PERCEPTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE GEORDIE AND YORKSHIRE DIALECTS

Abstract. The study focuses on English language learners´ perception of the Geordie and Yorkshire dialects – two distinct dialects of Northern England. It presents certain peculiarities of the dialects’ phonological and lexical aspects based on the learners’ perception analysis of them. The research also expands upon the geographical features of the region and its historical development within the sociocultural reality of the subject explored. It aims to determine which of the aspects hampers English language learners’ comprehension most. By fulfilling the purpose, the study reveals some specifics about the way learners of English perceive dialectal varieties. Looking at the subject from perceptual dialectology perspective, its tools are employed to gain relevant information. In order to indicate the most complicated dialectal aspect for learners’ comprehension, an experiment was conducted among bachelors of RUDN University. It is worth noting that the research participants’ ability to speak English was at Upper-Intermediate or Advanced level. In the experiment, the participants were asked to examine authentic textual and video materials, containing the dialects’ lexical and phonological features respectively. Furthermore, the learners were required to complete comprehension tasks afterwards, the results of which demonstrated their perception and understanding of the dialects’ peculiarities. The method of statistics analysis was applied to assess the experiment results. Moreover, the features of the Geordie and Yorkshire dialectal aspects are compared, facilitating a comprehensive analysis of the results. In the article, tables and diagrams contain the data obtained from the experiment. They illustrate the scale of difficulty each dialectal aspect created for the learners. Upon evaluating the experiment outcomes, the most significant features of the dialects’ phonological and lexical sides were outlined, based on various dialectical expressions, words, and salient characteristics of the Geordie and Yorkshire accents. Finally, the research results showed that the phonological side of both dialects complicated the participants’ comprehension process more than their lexical aspect. These outcomes emphasised, as well as justified, some plausible reasons for the difficulty degree that each of the dialectal aspects has.

Keywords: perceptual dialectology, Geordie dialect, Yorkshire dialect, Northern England, English language comprehension