Teach English in KongjiAnglu Jiedao - Shanghai Shi

British versus American EnglishThis research paper focuses on the difference between two forms of english, namely American and British english. I have chosen this topic because, as a non-native english speaker, I find that I was mainly influenced by American english, instead of British english. At school, we were indeed taught British english, but when watching television, listening to music etc., it is mostly American english coming to our ears. In general, it is indeed American english that is the dominant variant of World english. These differences can be quite confusing for a non-native english speaker, who often speaks and writes using a mix of British and American english. What is more, when looking up the differences between American and British english, I have noticed that I have underestimated those differences until now. This paper will list these differences and that way will help me, as the writer and future teacher, to understand these differences better and to pass them through. According to ANC (American National Corpus), American english is ?a rich english dialect of its own, with possibly numerous sub-varieties that manifest their own fascinating characteristics, many of them a result of influences from other languages and cultures that have played a defining role in the history of the united states.? Thus, American english is seen as a dialect of British english. The use of english in the united states is a result of the english colonisation which started in the 17th century. From that point on, American english has been influenced by spanish, Yiddish and other languages finding their way in to the united states. Both forms of world english differ on different levels. There are differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, writing, grammar, semantics etc. The University of Tampere has started a course on these differences and has divided them in 15 categories. I will only mention six of those categories, as I believe these are the only categories of relevance when teaching english. First of all, there are some differences in pronunciation. In this category, I think about words that have a different pronunciation but are in fact spelled in the same way in both British and American english. A famous example of this is ?potato?. More in general, there are also vowels and consonant in itself that are pronounced differently. For instance, the ?o? in ?dog? will sound different when pronounced by a British versus American speaker. Second, there are words spelled differently, but pronounced exactly the same. A common example of this is the difference between ?o? and ?ou?. Americans write color, while British people will write down colour. Both words, however, are pronounced in the same way. Third, there is a mix of writing and pronunciation differences. This refers to the same terms having a different but similar spelling and pronunciation. An example of this is aluminium versus aluminum. Fourth, semantic differences occur. For instance, the word ?mean? refers to being angry in American english, while in British english it points out that a person is not generous. Fifth, and probably most important and most confusing, the grammar of both types of english differs. This relates to use of verbs, prepositions, collective nouns etcetera. To give an example: American english often uses the gerund (omit paying) where British english uses the infinitive (omit to pay. The final difference I would find relevant to teach in class, is the fact that the same concept may be expressed by different terms or expression. Some examples: lorry versus truck, bank holiday versus public holiday,? These are the six differences I find to be most important to share in a class of english students. I do believe it is important for students to know of these differences. As I said before, I never had any knowledge of the concrete differences between British and American english, beside the fact that I knew American english often uses a ?z? where British english uses an ?s?. In my opinion, more attention should be given to this subject throughout english courses.