Questionnaire analysis – Primary data

Females

Humanities teachers

One of the Humanities teachers was in the age range of between 41 and 50, whilst the other is between 31 and 40. In Question 3, one of the respondents wrote they were only ‘white’ and did not mention anything about being British, whilst the other respondent did not answer the question and left it blank. This could suggest that this respondent did not want to mention their skin colour or whether or not they were British. In Question 4, both of the respondents mentioned that ethnicity was a person’s shared culture and traditions, meaning they had a similar view. In Question 5, one respondent stated that nationality was the country you were born, whilst the other said ‘ethnicity goes beyond national boundaries’. One respondent on Question 6 answered that it was shared language which influences the way someone speaks, whereas the other may not have understood the question, as they only answered ‘sometimes’ and did not mention how. In Question 7, one respondent did not answer what sentence they believed to be better, but added ‘It depends on definition of better’ which shows this respondent can’t answer the question as everyone has different view of what ‘better’ means. In Question 10, both of the respondents thought that media influences the English Language rather than ethnicity. In the final question, both respondents thought that children should only be taught the ‘Standard’ English whilst one added that there is nothing wrong in knowing both and the difference between both.

Science and Social Science teachers

Half of the female teachers in these subjects referred to themselves as being just ‘British, whilst the other half mentioned they were ‘White British’. All four of these respondents defined ethnicity as being an individuals culture, and in question 5, they all noticed the main difference between ethnicity and nationality was that nationality refers to the country that you were born in. Two of the respondents (50%) were between 31 and 40, whilst the other two were between 20 and 30. Three out of the four respondents wrote that environmental and social factors can influence the way someone speaks as it is dependant on who you mix with. If your group of friends are all from the same ethnic group and so is their family, it is less likely that they will have a mix of language compared to those who are constantly mixing with other ethnic groups. The other respondent wrote about how someone’s religion may influence how they speak, as she wrote that if you are from a religious background, you may not swear. In a similar way to the results of the other females and all the men, these four respondent chose the same form of what they believed to be correct in both Question 7 and 8. In Question 9, two of the respondents thought that the English Language was getting worse and this was because of the use of slang in text messaging. However, the other respondents had a similar view to the males in that she thought the language was only evolving with the addition of new words. In the final question, all four of the respondents thought that children should only use Standard English, with two of them adding that children need to be aware of what is incorrect and that individuals will change the way they speak depending on who they are speaking to.

Other teachers

There was quite a big age range between these two respondents as one was between 31 and 40 and the over was 51+. One respondent answered to Question 3 that they were ‘white European’ rather than any mention of being British. However, the other respondents mentioned they were white. The views were similar on Question 4 when talking about the difference between ethnicity and nationality, as they both stated that nationality was the country you were born in whereas ethnicity is more about race. In Question 6, one respondent said that cultural reference such as the vocabulary in a country can affect the individuals’ choice of words. Similarly, in Question 7 and 8, they both answered as what they thought to be the correct form of English which shows they dislike the use of other forms of English. Both respondents wrote on Question 9 that they thought the English Language was getting worse because of the introduction of new technology and because of text speak.

Overall of females

62% of female respondents were between the ages of 31 and 40, with only 25% being between 20 and 30, and the final 13% being either 51 or over.

1/8 respondents mentioned they were white European, 2/8 wrote they were just ‘British’, 3/8 said they were white British, 1/8 saying they were just white, and the final respondent did not answer the Question on ethnicity.

The overall view from 7 of out the 8 female respondents was that nationality was the place you were born, whilst ethnicity refers to your culture.

The responses varied on Question 6 with some respondents mentioning environmental reasons, social reasons and shared language, whilst other referred to their class and nationality. One respondent did not understand the question and only wrote ‘sometimes’ and did not include how.

Every single female ticked the same box for Question 7 and 8, meaning they all share the same views on what they believe to be the correct standard form.

5 out of 8 of the female respondents agreed with the idea of the English language getting worse, with references to the effect of social media and text language. The other 3 respondents did not write a clear answer, and only wrote their opinion of the idea that people are becoming more lazy, and that the language is not getting worse, it is evolving.

In Question 10, the overall is that the English language is being influenced by other cultures as many of our words we use are from other languages. 3 respondents mentioned the influence of American films on our language, with some respondents simply writing ‘yes’ with no explanation.

All 8 of my female respondents agreed that only the original standard English should be taught to children rather than other forms of language.