Teach English in Ashby Woulds - TEFL Courses

One of the topics that will occur several times throughout teaching and learning english is the difference between British and American english. As Oscar Wilde so brilliantly put it in his short story 'The Canterville Ghost': “We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language.” Others have said that the two countries, ie. the UK and the usa, are divided by the same language. Besides the various dialects of english that should be experienced in the classroom for listening comprehension, the actual differences and similarities of these two languages, British and American english should be talked about in class. It is on the one hand fun to explore the varieties of these languages but also of vital importance. Of course a speaker of British english will mostly be understood by speakers of American english and vice versa but sometimes the different meanings of the same words could get you into serious trouble if you are not aware of them. If a speaker of British english said 'I could really murder a fag', he or she is not a potential murderer of a homosexual, as would be understood by speakers of American english, but wants to express that he/she is in need or want of a cigarette. This of course is a rather extreme example and most of the times the differences in meaning might only lead to some slight confusion, for example when somebody says he/she is 'pissed'. Another important aspect of British english vs. American english in the classroom is, that the teacher should be consistent in which he/she uses. This might not be too difficult for a teacher who is a native speaker. A non-native teacher would however have to choose either one or the other; which one he/she chooses is not important. It will, however, be easier for the students if they learn one of the two varieties and then are introduced to the other specifically. For example, the teacher could make a special American english vs. British english vocabulary lesson where the students learn the different words that are used for the same thing, eg. truck=lorry, apartment=flat and also the words that exist in both languages but have different meanings, eg. football, fag, to be pissed … Another difference that should be discussed in class is spelling , eg. color vs. colour, program vs. programme, etc. Not only should the teacher her-/himself be consistent with the english he/she uses, but should also accept both variations from the students, especially if they have previously learned english from other teachers. Depending on the experiences the students have, some might have had a teacher who taught British english, others had a teacher who taught American english. The students should chose the english they feel more comfortable with and they should also be encouraged to inquire about differences and peculiarities of the two. Last but not least, there are the different ways of pronouncing words. Again, it does not matter which of the two the teacher chooses, but if he/she teaches pronunciation, he/she should pay attention to the standard pronunciation of the english in question. Especially if the teacher him-/herself is not a native speaker, a pronunciation dictionary can help: These usually list the different pronunciations for General American and Received Pronunciation. A suitable introduction for a lesson that deals with American and British pronunciation would be listening to the George and Ira Gershwin classic “Let's call the whole thing off”. British english vs. American english is an important topic when learning and teaching english. It is an essential part of english that should be discussed in the classroom. We see that Oscar Wilde was quite right.