Elgaili Mhajoub Ahmed Fadl ELmula
Assistant Professor -the University of Gezira, Faculty of Education,
English Department, Sudan
elgailimhajoub@uofg.edu.sd – elgaili114@gmail.com
114690224–0913613577
Abstract
English language has many varieties as it is spread around the world, the main varieties of English language are British and American English and there are clear differences between them. The study aimed to categorize the differences between American and British English in Pronunciation and Spelling, and show the differences in spelling and phonetic systems and how these differences affect Secondary School students. The study adopted the descriptive-analytical method. A questionnaire is used for collecting data analyzed by the statistical package for social sails (SPSS) program. The study found that: there is a lack of awareness among secondary school students about the differences between American and British English in Pronunciation and Spelling as a result: the Sudanese Syllabus does not give students sufficient background to study English language variation, and the necessity of using new teaching methods to expose students to a wide range of varieties; so students need to be aware of the differences between American and British English in Pronunciation and Spelling. The study recommended that: teaching the main English Language varieties should be taught at an early level (basic level), teachers should use authentic recorded conversations, and authentic written scripts should be used in introducing spelling and pronunciation differences.
Key Words: Varieties, British English, Spelling, Pronunciation.
أثر الاختلافات بين اللغة الانجليزية الأمريكية و البريطانية في النطق و الهجاء علي طلاب اللغة الإنجليزية كلغة أجنبية:
أ.م.د.الجيلي محجوب احمد فضل الملا
جامعة الجزيرة – كلية التربية. / قسم اللغة الإنجليزية ، السودان
الملخص
للغة الانجليزية عدة أنواع حيث تنتشر في جميع أنحاء العالم و الأنواع الرئيسية هي الانجليزية الأمريكية والانجليزية البريطانية, وهنالك اختلافات واضحة بينهما. هدفت الدراسة تصنيف الاختلافات بين اللغة الانجليزية الأمريكية والإنجليزية البريطانية في النطق و الهجاء, إظهار الاختلاف في النظام الإملائي والصوتي بينهما وكيف تؤثر هذه الاختلافات علي طلاب المرحلة الثانوية. اتبعت الدراسة المنهج التحليلي الوصفي. تم جمع البيانات عن طريق الاستبانة, تم تحليل البيانات بواسطة برنامج الحزم الإحصائية للعلوم الاجتماعية (SPSS) توصلت الدراسة الى عدة نتائج أهمها:ان هنالك نقص في المعرفة بالإختلافات بين اللغة الإنجليزية الأمريكية والبريطانية في النطق و الهجاء نتيجةً لأن مناهج اللغة الانجليزية كلغة أجنبية لا تعطي للطالب خلفية كافية لدراسة الاختلافات اللغوية في النطق و الهجاء, ضرورة استخدام الوسائل التعليمية الحديثة التي تعرض للطلاب مجموعة واسعه من الاختلافات في اللغة الانجليزية. أوصت الدراسة بالآتي:, ينبغي تدريس التباينات في اللغة الإنجليزية للطلاب في مراحب مبكرة (مرحلة الأساس), كما ينبغي علي المدرسين استخدام المحادثات المسجلة الأصلية والنصوص المكتوبة التي تساعد في عرض الاختلافات الإملائية والنطقية.
الكلمات المفتاحية: الاختلافات, الإنجليزية البريطانية, النطق , الهجاء.
1.0 Introduction
The English language is very common today as it is spoken on all five continents as a result of colonial expansion in the last four centuries or so. The two main groups of English are British and American. For each there are standard forms of English which are used as yardsticks for comparing other varieties of the respective areas, American English share many features in common with the British English, despite the similarities, there are set of differences and every variety has its is own set of rules, especially in spelling and phonetic system. So this paper investigates the differences between American and British English in spelling and pronunciation.
1.1 Statement of the Problem
The English language has many varieties as it is spread around the world, the main varieties of English language are British and American English, despite the two varieties sharing many features, there are differences between them, these differences extend to include many linguistic features, so many of EFL students do not concentrate and differentiate in their usage to these varieties, especially in spelling and pronunciation, so this paper tries to shed light on this problem for proper usage.
1.2 Objectives of the Study
The study has many objectives to be achieved:
- Categorize the differences between American and British English.
- Show the differences in spelling and phonetic systems between American and British English.
