around, but speaking with a British accent might help.

A new study claims that children respond better to an English accent than an American one - even in the US.

A trial involving 600 families found that children as young as 18 months old listened more attentively and for longer when playing an app with an English voice, compared with other accents.

It's all in the voice: A new study claims that children respond better and listen more carefully (illustrated with a stock image) to an English accent than an American one - even in the US

The research also found a northern lilt commanded more authority than clearly pronounced words said in a non-regional English accent.

The makers of Little Clever - an app aimed at helping pre-school children develop reading, counting and recognition skills - tested its puzzles app on 300 families in the UK and 300 in the US. The children's ages ranged from 18 months to six years old.

The company asked the families to try out several different voice overs for a week, including Northern English, 'received pronunciation' which is a clear English accent without much regional bias, Scottish and American.

Parents were also asked to experiment with male and female voices.

A trial involving 600 families found that children as young as 18 months old listened harder and for longer when playing the Little Clever app (pictured) with an English voice rather than an American accent

Listen up: The research also found a northern lilt commanded more authority than clearly pronounced words said in a non-regional, English accent. A stock image of a serious conversation is shown

The study found that 95 per cent of the children in the UK responded better to an English accent and surprisingly, 70 per cent of children in the US did too.

Kevin Croombs, chief executive of Little Clever, said: 'We made sure any words which are pronounced differently in the US were correct, but even the parents in America preferred the English accent, believing it sounded more authoritative.

'UK parents felt their children are already over-exposed to American accents thanks to the likes of Disney and video games, so our app made a welcome change.'

The trial also found that most of the children responded better to a female voice.

Mr Croombs said: 'As we get older we regard male voices as more authoritative, but children under five still respond better to a female voice, probably because of the bond with their mother.'

Together with his wife Louise, Mr Croombs created an app to engage children, including 101 animal puzzles divided into nine categories, which gradually become more challenging.

'Children seem to listen harder and longer when playing the game using the British accent. It just seemed to engage them better and encourage them to do better in the game,' he said.

'They seemed to like being praised in the British accent particularly and would show more excitement, such as clapping their hands and smiling wider.

'Some of the parents from the US suggested it may be the intonation of a British speaker, which carries more authority. I think some want to send their children to school in the UK now.'

The makers of Little Clever - an app aimed at helping pre-school children develop reading, counting and recognition skills (pictured) - tested its puzzles app on 300 families in the UK and 300 in the US. The children's ages ranged from 18 months to six years old