Reasoning behind why non-native English speakers speak American English Vs. British English

Sociolinguistics

Nami 5405010226

Esther 5405010196

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Abstract

• Introduction

• Literature review

• Methodology and limitations

• Results and discussion

• Recommendations

• Conclusion

Abstract• Course: sociolinguistic

• Title: Study of why Non-Native English speakers speak British or American English.

• Purpose: To understand why Non-native English speakers learn to speak British English or

American English

• Method: a quantitative study of people who speak English in daily life by Study from

interview, questions and attitude of both British and American English. Reading the previous

articles which concern with this research paper to find out the answer to this project.

• Material: a quantitative study of people who speak English in recording interview, and

Quantitative of question about the factor, perceive and attitude to both British English and American English.

• main result: All factors contributed in influencing Non-native English speakers English.

American English was the most popular form of English due to its increase of media publicity. Media directly connected with attitudes towards a particular form of English

Introduction

• Many courtiers in Asia were colonized by British in the past, this effect many people in Asia countries speak BrE.

• British have often been seen as the most prestigious than American English.

• In Europe, British English is still being used in the text-book, but American English text-book becomes more popular. (Tottie 2002:1-2)

• Because the influence of American English media, songs, movies, the behavior of people also change

Research Question

• Why do non-native English speakers speak British English or American English?

Themes

• 1) What are the factors that influence non-native English speakers to speak American or British English?

• 2) Are there certain attitudes towards British English and American English?

• 3) Is there a perceived status of British English and American English?

Literature Review

• British or American English? - Ann-Kristen Alftberg

• Exploring ESL Learners Attitudes Towards English Accents- Zahariah Pilus

• British English or American English Vocabulary- Charlotte Spangberg

• Standard English, what it isn’t - Peter Trudgil

Factors - school

• Zahariah Pilus Study of ESL learners attitudes towards English accents, according to his research from Malaysia, concluded that Malaysians found British English easier to learn and more useful based on the fact that the British schooling system is dominant in Malaysia.

• Charlotte Spangberg from Sweden showed within her research the schooling systems in Sweden are still following the British English system of Received pronunciation and standard English (Spångberg). - In Charlottes Study, through a series of questionnaires and finding the majority percentage, she concluded that American English was used more among the Swedish students then British English.

Factors - Media

• Spangberg states that (Spångberg) “The activities pupils take part in during their spare-time can influence the importance of knowing English and what kind of English they learn.”

• This can reflect that a students interests have an impact on the media they view which inevitably affects their attitudes towards learning a certain variety of English.

Attitudes

• (Alftberg) States “A recurrent common finding, however, seems to be the increasing influences of English through media which mainly have an effect on the use of, and attitudes towards American English.”

• Their study revealed that in 1992 the students developed positive attitudes towards American English, stating it came across as more relaxed, less snobbish and sounded better. In the same right, British English was viewed as charming, polite and pleasant sounding. In later years, research stated “A study in 1999 shows that most of the students 61.3%, preferred AE (American English)

• It could be noted that students interests had a direct effect to their attitudes of British and American English. It could be suggested that one form of English may be seen as higher in status by the student depending on the students attitude towards it.

Perceived Status

• Many may consider that the form of British English standard of RC (received pronunciation) holds a higher title then Standard American English, but that may not always be the case (Trudgill)

• Alftberg states the British English is considered more prestigious among Western Europe mainly due to the fact that British English is related to the British empire, the history and great pieces of literature that derived from the British culture (Alftberg). In alftbergs research, she concluded that some students said British English ‘sounds more important then American English.’

• Stangberg found that many students related American English to money, power and modernity where as British English was related to Education, manner and certain attributes that only certain students connected with (Spångberg).

• The idea of status can be influence by Media, Interests, history and culture of the country of which an individual lives.

Methodology

• Qualitative research

• Convenience sampling method

• Recruited participants

• Conducted interviews

• Transcribed and coded

Equipment used

Microphone Macbook Air

Limitations

• Insufficient number of interview questions.

• Interview Location.

• Prior Knowledge.

Results and Discussion

• THEMES FOR INTERVIEW ANALYSIS:

Theme A: Factors the influence English speech ( Media, School/teachers)

• Theme B: Perceived Status (High-so/ Low-so, Usefulness)

• Theme C: Attitudes ( Level of understanding, Opinions)

Factors

Media

• Recurring theme – All participants viewed American media more then British media. Movies and TV to be specific.

• SUBJECT B mentioned “American? I think like the influences from media, also like because of … like most movies that are being shown/ played in Thailand is American movies. And like the songs also American, yeah definitely American English.”

School system

• Recurring theme – 3 out of 4 participants attended British curriculum school.

• All but Subject C say they speak American english.

Attitudes

Level of Understanding

• Recurring Themes – All participants felt that American British was easier to understand and that British English was harder to understand and pronounce.

• Subject A stated that British English stresses their words. Subject B stated that the American accent is easier to understand over the British accent. Subject C stated that learning the British accent is much more difficult and Subject D states that British has a very strong pronunciation and quite difficult to understand.

• SUBJECT B: “First is the accent. I find that American English is easy to understand in terms of the accent. Even if it’s someone has very thick American accent, it’s still easier to understand what they are saying more than trying figure out what British person is trying to say.”

Opinions

• Recurring Themes - that 3 out of 4 Subjects state there are aspects to British English that they like.

• Subject A states that British English sounds clear and posh. Subject C states that it is cool and Subject D states that it is cool and sexy.

• Subject B prefered American English.

Perceived Status

High society/ Low society

• Recurring themes -3 out of 4 participants believe British English is high society and American English is low society.

• Words to describe British English.Royalty, Elegant, Classy, ‘ The British Standard’, Sophisticated, Gentlemen, Properly dressed, good manner, ‘Tradition English’ and ‘Original accent’ that British English is seen as Higher in status.

Prestige/Usefulness

• Recurring themes - 2 of 4 participants felt that both British and American English are equally beneficial.

• Subject A “ If British English is the standard, the people should be aware of the grammar and structures and all that stuff more then the little spelling differences and stuff like that.”

• Subject D’s - view American English to be more useful because individuals speaking English as a second or third language generally study American English.

Conclusion

• All themes are contributors for the reason non-native English speakers speak British or American English.

• It can be said that the reason Non native English speakers speak British English or American English depends on their attitudes towards that form of English and what media they are exposed to.

• ESL teachers can learn from this study.

Recommendations

• More participants could have been used.

• Qualitative research.

• “ Why do ESL teachers teach British or American English?”

ANY QUESTIONS?