The Tendention of Using American English

Introduction A. Background English, one of the most spoken languages in the world, has a lot of variants. The most well-known English variants are British and American English. Although British and American English are the same language, they have some differences in vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and spelling (http://www. uta. fi/FAST/US1/REF/usgbintr. html, 2011). However. one variant cannot be said to be superior to the other because both have been standardized (Kemmer,2009).Despite no course about the differences between British and American English, PBI students they are still able to communicate using English. It was not known whether they tend to use British or American English. Their ability to recognize those variants of English is also questioned. Therefore, their use of American and Btritish English is studied in this research. B. Research Problems Based on the description above, the problems that can be formulated are: 1. Do PBI students more frequently use British t han American English vocabulary? . What is the tendency of PBI students in using British and American English pronunciation? 3. How successful do PBI students in identifying reading and listening passage of British and American English? 4. What is PBI students’consistency in using British and American English? C. Aims The aims of this research are: 1. to analyze whether PBI students more frequently use British English or American English vocabulary. 2. to analyze the tendency of PBI students in using British English and American English pronunciation. 3. o analyze the ability of PBI students in identifying reading and listening passage of British English and American English. 4. to analyze PBI students’ consistency in using British and American English. D. Benefits By conducting this research, the benefit that the researchers can get is to widen the knowledge concerning the differences between British and American English. For science, it is expected that this research paper can contribute to Linguistics course material. For the next researcher, this paper is expected to be able to be used as a reference to conduct a research with a similar topic.E. Scope To narrow down the discussion of this research, the researchers limit the research to the use of British and American English among PBI students of Sanata Dharma University year 2010. The other limitations are British and American English vocabulary, pronunciation, and spelling. The researchers do not study the use of British and American English among PBI Sanata Dharma other than year 2010 and other aspects of differences between British and American English such as grammar. Previous Studies/Related Theories English, one of the most spoken languages in the world, has a lot of variants.The most well-known English variants are British and American English. Although British and American English are the same language, they have some differences in vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and spelling. T he differences in grammatical pattern can be seen in these examples: BrEAmE half an hour a half hour five dollars a pair (five dollars the pair) at university at the university administration are administration is team are team is government are government is plenty of time plenty time half of the world half the world need it badly need it bad eally hard real hard now right now have you got†¦? do you have†¦? Ihaven’t got†¦ I don’t have†¦ try to help them try help them The differences are also found in some verbs form: BrEAmE burn – burnt – burnt burn – burned – burned dream – dreamt – dreamt dream – dreamed – dreamed mow – mowed –mown mow – mowed – mowed shine – shone – shone shine – shined – shined learn – learnt – learnt learn – learned – learned bet – betted – betted bet – bet – be t dive – dived – dived dive – dove – dived pleaded – pleaded -pleaded plead – pled – pledThe differences in spelling are for example in the words: BrEAmE colour, honour, labour, neighbour color, honor, labor, neighbor calibre, centre, fibre, theatre caliber, center, fiber, theater travelled, cancelled, labeledtraveled, canceled, labeled kidnapped, worshippedkidnaped, worshiped skilful, wilful, enrolment skillful, willful, enrollment defence, offence, pretence defense, offense, pretense abridgement, judgement abridgment, judgment authorise, characterise, colonise, authorize, characterize, colonizeThe differences in pronunciation can be explained by following explanation: 1. Br [a:] before -f, -s, -S, m, n is pronounced [? ] (ask, after, half, path, chance, plant, sample) 2. Br [i] in timid, America is often pronounced [? ] 3. Br [a] in but, hurry is pronounced closer to [? ] 4. AmE does not leave out the r-sounds in better, perceive, b ird, here, poor 5. Br [ju:] after consonants d, t, n is pronounced [u:], eg. duty, tune, new 6. BrE reduces the secondary stress more than AmE, eg. secretary, secondary, necessary 7.Suffix -ile is pronounced [-? l] in AmE and [-ail] in BrE, eg. agile, fertile, hostile, mobile The differences in pronunciation are in for example in the words: BrE AmE resource [ri’zo:s] [ri:so:s] figure [fig? ] [figj? r] leisure [lez? ] [li:z? r] either [ai ] [i: r] research [ri’s? :c] [ri:s? :rc] glacier [gl? si? ] [gleis? r] schedule [sedju? l] [skedz? l] and so on. The differences in vocabulary are for example in the words: BrEAmE public toilets restrooms curriculum vitae resume, personal history the cinema the movies, the movie theater ift elevator lorrytruck pavement sidewalk taxi cab (book)shop (book)store rubbish garbage subway underpass cottage cabin sweets candy, and so on. According to Svartvik and Sager (2005:2) English pronunciation varies a great deal, whereas English grammar is very consistent and homogenous. The lexical items of the language is fairly similar as well although people from the two geographic areas use diverse vocabulary and slang. David Crystal (2005:308) shows how the lexical items from the two regions, American and British, can be classified into different categories.The first category shows that there are examples of two words that have a single meaning, e. g. sweets which is called candy in America. The second category shows the same word