Varieties of ENGLISH

AMERICAN ENGLISH OR BRITISH ENGLISH:

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

AND WHICH TO TEACH?

By Stephanie Hirschman

LinguaHouse

Jul. 8, 2024

Introduction
Every now and then we get some feedback about lessons which focus on the use of just with present perfect (as in, “I’ve just spilled my coffee!”). The message is that this does not serve the needs of classes operating in American English, where a more common sentence would use past simple (as in, “I just spilled my coffee!”). It’s absolutely true that these two varieties of English use the present perfect differently in this instance, and it raises some important issues about the relationship between British and American English in general and what we should teach.
This is an area where I have a lot of personal experience – I was born and raised in the United States but have lived all my adult life in England. I’ve also worked as an Americanizer for organizations like the BBC and Oxford University Press, basically translating British English into American English. In this post, I’d like to explore some of the differences between these two varieties of English and how to support our students as they encounter these.
Where I give examples, I will place the British English item first, followed by the American, for example: chips/fries.

Grammar differences
We’ve already looked at how American English uses past simple rather than present perfect in sentences with just, and this is also true for already and yet. In fact, speakers of American English generally use present perfect forms far less often than speakers of British English.
Other grammatical differences include past participle forms like got/gotten and dived/dove or simply different spellings of this form like learnt/learned. There are also differences involving prepositions (at the weekend vs. on the weekend) and articles (in hospital/in the hospital), to give just a few examples.
I’d argue that none of these differences impair communication and that teachers could quickly point them out to students as they come up. However, if students are preparing for an English exam which specifies a variety of English, they need to produce the sanctioned usage for that context to avoid losing points. Students also need to be consistent in whatever variety of English they’re using.

Vocabulary differences
Differences in vocabulary are well-known to most English learners and can lead to some misunderstandings. If an American English speaker tells a British English speaker, “I really like your pants!” the Brit is going to feel very worried that their underwear is visible. The lexical areas of cars (boot/trunk), babies (nappy/diaper), time (midday/noon) and education (public school and college are especially problematic) include a number of differences, but there are so many it would be impossible to list them all.
Unfamiliar terms can slow down communication, so students should be aware that this is an issue, even if we can’t prepare them for every difference. Teaching communication repair strategies, like asking politely for repetition or clarification (“Sorry, but when you say midday, do you mean twelve o’clock?”) will serve students well.
Of course, spelling is also different for certain word categories like theatre/theatre, humour/humor, travelling/traveling and to practise/to practice. Again, I’d make students aware of the differences and focus on the spelling preferred by any exams they need to take.

Pronunciation differences
Most of the sounds of British English and American English are the same. However, casual observers will note that the easiest way to sound British is to drop the /r/ sound at the end of words or syllables, and the way to sound American is to pronounce this /r/ (for example, car /ka:/ versus /kar/).
Another very characteristic British phoneme is /ɒ/ as in clock which does not exist in American English (/klɑk/). Finally, the British /əʊ/ phoneme (as in nose) is rendered slightly differently by Americans: /oʊ/. We can also note that some words can have different syllable stress - for example, adult/adult. It’s best to teach students whatever pronunciation is most natural for the teacher, and this includes any regional dialects of British or American English or other world varieties of English like Australian English or Indian English that they speak. Non-native accents are also fine.
I’d also like to highlight an area which doesn’t get much attention – the role of intonation. It’s a technical area, and almost certainly too much for low level classes to take on board, but there are differences in how yes/no questions are expressed, for example. This may result in an American English listener not recognizing that a question has been asked, and therefore not responding. The converse is that British English speakers may find that American speakers sound too direct. Students who expect to use their English with native speakers should be made aware that this may occur.

Different communication styles
In my experience, this is the area which most confounds native speakers, although it may not turn out to be an issue for students. Of course, there are individual differences, but I’d say that on the whole, American English speakers tend to take longer speaking turns than British people, who expect their listener to draw them out a bit by asking questions. Americans are very positive while British people might be more measured in their enthusiasm. Americans share personal information, for example about money or health problems, more fully than the British. And finally, many Americans find swearing offensive while many British people are not bothered by it.
These differences are rarely covered by teaching materials, although they would be of interest to some students like businesspeople who work with both groups of native speakers.

Which to teach? How to teach it?
I’ve already said that a teacher’s own natural pronunciation is the best model for the class, and I’d say the same goes for all other language points – it’s very difficult to assume a different identity while teaching. However, other factors may come into play when choosing which variety of English to teach. First and foremost must be students’ own needs. This may be down to location – if you’re teaching in an anglophone country, the decision is made for you, although you may also need to take account of students’ plans for future study or work. In some teaching contexts, the variety of English will be dictated by the materials available or even prescribed by an institution, state or country.
Linguahouse offers both British English and American English versions of lessons to support teachers in both contexts.
Whatever variety you choose, it’s worth adding extra enrichment to lessons by pointing out any differences you are aware of as they arise. The teachers’ notes in Linguahouse lessons often include some commentary on this. Students may also appreciate a special one-off lesson comparing selected points of British and American English, for example:

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A final thought
The profile of English users has changed dramatically over the last few decades. Our students are now far more likely to be using English with other non-native speakers than with natives, and there’s no way of telling whether their communication partners have learned British or American English, or even to what extent the language of instruction will be expressed in the user’s English. The goal for our students is to achieve effective communication with any other user of the language. Therefore, to return to the example in the introduction, there may be good reason to teach some American English learners about present perfect with just.
English users may sometimes be surprised by the grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation they encounter, but as long as they’re prepared for this to happen, and have some repair strategies, I think it’s best to relax about the differences in English varieties and let everyone get on with it.

Tags: Teaching ESL; Varieties of English

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/blog/post/american-english-or-british-english-whats-the-difference. Accessed on September 19, 2024. © 2008–2024 LinguaHouse.com. All rights reserved.