Evaluating English accents worldwide

This paper reports the findings of perhaps the largest international study considering how different English accents are perceived cross-culturally. Participants heard the same standardized recordings of Australian, New Zealand, North American, and English English accents in 19 countries. Relative to previous research, it would appear the prestige of English English is somewhat diminished, and that the North American accent is in the ascendant most everywhere. In addition to a summary of results by region, the influence of the media and intonation are briefly considered.