Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1. INTRODUCTION.
THE COMMONWEALTH.
2.1.3. The dismantling of the British empire: XXth and XXIst century.
2.2.1. Definition.
222 M i i i l d l
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-world-… 1/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
2.2.2. Main principles and values.
3.1.1. Spelling.
3.1.2. Vocabulary.
3.1.3. Grammar.
3.1.4. Punctuation.
3.1.5. Pronunciation.
5. CONCLUSION.
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
1. INTRODUCTION.
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-world-… 2/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
The present unit, Unit 66, aims to provide a useful introduction to the cultural
dimension of the English language nowadays from a general overview.
Then we shall focus on two specific manifestations of the English language,
that is, the so-called distinction between British English and American
English. Moreover, we shall examine the impact of the English language out
of English-speaking countries by addressing the question of the presence of
the English language in Spain and the introduction of anglicisms . In doing
so, it is within the richness of the English language that we shall approach its
cultural diversity and development of its linguistic varieties not only in
English-speaking countries, but also in terms of intercultural influences all
around the world.
So, the unit is to be divided into four main chapters which correspond to the
four main tenets of this unit. Thus, Chapter 2 provides a brief history of the
English language cultural dimension in and out the Commonwealth so as to
offer a general overview of the influence of English around the world. Yet,
why do we relate it to the Commonwealth? It must be borne in mind that,
though it originated in England and built from several other languages
(Germanic, Norse, French), English spread worldwide with the rise of British
colonialism, from the British Isles to Australia, Canada, India, South Africa,
New Zealand, the United States and elsewhere. Hence the link to these group
of countries under the common heading of Commonwealth.
Then, we shall start by reviewing (1) the origins of the British colonial empire
from the seventeenth century to the present day. Hence we shall review
basic notions on (a) the first British empire, which traces back to the
fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth century; (b) the second
empire, which ranges the nineneteenth century; and (c) the dismantling of
the British empire in the twentieth and twenty-first century in terms of
colonies, and for our purposes, states members. In doing so, we aim at
offering a general overview of those countries which adopted the English
language as a native (mother tongue) or second language, commonly
known as the Commonwealth. So, we shall review (2) the cultural dimension
of the English language within the Commonwealth countries in terms of (a)
definition, (b) main principles and values in terms of cultural diversity, and
how these principles and values are present in linguistic terms in (c) the
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-world-… 3/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
Finally, we shall approach (3) the cultural dimension of the English language
out of the Commonwealth scope. In doing so, we shall establish three
parametres with respect to the way the English language is used in other
countries, for instance, (a) as a native language (as in the United States),
(b) as a second language (as in India), and (c) as a foreign language (as in
Spain). This distinction will prepare the ground for next chapters on the
distinction between British English and American English and the presence
of English in Spain.
Note that within this policy of imperial expansion and the establishment of
new colonies all over the world, historians make a distinction between two
British empires which follows a temporal classification within different
centuries. Thus, according to www.wwnorton.com (2004), the first British
empire is to be set up in the seventeenth century, “when the European
demand for sugar and tobacco led to the development of plantations on
the islands of the Caribbean and in southeast North America. These
colonies, and those settled by religious dissenters in northeast North
America, attracted increasing numbers of British and European colonists”.
Hence, “the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries saw the first
British Empire expanding into areas formerly controlled by the Dutch and
Spanish Empires (then in decline) and coming into conflict with French
colonial aspirations in Africa, Canada, and India. With the Treaty of Paris in
1763, the British effectively took control of Canada and India, but the
American Revolution (1776) brought their first empire to an end”.
On the other hand, a further phase of territorial expansion that led to the
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-world-… 6/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
During the next decades, the British empire was compared to the Roman
empire because of its extension, but the nineteenth and twentie th centuries
(up to the present day) were just about to see the development in the
dismantling of the British Empire with the declaration of independence of
the British colonies in India (1947) and Hong Kong (1997). So, one by one, the
subject peoples of the British Empire have entered a postcolonial era, in
which they must reassess their national identity, their history and literature,
and their relationship with the land and language of their former masters
(www.wwnorton.com).
There is no doubt that the political, social and economic background of the
seventeenth-century
Great Britain established the main basis for the policy of colonial expansion
in the following
The seventeenth century has its starting point in the death of Elizabeth I
(1603) and the accession of James I to the crown. This period, known as the
Stuart Age (1603-1713) and also called the Jacobean Era, the age of
Cromwell and the Restoration, is characterized by crisis, civil wars, the
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-world-… 7/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
Under the rule of James I (1603-1625), Britain achieved the unification of the
crowns of England and Scotland, and brought the long war with Spain to an
end. Although this greatly helped the English treasury and also James’s
reputation (as rex pacificus), the policy was, in part, unpopular because
peace meant that both the English and the Dutch had to acknowledge the
Spanish claim to a monopoly of trade between their own South American
colonies and the rest of the world.
Whereas for the first half of the century the population continued to grow
and, as a result, there was pressure on food resources, land and jobs, and
increased price inflation, the late seventeenth century saw the easing, if not
the disappearance of these problems. Family- planning habits started to
change and new methods of farming increased dramatically. From the
1670s, England became an exporter as opposed to a net importer of grain.
