2023 Citizen Science project

In summer (2023) there was an opportunity to take part in ongoing research by Claire Childs.
Claire's earlier work featured in our 2020 workshop case study on on grammatical change in the use of 'never' in English dialects.
Teachers and students were invited to help with Claire's new research project which digs deeper still into regional variation in the grammar of English dialects...
... then to join an interactive webinar to see the results!

How to get involved

Use our lesson starter (below) to introduce the activity and situate it within the A level curriculum
Contact us for the survey link to share with students so they can fill in the survey in class or for homework.
- The first part of the survey asks for basic social information (e.g. age, area of residence).
- The main survey asks you to read a series of sentences and rate each one according to how often you would use it in informal conversation.

Survey still open (as at 28 Nov 2023) - email us at englishlanguagetoolkit@york.ac.uk if you'd like us to send you the survey link.

Your students then share the survey link with other students, friends and family.
Optional: Use our extension task to provide basic training in survey design and ethics, to help your students prepare for NEA
Optional: Discuss as a local team what you expect the results of the survey to show (and why)

This recorded interactive online event included an interactive talk by Claire Childs on the survey results plus some Q&A.
Please don't let anyone fill out the survey who has already seen this 'results' video!!

Noticing non-standard dialect features (or not)

Data collection methods for topics in sociolinguistics

Q: Can we use these classroom materials and take part in the survey after the online events?
- A: Yes! Contact us by email for the survey link, and then use the video to view results.
- Please don't let anyone fill out the survey who has already seen the 'results' video!!
Q: Can we join the live online event if we don't take part in the research at all and/or don't manage to get more people to take part locally?
- A: Yes! That's fine - of course. You are welcome to sign up just to come to the online event York to hear about the research on the day.
Q: Can we take part in the survey if we can't come to the online event?
- A: Yes! That's also fine - of course. You will still need to register at the link above, so we can send you link to the online survey.

For questions about the research, the classroom materials or the online event please contact: englishlanguagetoolkit@york.ac.uk