1.3 Methodology
The study adopted the descriptive-analytical method. The sample of the study was thirty (30) EFL teachers to whom the questionnaire has been distributed, The data were analyzed by the (SPSS) program, and the results were shown.
1.4The Importance of the Study
This current study focuses on the differences between the two main varieties of English Language; American and British English. It displays the differences in Pronunciation and Spelling as they are the start point to learning how to speak and write any language and the basic components of oral written communication.
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
There are many varieties of English Languages other than American and British ones. The focus of this paper is on how contemporary British English differs from American. These are two varieties of a language; it is convenient to take one as the basis for comparison and to describe the other by contrast with it. This study takes America as its base and describes the British on that basis. The reason for the approach is that America has more native speakers than British and rapidly becoming the dominant form of English in non-native countries other perhaps than those of Western Europe. “Much European established academic basis favours British as a model, but evolving popular culture is biased toward American. This widespread dissemination of the American variety makes it a reasonable basis for describing British” John Algeo, (2006: vi).
2.1 Differences Between British and American English:
The most obvious difference between British and American is in the “tune” of the language, that is, the intonation that accompanies sentences. When British or American talks, they identify themselves primarily by the tunes of their respective varieties. In singing, the prose tune is overridden by the musical tune, making it much harder to distinguish between British and American singers. Other pronunciation differences exist in stress patterns and consonant and vowel articulation and distribution. Those differences have been described in fine detail. Vocabulary differences have been very widely noted between the two varieties, and they are fairly extensive, although also often subtler than most lists of supposed equivalences account for. Popular awareness probably centres more on lexical differences than on any other sort, partly perhaps because they are the easiest for the layperson to notice. Subtle differences in national style also exist, but have been but little and only incidentally noted (Algeo 1989, Heacock and Cassidy 1998).
Grammatical differences have been treated, but mainly by individual scholarly studies focused on particular grammatical matters. Extensive and comprehensive treatment is rare. Popular writers on grammar are aware that British and American differ in their morph syntax but tend to be sketchy about the details. Anthony Burgess (1992), who is one of the linguistically best-informed men of letters, settled on a few verb forms as illustrations. The grammatical differences between the two principal national varieties of the language are, however, manifold. Some general treatments of British-American grammatical differences,
2.2 Other English Varieties:
American and British English is spoken in many countries as a second language, although South Americans usually learn American English. Here is an abbreviated summary of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa (Christopher Davis, (2005).
- Canada:
English and French are the two official languages of Canada. The English spoken in Canada strongly resembles American English, although the spelling conforms in large part to British English. Words such as car park, cutlery, holiday (a vacation in the US), jelly, porridge, serviette, tick (a checkmark in the US), till, and top up are a reminder of Canada’s links to Britain. Canadians often use the British pronunciations when it comes to words such as apricot, process, project, and produce.
- Australia:
Australian English closely resembles British English in the written form, although some of the slang terms that are commonplace in everyday speech in Australia can sound quite strange to a Briton. Some accents resemble British speech, whereas broader accents are typified by the (oi) sound for the long /’as in fine [foin]. Where other varieties of English have the long a vowel [à], broader Australian accents may have a sound like long / [ï]. The broad Australian pronunciation of the word hate may thus sound like the word height to Americans and Britons. From a Britons point of view, regional accents in Australia are not very great despite the large size of the country—although regional variation does exist, such as in the names for the different sizes of beer glasses.
- New Zealand:
New Zealand English is also very similar to British English in written form. New Zealanders think they speak in a more refined manner than Australians, but the average foreigner would be hard-pressed to tell the difference. Rising inflexion is also common there. A short (i) (as in lift) often has a distinctive schwa-like sound. The short e often sounds like a long e, hence set and seat can sound similar to someone not from New Zealand.
- South Africa:
Written South African English is also similar to British English. Spoken South African English has a vague resemblance to New Zealand English with the short e sounding almost like a long (e).