is used in both countries but with different meanings, for instance the word caravan which is used in both American English and British English but with different meanings, that is to say that the word caravan means â€Å"a vehicle towed by a car† in Britain whereas a caravan is â€Å"a group of people that travel through a desert† in American English. According to Professor H.Marckwardt of Princeton University â€Å"When foreign teachers are worried about which English they should t each – British or American – it seems to me that we’ve now arrived at the point where we can say without hesitation: Teach the form that you know and that you have the resources to teach. † So, as teacher we have to be able to identify the American English and British English, understand the differences, then we mind which English that we use. Methods/ Data Collection The method that is used in field project 2 was quantitative method because this project was dealing with numbers.To collect the data, we used questionnaire. We used the answer of the questionnaire as the parameter to identify the result of this small research. The students that were chosen in this project were 20 PBI students from year 2010 of Sanata Dharma University. Though the number of the students was too small for the result to be considered as statistically secure, but at least, the result could give a clue to the reality of the situation. The students are randomly chosen, without cons idering gender, age, social status and other aspects that can influence the choice in language using.The next step of this project was questionnaire distribution among the respondents. The questionnaire consisted of four parts where the first part was vocabulary identification. In this part, fifteen questions and pictures that showed different things were provided. Besides each picture, the respondents could find two synonymous words, one American and one British. Then, the correspondents had to circle one out of two words that they found the most familiar. For example, a picture of a building was provided in the questionnaire. Besides that picture, two synonymous words were written.The correspondents then must circle one word that they recognize most, either flat (BrE) or apartment (AmE). By seeing the result, we can count how many American English vocabulary items or British English vocabulary items circled, so we can know the tendency of students using the vocabulary. [pic] The s econd section is reading section. This section consisted of two reading passages using British and American vocabulary items. In the first passage, we provide British English vocabulary items and in the second passage, we provide American English vocabulary items.The correspondents then must identify which text consisted of British English Vocabulary items and which text consisted of American English vocabulary items. [pic] The third section is pronunciation. Pronunciation section is to see the tendency of PBI students in using American English pronunciation or British English pronunciation. In this part, the respondents are offered 10 words which have different pronunciation in American English and British English. [pic] [pic]From that questionnaire, therespondent have to pronounce the10 words, and the observer will circle the phonetic transcription based on the respondents’ pronunciation on the assessment paper – whether they pronounce the words using American Englis h pronunciation or British English pronunciation. By seeing the result, we can count how many American English pronunciation or British English pronunciation circled, so we can know the tendency of students pronounce the words. The fourth part of the questionnaire was listening section. In this part, three recordings from BBC and TOEFL listening materials were provided.The duration of each recording was approximately 1 minute and 30 seconds. The correspondents are asked to listen to the three recordings and identify whether the speakers in each conversations are using British accent or American accent. After collecting the data from the respondents, the researchers then analyzed the data. The respondents’ answer are classified according to the quantity of British and American English using. The questionnaire result that showed more circle in AmE English vocabulary items were separated from those that showed more circle in BrE vocabulary items.The result that shows the student s who were tend to pronounce the word in AmE way also separated from the result which showed those who were tend to pronounce words in BrE. Besides, the result of the students who could have identified the recordings and the reading passages correctly were also separated from the result of those who couldn’t have identified correctly. From this classification, the students’ tendency in using either British English or American English and the students’ ability in identifying the passages of British English and American English can be seen clearly.Results A. VOCABULARY SECTION The result of the vocabulary part is that students who chose the answers with more American English vocabulary items are 6, and students who chose the answers with more British English vocabulary are 14. The result is explained in following table: |Result |Number of students | |American English Tendency |6 | |British English Tendency |14 |From this result, we can say that there are 6 studen ts have tendency to use American English and there are 14 students have tendency to use British English, so PBI students have tendency using British English vocabulary items than American English vocabulary items. B. PRONUNCIATION SECTION In the pronunciation part, the result is that there are 8 students pronounced the words using more American English pronunciation, 8 students pronounced the words using 5 American English pronunciations and 5 British English pronunciations, and there are 4 students pronounced using more British English. The result is explained in following table: Result |Number of students | |American English tendency |8 | |Equal |8 | |British English tendency |4 | From this result, we can say that there are 8 students have tendency to use American English and there are 4 students have tendency to use British English. So we can conclude thet PBI