<p>The aim of this study is to find out which variety of English pupils in secondary school use, British or American English, if they are aware of their usage, and if there are differences between girls and boys. British English is normally the variety taught in school, but influences of American English due to exposure of different media are strong and have consequently a great impact on Swedish pupils. This study took place in a secondary school, and 33 pupils in grade 9 participated in the investigation. They filled in a questionnaire which investigated vocabulary, attitudes and awareness, and read a list of words out loud. The study showed that the pupils tend to use American English more than British English, in both vocabulary and pronunciation, and that all of the pupils mixed American and British features. A majority of the pupils had a higher preference for American English, particularly the boys, who also seemed to be more aware of which variety they use, and in general more aware of the differences between British and American English.</p>

The aim of this study is to find out which variety of English pupils in secondary school use, British or American English, if they are aware of their usage, and if there are differences between girls and boys. British English is normally the variety taught in school, but influences of American English due to exposure of different media are strong and have consequently a great impact on Swedish pupils. This study took place in a secondary school, and 33 pupils in grade 9 participated in the investigation. They filled in a questionnaire which investigated vocabulary, attitudes and awareness, and read a list of words out loud. The study showed that the pupils tend to use American English more than British English, in both vocabulary and pronunciation, and that all of the pupils mixed American and British features. A majority of the pupils had a higher preference for American English, particularly the boys, who also seemed to be more aware of which variety they use, and in general more aware of the differences between British and American English.

This study attempts to further our understanding of linguistic politeness by focusing on both a Western and a non-Western language. It is based on two sets of data (one spontaneous and the other elicited) and provides a comparative analysis of three expressive speech acts produced by native speakers of British English and Thai. At face value, compliments, apologies and thanks may seem to have little referential meaning, yet these speech acts can be crucially important in originating, maintaining or even terminating social relationships. The data reveal a tendency for the two groups of speakers to use the three politeness devices in a different manner, reflecting cross-cultural differences in social norms and value systems. This project follows earlier studies of similar nature, in particular those carried out on different varieties of English. The findings are interpreted within pragmatic and sociolinguistic theoretical frameworks, and are discussed in the following format: linguistic structures of the speech acts, their functions, the topics of compliments, apologies and thanks, interpersonal and contextual factors influencing the production of these expressives, and the responses given to them. The analysis has implications for language specialists and lay people alike, in that it brings together a number of important insights with regard to these speech features that may result in miscommunication if and when British and Thai speakers converse in intercultural situations.

No description available.

<p><strong>Background and aim: </strong>According to the most recent curriculum for the Swedish upper secondary school1, the students should be able to differentiate between British and American English. Furthermore, they should be able to keep to one of the varieties, as this is a prerequisite of writing correct texts in English. In the present thesis, young Swedes’ awareness of grammatical differences between British and American standard English and which variety they use are investigated. The investigation is conducted by means of a questionnaire. The questionnaire was composed of three parts. The first part consisted of sentences written in English that the informants had to judge as written prevailingly in British or American English. In the second part, the informants had to translate sentences from Swedish to English, and then judge them as British or American. The third part of the questionnaire comprised questions concerned with language use and attitude, as well as questions on basic information such as the informants’ age, education and mother tongue.</p><p><strong>Results and conclusions:</strong> Nine informants fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The informants’ judgments of the sentences in English suggest that they are not entirely able to differentiate between British and American English. Moreover, their translations of the Swedish sentences indicate that the informants mix British and American English. Furthermore, they are not aware of which variety they use and the majority does not know whether they prefer British or American English. In addition, the findings could support the emergence of Euro-English, a Mid-Atlantic variety. </p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 1990. / Adviser: Martin Green. Submitted to the Dept. of English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [263]-273). Access restricted to members of the Tufts University community. Also available via the World Wide Web;

Some youth in London speak a non-standard variety of English whose lexical items are difficult for non-speakers to understand. This study collected naturally produced speech samples from students of various ethnicities and class backgrounds who spoke this dialect. It also polled students about their identity, as well as about their use of particular slang words. The recordings were glossed to determine the kind of slang used, as well which populations were more or less likely to use slang. The surveys were analyzed to determine relevant background characteristics of those who used slang versus those who did not. This study concludes that one’s geographic background, as well as one’s class and peer group, impact the variety of English spoken. The idea of language as a method of counter culture is advanced, claiming that speakers are using this dialect as a way to signify resistance against the highly rigid class systems of the U.K.

Background and aim: According to the most recent curriculum for the Swedish upper secondary school1, the students should be able to differentiate between British and American English. Furthermore, they should be able to keep to one of the varieties, as this is a prerequisite of writing correct texts in English. In the present thesis, young Swedes’ awareness of grammatical differences between British and American standard English and which variety they use are investigated. The investigation is conducted by means of a questionnaire. The questionnaire was composed of three parts. The first part consisted of sentences written in English that the informants had to judge as written prevailingly in British or American English. In the second part, the informants had to translate sentences from Swedish to English, and then judge them as British or American. The third part of the questionnaire comprised questions concerned with language use and attitude, as well as questions on basic information such as the informants’ age, education and mother tongue. Results and conclusions: Nine informants fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The informants’ judgments of the sentences in English suggest that they are not entirely able to differentiate between British and American English. Moreover, their translations of the Swedish sentences indicate that the informants mix British and American English. Furthermore, they are not aware of which variety they use and the majority does not know whether they prefer British or American English. In addition, the findings could support the emergence of Euro-English, a Mid-Atlantic variety.

<p>There are mainly two ways of comparing adjectives in English: the analytic and the synthetic. The analytic way is to use more and most (for example difficult, more difficult, most difficult). The synthetic, or inflectional, way is to add the endings –er and –est (for instance fast, faster, fastest). During the last twelve centuries the way of forming comparisons in English has evolved from predominately synthetic to the point where both inflections and analytic forms are used. Today many adjectives are almost always compared either synthetically or analytically (e.g. fast and difficult respectively), but sometimes we have two alternatives; for example, we can choose between more polite and politer. The author has three aims with this paper: firstly, to examine how adjectives in English are compared today; secondly, to determine how well the descriptions in modern grammars agree with authentic written English; thirdly, to see whether there have been any recent changes in the way of indicating comparison. This is a quantitative study. A corpus investigation was undertaken: some one hundred common adjectives in two British newspapers, The Guardian and The Observer, from 1990–91 and 2005 that vary in their way of expressing comparison were studied. The results were compared with six grammars from the last five decades. After the data collection, the chi square test was applied, showing how statistically significant the changes between 1990–91 and 2005 are. Judging from the data in this study, the synthetic comparison seems to be becoming less common. The author also concludes that the comparison of adjectives in contemporary British English varies considerably.</p>

Presented thesis deals with teaching differences between British and American English. Its aim is to suggest a suitable way of teaching selected vocabulary differences between these two English varieties in EFL classes. The theoretical part of the presented thesis summarizes the knowledge background gained by studying relevant researches and professional publications. On that study the author's original teaching materials are based. The practical part consists of a brief research; original materials were used in five EFL classes, and consequently their efficiency and utility was examined. The main goal of this thesis is to propose this topic as a kind of useful enrichment of English lessons and to examine the way it could be included in a lesson plan without affecting it or burdening teachers with an extra preparation. Key words: American English, British English, differences, teaching EFL classes