2.3 Challenges in English Pronunciation:
Ladefoged (2005) defines a vowel as any sound that occurs in the middle of a syllable and is produced by nothing restricting the breath stream. English has at minimum 10 basic or pure vowels (Odisho 2003, Peacock 2005), while Finnish has eight of them (Phonetics of Finnish). However, in English vowels usually provide the first clue in recognizing different accents (Ladefoged 2005), and it is virtually impossible to describe the vowel system of English at any general level that would minimize regional variation. The number of vowels is thus determined by the variety in question and vowel charts will look different depending on whether they represent Received Pronunciation (RP), General American English (GA), Scottish Standard English, and so forth (e.g. Peacock 2005). GA, for instance, has 14 to 15 different vowels and the so-called BBC English has up to 20 (Ladefoged 2005). These numbers include diphthongs such as the vowel sounds in the words bite [baɪt] and boy [bɔɪ]. A diphthong is a sound whose vowel quality changes within a syllable but because it occurs in only one syllable it is classified as a vowel (Ladefoged 2005).
Partly the same vowels can exist in, for instance, RP and GA, but the places in which they occur may differ.
Phoneme example of use in RP Example of use in GA (General American)
/i/ beat, here
/ɪə/ here
/æ/ cat, path
/ɑ/ path, car, stop
/ɒ/ stop
Vowels
Ladefoged (2005: 26) defines a vowel as any sound that occurs in the middle of a syllable and is produced by nothing restricting the breath stream. English has, at\minimum, 10 basic or pure vowels (Odisho 2003: 48, Peacock 2005: 104-106), while Finnish has eight of them (Phonetics of Finnish). However, in English vowels usually provide the first clue in recognizing different accents (Ladefoged 2005: 27), and it is virtually impossible to describe the vowel system of English at any general level that would minimize regional variation. The number of vowels is thus determined by the variety in question and vowel charts will look different depending on whether they represent Received Pronunciation (RP), General American English (GA), Scottish Standard English, and so forth (e.g. Peacock 2005: 104-106). GA, for instance, has 14 to 15 different vowels and the so-called BBC English has up to 20 (Ladefoged 2005:28-31). These numbers include diphthongs such as the vowel sounds in the words bite [baɪt] and boy [bɔɪ]. A diphthong is a sound whose vowel quality changes within a syllable but because it occurs in only one syllable it is classified as a vowel (Ladefoged 2005: 29).
Partly the same vowels can exist in, for instance, RP and GA, but the places in which they occur may differ.
Phoneme Example of use in RP Example of use in GA
/i/ beat beat, here
/ɪə/ here
/æ/ cat cat, path
/ɑ/ path, car car, stop
/ɒ/ stop
As can be deducted from the examples in Table 1, vowels do not only differ in quality. Instead, they may be of different lengths and ‘colourings’ depending on what consonants they occur together with (Peacock 2005: 100). For instance, GA is an orthotic accent which means that /r/ is always pronounced regardless of its position in a word (Odisho 2003: 119). As a result of this, vowels preceding /r/ in words such as fur, be ardour party are affected by the so-called /r/-coloring which alters the pronunciation of the vowel by bringing it closer to the /r/ position (Celce-Murcia et al. 1996: 104). Finnish vowels do not change in quality although the distinction between short and long vowels is considerable, whereas the vowels in English tend to have spectral alterations along with changes in length (Zampini 2008: 226).
Consequently, Finnish learners might have trouble recognizing vowel sounds that do not exist in their mother tongue. In English, vowels are characteristically reduced in quality when not stressed (Paananen-Porkka 2007: 43). However, whether the reduced forms are considered separate from full vowels or different forms of the same sound is debatable. Full vowel sounds are produced by using three physical variables, or articulator dimensions: tongue height, tongue position (front/back) and lip form (round/spread) (Paananen-Porkka 2007: 45). Reduced vowels, on the other hand, only differ in tongue position. In any case, reduced vowels are extremely common the mid-central reduced vowel /ə/ or the schwa is the most common vowel in both American and British English (Ladefoged 2005: 29). It usually appears in small words like a the and toes well as in unstressed syllables in words such as about and around (Ladefoged 2005: 29, Celce-Murcia et al. 1996: 108).
As regards vowels, the distinction between /i/ and /ɪ/ is particularly problematic for Finnish learners of English, and Peacock (2005: 92-93) mentions three reasons for this. First, while the Finnish /i/ and the English /i/ are similar, the English /ɪ/ is somewhere between the Finnish /i/ and /e/, which makes it difficult for Finns to both perceive and pronounce. Second, spelling complicates the matter since both vowels are usually spelt with an i. This often makes learners assume that there is only one sound and they identify it with the /i/ in their mother tongue. Third, although Finnish speakers can distinguish between short and long vowels quite easily, they may experience difficulty in recognizing differences in quality and conclude, erroneously, that the English /i/ and /ɪ/ correspond to the Finnish [ii] and [i], respectively. Thus they should be provided examples of words that only differ in quality, not length as in beat[bi:t] vs. bid[bɪd].