students have tendency using American English pronunciation than British English pronunciation.C. READING PASSAGES The r esult of reading part is that there are 14 students could identify the reading passages with correct all, and there are 6 students couldn’t identify the reading passages. The result is explained in following table: |Result |Number of students | |Correct all |14 | |Correct one |0 | |Incorrect all |6 |From the result, we can say that most of PBI students can identify the American English reading passages and British English reading passages. D. LISTENING PASSAGES The result of listening part is that there are 11 students could identify the three listening passages perfectly, there are 2 students could identify two listening passages correctly, and there are 4 students could identify only one listening passages correctly, and no one could’n identify the listening passages incorrect all. The result is: Result |Number of students | |Correct all |11 | |Correct two |5 | |Correct one |4 | |Incorrect all |0 | From the result, we can say that most of PBI students can identify th e American English listening passages and British English listening passages. Discussion Based on the results, it can be seen that PBI students tend to use British English vocabulary items instead of those of American English.It is revealed that 14 students answer the vocabulary questionnaire with most Btitish English vocabulary items. Meanwhile, 6 students mostly use American vocabulary items to answer the questionnaire. Regarding their pronunciation, PBI students tend to use American style to pronounce the words in the questionnaire. The results show that 8 students answer it with American English pronounciation and 8 students mix British and American English pronunciation equally. The other 4 students tend to use British English style of pronouncing.Most PBI students can identify the British and American English reading passages, which means that they know the differences between British and American English spelling and vocabulary items contained in the reading passages. From th e results, it is seen that 14 students can answer all the questions in the questionnaire correctly. Meanwhile, 6 students cannot identify British and American English reading passages correctly because all their answers are wrong. Most PBI students are also able to identify the listening passages correctly. 1 students have all correct answers, 5 students have 2 correct answers and 4 students have only 1 correct answer in the questionnaire. It means that 11 students can recognize the differences between British and American English pronunciation well while 9 students cannot recognize British and American English pronunciation well. Therefore, it can be inferred that PBI students are inconsistent in using British and American English. Such conclusion can be drawn because they tend to use British English vocabulary but when it comes to pronunciation, American English style is mostly used.Besides, there are no students who answer the questionnaire consistenely with all British or Americ an English vocabulary and pronunciation; all of them have mixed answers. That inconsistency is even strengthened by the fact that they are actually aware of the differences between British and American English, as shown in their ability to identify British and American English reading and listening passages correctly. Closing Remarks Based on the previous elaboration, it can be concluded that: 1. PBI students more frequently use British English vocabulary. . PBI students tend to use American English pronunciation instead of British English pronunciation. 3. Most PBI students are able to identify reading and listening passage of British English and American English correctly 4. PBI students are not consistent in using British and American English. â€Å"When foreign teachers are worried about which English they should teach – British or American – it seems to me that we’ve now arrived at the point where we can say without hesitation: Teach the form that you know and that you have the resources to teach. -Professor H. Marckwardt of Princeton University to the hesitant and confused teachers- Students of PBI are actually taught and prepared to be the English teachers do not matter they want it or not. Realizing that there are two popular kinds of English (British English and American English), as the teacher who teach English as second language, they have to also master the differences, and be able to identify them. As teachers they will be asked to provide and arrange teaching materials such as reading passage, listening passage and also explanation.This is why teacher must be equipped with the knowledge of British and American English differences so they are able to provide explanation or passage using consistent choice (British or American English). Using British English or American English is not the matter. But using British or American English consistently is the emphasis. For example, teachers can not mix the British and American Engli sh in one reading passage that they make because it will result either confusion or student’s inconsistency in using the language variation.To improve students’ knowledge and ability either to identify the variation or use it consistently, the study program has to provide a specific course which can equip the students. If to create new course is less possible, the lecturers of each course must be able to integrate their course with this important equipment of being English teachers. As the quote above, however, foreign English teachers have to mind which English they use to provide better teaching. References Benedikt, Zdenek. Differences Between American English and British English. retrieved on March 27, 2012) Kemmer, Suzanne. (2009). The History of English. http://www. ruf. rice. edu/~kemmer/Histengl/spelling. html (retrieved on June 10, 2012) Spangberg, Charlotte. (2007). British English or American English Vocabulary. Goteborg University : Department of English. _ ___. (2011). American vs British English: Basic Differences and Influences of Change. http://www. uta. fi/FAST/US1/REF/usgbintr. html (retrieved on June 10, 2012) Appendices 1. Questionnaire [pic] [pic] 2. Assessment Paper