Courses TESOL Centre

British english Vs American EnglishThere are two forms of english which are spoken, written and taught to the rest of the world. These two forms are British english and American english. British english is the form of english used within the United Kingdom. American english is the form of english used in the united states. Although both forms of english are often similar they vary in pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, idioms, and formatting of dates and numbers. This research article will focus on the differences between pronunciation, vocabulary and spelling of both British and American english. The english language was introduced to the Americans through British colonization in the early 17th century. The language spread to many parts of the world due to British trade and colonization. By 1921 the British Empire included 470-570 million people, which was approximately a quarter of the world’s population at the time. Once the language began to spread spoken english in Britain and the united states started diverging from each other in different ways which is why today there are two different recognized forms of the english language. The United Kingdom has many regional dialects but the pronunciation of Standard taught British english is called Received Pronunciation. Received Pronunciation is the accent which dictionaries are based on as well as guides for teaching english as a foreign language. It can also be commonly referred to as “the Queen’s english” or “Oxford english”. Regional dialects in the united states usually reflect the elements of the language from different immigrant groups in different parts of the country e.g. irish Americans, italian Americans etc… Due to there being two recognized forms of english, students studying english can often get confused about which words to use, how the words are pronounced and how the word is spelt. Although British and American english mostly share the same vocabulary there are different words to use for different purposes. Sometimes both forms share a word which is used for different purposes e.g. pants in British english refers to under garments whereas pants in American english refer to trousers. Sometimes the vocabulary used is only used within that form of english e.g. In British english the garment used by a baby is call a nappy whereas in American english it is referred to as a diaper. Some of the common differences in vocabulary between British and American english also include chips/french fries, autumn/fall, flat/apartment building and many more. The pronunciation of vocabulary also differs from British to American english. Both forms have different accents. In fact both the British and American forms contain a wide range of accents. The differing accents alter the way in which words are pronounced. Due to the wide range of both British english accents and American english accents it is difficult to pinpoint any pronunciation rules in both forms although there are some common differences. In British english, the ‘O’ vowel in words like dog, hot, pot, is pronounced with rounded lips and the tongue back in the mouth whereas in American english the ‘O’ is pronounced as an ‘ah’, with the lips unrounded and the tongue back but more relaxed. Another common difference is the pronunciation of the letter ‘Z’. In British english the letter ‘Z’ is pronounced ‘Zed’ whereas in American english it is pronounced ‘Zee’ so ‘zebra’ would be pronounced ‘zeebra’. To confuse matters even more the spelling of both forms often varies too. This can be very difficult for students who are studying english. It is time consuming and confusing to teach both American english and British english spelling. So usually teachers just stick to the english they know best. Students often find American english easier to spell. This is because as the American language has evolved so has the spelling. American english words tend to have a more phonetic spelling than British english. Some common differences in spelling include colour (British english)/ color (American english), centre/center, analyse/analyze, ageing/aging etc… Learners are usually already familiar with both British and American english. This is due to media such as movies, television, music, books, magazines etc… Students will often choose to mix British and American english to suit there needs. As a teacher I find it frustrating to have two different variations of english especially when it comes to vocabulary and spelling. Although, most course books do include a chapter to highlight the difference between both forms.