With regards to the teaching material, it appears that when discussing vowels, learners’ attention should be drawn to regional variation and the inconsistency between spelling and pronunciation. Vowel sounds do not seem particularly difficult to pronounce as such. Nonetheless, the fact that vowel sounds may differ greatly between different varieties of English needs to be addressed. As to spelling, Wells (2005: 103-104) notes that non-native speakers tend to cling to the written form of words more than native speakers do, which often leads to pronunciation errors. For this reason, it should be emphasized that, unlike in Finnish, sounds can have several different spellings in English.
Consonants
In comparison to vowels, there is much less variation in consonants among different regional varieties of English (Ladefoged 2005: 49). Consonants are usually classified by using three criteria: phonetic status (or voicing), place of articulation, and manner of articulation (Odisho 2003: 35). In short, these categorizations tell whether the consonant is produced with the vocal cords vibrating or not, where the sound is made and how the breath stream is restricted in the vocal tract (Celce-Murcia et al. 1996: 42). For example, the consonant sound /b/ at the beginning of the ball can be described as a voiced bilabial stop in contrast with the /p/ sound at the beginning of Paul, which is a voiceless bilabial stop. Both sounds are produced in the front part of the mouth by using the two lips that stop the air stream briefly before it is released. Thus they only differ in their phonetic status.
For most Finnish learners, English sibilants are the most difficult sounds to learn (Peacock 2005: 16). Sibilants are a group of consonants where a stream of air is first forced through a narrow gap (=formed by the tongue) and then over a sharp obstacle (=teeth) (Ladefoged 2005: 166). Whereas Finnish has only one sibilant /s/, English has four: /s/, /z/, /ʃ/ and /ʒ/, as well as the affricate counterparts’ /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ of the last two (Peacock 2005: 14). A minimal group consisting of English sibilants could look, for example, as follows:
1) sue [su:] “to institute legal proceedings”
2) Zoo [zu:] “a place where live animals are exhibited to the public”
3) Shoe [ʃu:] “one of a matching pair of coverings shaped to fit the foot”
4) Chew [tʃu:] “to bite repeatedly”
5) Jew [dʒu:] “a person whose religion is Judaism”
(Definitions adapted from the Collins English Dictionary 2.0)
Sibilants are characterized by high acoustic energy and rounding of the lips, and even if the sibilant /ʃ/, for instance, did not exist in the phonology of a language it may have other uses such as the use of ʃʃʃʃʃʃʃʃʃʃ (‘shhhhhh’) as a request for others to quiet down (Ladefoged 2005: 167). In English, sibilant sounds are common and the ability to distinguish between them is of great significance. As an example, Peacock (2005: 16-17) maintains that, in his opinion, learning to pronounce palato-alveolar sibilants /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ is considerably more important for Finnish speakers than, for instance, intonation. He also remarks that since sibilant sounds may cause trouble even in isolation, the instruction on sibilants should start at isolated sounds, then move on to simple words and only finally to more complex ones.
In comparison to Finnish, a distinct feature of English phonology is the voicing of consonants (Peacock 2005: 50). In short, vocal folds vibrate when producing voiced consonants and do not vibrate when producing voiceless consonants (Ladefoged 2005: 201). Table 2 includes those consonant sounds in English that have voiced counterparts and demonstrate the functional load they carry.
Voiceless Voiced Contrastive examples
/k/ /g/ crowvs. grow [krəʊ] vs. [grəʊ]
/p/ /b/ peak vs.beak [pi:k] vs. [bi:k]
/t/ /d/ timevs. dime [taɪm] vs. [daɪm]
/s/ /z/ sipvs. zip [sɪp] vs. [zɪp]
/ʃ/ /ʒ/ cash vs. casual [kæʃ] vs. [kæʒuəl]
/tʃ/ /dʒ/ cheap vs. jeep [tʃi:p] vs. [dʒi:p]
/f/ /v/ feel vs. veal [fi:l] vs. [vi:l]
/θ/ /ð/ thigh vs. they [θaɪ] vs. [ðaɪ]2.5.0 Some Pronunciation Differences
2. 4Change of [æ]
Around the American Revolutionary War vowel [æ] started to change to Southern English, the future seed of RP. This near-open front unrounded vowel [æ] is first lengthened to [æ:] and later lowered to the open back unrounded vowel [A:]. However, the change did not take off in GA, bringing about a new difference between both accents.
