Children's accents are decided by those around them at nursery But this research shows their social context is much more important than people might think, even at an early age. Studies have show that, once they reach the age of five, children are more likely to speak with the accents they are surrounded by at school. But this is the first time it has been shown to apply to younger children. For the study, researchers at the uni's Babylab unit presented toddlers with pictures of familiar objects. All the children were able to identify which object the speaker was referring to when the word was in a regional accent - even if their parents are from outside the area. This was not the case when the word was called out without an accent.