The change of vowel occurs in specific places, but it is deemed to be inconsistent, as we will see in the examples below. Vowel [æ] becomes vowel [A:] in RP when:
• Vowel [æ] is before sounds [s], [f], and [T], as in pass, calf, and path.
• Vowel [æ] is followed by consonant clusters such as [ns], [nt], [nÙ], and [mpl], as in dance, can’t, ranch, and sample.
• The changes are not applied before other consonants, as in cat, pal, cab, and drag.
Here we give some examples to illustrate the above rules as well as a few exceptions.
• Words pronounced with [æs] in GA but with [A:s] in RP: brass, glass, glass, grass, pass, mast, past, master, plaster, clasp, grasp, gasp, mask, task, ask basket. Exceptions: crass, gas, lass, mass, astronaut, pastel.
2.5 Change from [ju:] to [u:]
Around the beginning of the twentieth century, several changes took place in the English vowels. One of them was the so-called yod-dropping, the omission of the sound [j] before [u:]. The change is named after the Hebrew letter yod, which represents the sound [j]. Both RP and GA embraced the change, although GA extended the cases in which yod-dropping was applied. Yod-dropping before [u:] takes place in RP and GA in the following cases.
• After the post-alveolar affricates [Ù] and [Ã], as in chew [Ùu:], juice [Ãu:s], and Jew [Ãu:s].
• After [r], as in rude [ru:d], prude [pru:d], shrewd [ Sru:d], and extrude [Ik”stru:d].
• After clusters formed by a consonant followed by [l], as in blue [blu:], flu [flu:], and slew [slu:].
Apart from this common corpus of words, in GA as well as in many other varieties of English we observe yod-dropping in further cases.
• After [s] and [z], as in suit [su:t], Zeus [zu:s], and hirsute [“h3:rsu:t].
• After [l], as in lute [lu:t],
• Especially in GA, after [t], [d], and [n], as in tune [tu:n], stew [stu:]dew [du:], duty[“du:tI], and new [nu:].
Notice that spellings EU, use, UI, ew, and u followed by consonant plus vowel frequently correspond to sounds [ju:], or just [u:] if yod-dropping has taken effect. The lists above provide instances of this observation.
2.6 Pronunciation of Letter (t)
In American English letter t is pronounced in six different ways:
• As an aspirated sound [th], when it is the first sound of a word, as in temp-ting [“themptI6], or an inner and stressed position,
• As a de-aspirated sound [t], when the syllable does not carry the stress, as in the second t is tempting [“themptI6], or after [s] as in stop [stA:p], or at the ends of syllables as in pet [pet], or patsy [“pætsi].
• As a flapped sound [R], the most distinguishing allophone, consists of pronouncing an alveolar flap instead of the plosive dental [th] or de-aspirated [t]. This change occurs when t is at an intervocalic position, and the first vowel is stressed, as in water [“wO: tr]. This phenomenon also applies when words are linked
ed together in a full prosodic unit, as in the sentence what is this? [“w2RIz”ðIz] when uttered it in colloquial register.
• As a glottal stop [P]. A glottal stop is a voiceless sound produced by the obstruction of the airflow in the vocal tract. The glottis is the organ that prevents the air from passing through the vocal tract. The glottal stop substitutes the de-aspirated [t] sound at the end of words, as in put[puP] or report[rI”PO:rP], and also in the presence of a stressed syllable followed by patterns [t+vowel+n] or [tn], as in button [“b2Pn],
• As a glottalized stop [tP]. In a glottalized [tP] the stop [t] and the glottal stop [P] are produced at the same time. For its production, this allophone follows the same rules as the glottal stop does. Example where this sound can be found are mutton [“m2tPn],or curtain [“k3:rtPn].
• The sound [t] could be completely omitted in some circumstances. In the presence of the pattern formed by a stressed vowel followed by [nt], the sound [t] is not pronounced in some varieties of GA.
2.7 Spelling Differences
Gelderen (2006) explains how differences in spelling between AmE and BrE occur for external reasons – the conscious decisions of editors, educators and politicians. The slight spelling differences can be understood by both AmE and BrE speakers; hence, the relatively standard English may be responsible for keeping the varieties mutually understandable.
Tottie (2002) acknowledges how most spelling differences are systematic, although some have to be learned individually. The spelling differences are divided and organized by simplified rules and they are seen as systematized. There are alternative ways to spell some words Christopher Davies (2005).
Table Shows Some Differences in Spelling in AmE and BME
When adding a suffix to a word ending with an l in the US, remember to double the l only if the stress is on the second syllable e.g., travel, traveller but patrol, patrolling. In Britain, one always double the l in these words e.g., traveller. Most words ending in –our in British spelling end in or in American spelling as in the chart above.
2.8 One Letter Differences
Some words of special interest are those whose American and British spellings differ by just one letter, which, however, makes a difference in pronunciation. As in the chart below:
| American English British | British English |
| Aluminum | Aluminium |
| Costumer | Costumier |
| Greenskeeper | Greenkeeper |
| Hot flashes hotpot | Hot flushes |
| Mom | Mum |
| Putter | Potter |
| Salesroom | Saleroom |
2.9 Some Terms of Punctuation Terms:
The British and American names for punctuation marks and other writing symbols also differ. The decimal point in the US is the same as a full stop,
| American term British | British term |
| {} curly brackets | Braces |
| () parentheses brackets brackets brackets brackets brackets brackets | Brackets |
| / slash | Stroke |
| Check mark tick tick tick tick tick tick tick | Tick |
| !exclamation point exclamation-exclamation-exclamation-exclamation-exclamation | Exclamation mark |
| . period fulfil | Full stop |
| “quotation marks inverted inverted inverted | Inverted commas |
The table shows Differences in Pronunciation Terms
3.0 METHODOLOGY
This part introduces analyzing the collected data to prove the research hypotheses and describes the way by which the data was analyzed. The descriptive-analytical method has been used in interpreting and explaining data which was collected through a questionnaire distributed to thirty (30) EFL teachers, and then the data was analyzed with (SPSS) program.
3.1 Reliability and Validity of the Questionnaire:
The study used a statistical package for social sciences to analyze the data collected. It used Pearson correlation and the results were obtained as follows:
R: Correlation
r: reliability of the study
R= 0.71
r = 0.83
The calculated coefficient of correlation reached 0.91 which indicates agreement in results for reliability. This shows that this instrument of the questionnaire as a whole is reliable and stable.
4. Data Analysis and Discussion
Table (4. 1): Like many languages, the English language has many different varieties which differ in many aspects.
Table (4.1) teachers who (agree) with the statement is (100%) according to this result that language as any language has many different aspects.
Table (4. 2): Language variety of any region is an essential part of its culture.
Table (4.2) teachers who (agree) with the statement is (96.7%), and (to another extent) are (3.3%) according to the responding (agree) that language variety of any region is an essential part of its culture.
Table (4. 3): Neglecting the language varieties is one of the reasons behind the difficulty of understanding many topics.
Table (4.3) teachers who (agree) to the statement are (73.3%) and who choose (to other option) are (26.7%) according to the result of the responding (agree) that neglecting the language variety is one of the reasons behind the difficulty of understanding many topics.
Table (4. 4): Main English varieties should be taught in the early stages to avoid misunderstanding.
Table (4.4) teachers who choose (other options) are (23.3%) and those who (agree) are (76.7%) according to the responding (agree) that main English varieties should be taught in early stages to avoid misunderstanding.
Table (4. 5): There is a lack of knowledge of language different varieties among Sudanese EFL students at the secondary level.
Table (4.5) teachers who (disagree) are (6.7%), to other options are (10%) and who (agree) are (83.3%) according to the respondent (agree) that the lack of awareness about language different varieties among Sudanese EFL students in the secondary level.
Table (4. 6): The new world is wide open due to the existence of the internet and this may expose students to other varieties that they may not come across.
Table (4.6) teachers who choose (other options) are (20%) and those who agree are (80%) according to this respondent agree that the new world is wide open to the existence of the internet and this may expose students to other varieties which they may not come across.
Table(4.7): Understanding English varieties decreases misunderstanding of the different writings.
Table (4.7) teachers who choose (dis-agree) are (13.3%), who choose (other option) are (13.3%) and who (agree) are (73.3%) according to the respondent (agree) that understanding English varieties decreases misunderstanding of different writings.
Table (4. 8): EFL teachers can use the classroom to teach students about the differences between English varieties.
Table (4.8) teachers who choose other options are (36.7%), disagree are (3.3%) and who agree are (60.0%) according to this respondent (agree) that EFL teachers can use the classroom to teach students about the differences between English varieties.
Table (4. 9): Teaching cultural varieties requires certain techniques to be followed by both syllabus designer and teacher.
Table (4.9) shows that teaching cultural varieties require a certain technique to be followed by syllabus designer and teacher, most respondents (73.4%) agree, (13.3%) other options and (13.3%) disagree that, (73.4%) agree to teach cultural varieties requires a certain technique to be followed by both syllabus designer and teacher. CONCLUSION, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.0Conclusion
The English language has many verities because it is the most spoken language all over the world, and it is taught as a foreign language widely, there are two main varieties, American and British English, these two varieties have many differences in phonetic systems and pronunciation if patterns, as well as the difference in spelling system. This study traced the differences in spelling and pronunciation of the two varieties and their effect on students.
5.1 Findings
- Language Variation comes as a result of many reasons, such as the regional difference.
- Variation of language in any specific region is an essential part of its culture.
- Interference of mother tongue and the other languages is one of the reasons that cause phonetic variation in the English language
- Lack of awareness about the differences between British and American English is one of the reasons behind the difficulty of understanding many topics.
- Sudanese EFL syllabus does not give students sufficient background about English Language variation.
5.2 Recommendations
- Sudanese syllabi should introduce the differences between English Language varieties.
- EFL students at the secondary level should be exposed to the main differences between British and American English.
- EFL teachers should be aware of the differences between English Language varieties.
- In order to help students to understand the differences in pronunciation between British and American English properly teachers can use authentic records of native speakers’ conversations.
- Teachers should help students to differentiate between these varieties through authentic written scripts.
REFERENCES
-Burgess (1992). A Mouthful of Air: Language and Language Especially English. Hutchinson (UK) William Morrow & Co (US). ISBN 0-09-177415-2.
-Christopher, Davis (2005). A guide to American and English Language (divided by a common language). Boston. New York.
-Cele, Murcia (1992). Teaching Pronunciation: A reference for teaching English to Speakers of Other Language. WWW.Amazon.com.
-Children (2006). The English Language, Arizona State University Press. The History of English Language, WWW.Amazon .com ISBN 9789027232373
–Heacock, Paul, and Carol-June Cassidy. 1998. “Translating a Dictionary from British to American.” In The Major Varieties of English: Papers from MAVEN 97, ed. Hans Lindquist, Staffan Klintborg, Magnus Levin, and Maria Estalg,93-9. V axjo, Sweden: university of Vaxjo.
-John, Algeo (1989). British or American English? Cambridge. University press
-John, Alego and Thomas Pyles. 2005. The Origins and Development of the English Language. 5th ed. rev. Boston: Thomson, Wadsworth
-https://www.onderwijsincijfers.nl/kengetallen/sectoroverstijgend/nederlands-onderwijsstelsel/stromen-in-het-nederlandse-onderwij.
-John, Algeo (2005). The origins and development of English Language (6th ed). Boston. Wadsworth. ISBN 978-1-4282-3145-0.
-Ladefoged (2005). A Course in Phonetics, Blackwell publishing. http//linguistlist.org/issues/ 1313-1447.html.
-Lafefged (2005). Vowels and Consnant, willey. ISBN 1405124598,97814051245124591.
-Odisho (2003), Technique of Teaching Pronunciation in ESL, Bilingual & Foreign Language. Lincom Europe. ISBN3895867047,9783895807040.
-Paananen-Porkka (2007). Speech Rhythm in an Interlanguage PerspectiveFinish Adolescents Speaking English, Helsinki University Press.
-Peacock, (2005). The Language of Peace: communicating to create Harmony. Oxford University Press.
-Tottie (2002), An Introduction to American English, Malden, MA.
-Zampini (2008). Phonology and Second Language Acquisition. www.ggoogle.com
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