The seventeenth century is also probably the first in English history in which
more people emigrated than immigrated, hence the period of American
colonization.
Yet, undoubtely, the most important step which favoured the imperial
expansion was made in the economic field: the foundation of the Bank of
England in 1694. As mentioned above, the continental wars of James II
(1685-1689) and William of Orange, known as William III (1689-
1707), were really expensive, and as a result, England was forced to raise a
considerable national debt. In 1694, the Scotsman William Paterson founded
the Bank of England to assist the crown by managing the public debt, and
eventually it became the national reserve for the British Isles. Yet, in 1697, any
further joint-stock banks were forbidden just to secure its position of
prominence in England.
It was this debt that forced the British government to use the colonies as a
source of economic income. In fact, the Secretary of state for the South was
established in London so as to deal with colonial business. Other
government departments, such as the treasury, the customs, the admiralty,
and the war office also had representatives in the colonies where the chief
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-world-… 8/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
and the war office also had representatives in the colonies, where the chief
representative of the Imperial government was the governor, appointed by
the king or by the proprietors with his approval.
The general desire in this century was for the American continent and
islands serve as a source for products and as a market for their
manufacturers. Till the end of this century the pressure of France expansion
on almost all sides of the American colonies, except the sea, was a constant
remainder to them of their ultimate dependence on England’s military
support and their main aim was to develop a naval supremacy over France.
The colonies were classified into (1) New England colonies, made up by
Rhode, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Among them, the
most famous first colonies were Plymouth colony (1620) and Massachusetts
Bay Colony (1629), which were settled by two groups of of religious
dissenters who escaped religious persecution in England: the Pilgrims and
the Puritans; (2) the rest of British colonies in America followed after
Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay, consisting of Middle colonies, such as
New York, Pennsylvania, the three counites of Delaware, and Maryland, which
were namely characterized by a wide diversity, both religious, political,
economic, and ethnic; and (3) the southern colonies which include
Maryland, Virginia, Georgia and the two Carolinas (north and south). Yet, the
most important to mention is Virgina colony, which is considered to be the
first permanent settlement in North America under the name of the English
colony of Jamestown (1607), was the first English colony1 in America to
survive and become permanent and become later the capital of Virginia
and the site of the House of Burgesses.
1619 large numbers of Africans were brought to this colony into the slave
trade. Thus, individual workers on the plantation fields were usually without
family and separated from their nearest neighbours by miles. This meant
that little social infrastructure developed for the commoners of Virgina
society, in contrast with the highly developed social infrastructure of colonial
New England.
brought relevant changes in the colonies: whereas some of the them sprung
from their common roots as part of the British Empire, others led up to the
American Revolution, and to the final
part to the efforts of John Smith, whose moto was ‘No work, no food’. He put
the colonists to work, and befriended
The first event relates to the French and Indian War (1754- 1763), which
meant the American extension of the general European conflict known as
the Seven Years’ War. Also, this war increased a sense of American unity in
men who might normally have never left their colonies to travel across the
continent, and fighting alongside men from decidedly different. On the other
hand, the second event, the Royal Proclamation (1763) , which was a
prohibition against settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains , aroused
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 11/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
opposition in the colonies over the next years and through a series of
measures, which were to be named as acts. These acts lead to the
declaration of their independence in a remarkable document, the
Declaration of Independence. The committee had intrusted that task to
Thomas Jefferson, who was chosen for two main reasons: first, because he
was held to possess a singular felicity in the expression of popular ideas
and, second, because he represented the province of Virginia, the oldest of
the Anglo- American colonies.
In the rest of the world, interests expanded through the eighteenth century
to such extent that in the early years of the 18th century the East India
Company proves successful regarding commercial interchanges in India
and, in fact, a statutory monopoly of trade was established between
England and India (1708). The number and importance of factories made
the English Company have the control on the area (it had three presidencies
at Bombay, Calcutta and Madras) although Bombay was the only absolute
possession in French or English hands. Despite the fact that it was not a pure
trading company, it found no rivalry from other European states in India
since the Portuguese and Dutch, which had established their position in
India, left with few and unimportant possessions or factories.
Overseas, during the earlier half of the century the British empire established
more successful trading companies not only in the West Indies but also in
Africa (the Royal African Company) and in the South Sea (the South Sea
Company). On the American Continent, the Caribbean islands not only
provided Britain with sugar and slave trade but also with strategic
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 12/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
possessions, which was a crucial issue in the fight between England and
France for colonial possessions. In fact, as stated above, the British
government established the Navigation Act (1773) so as to monopolize the
trade of its products (namely tobacco and sugar) and therefore, establish a
close economic system and guarantee a sheltered market in Britain, not
subject to competition from other colonies, such as those of France, Portugal
and Spain.
In the second half of the century, some remaining British colonies were lost
temporarily after the treatise, for instance, the Caribbean islands were
controlled by France and Tobago and Minorca were no longer British.
However, the rest of colonies were not economically strong enough to think
of independence even if they had wanted it, as it was the case of South
Africa, which was a military and trading port, a naval station and a port of
call. Canada was of greater economic importance in the sense that its
citizens were free to manage their local affairs, so the demand for self-
government did not imply a wish for separation. The colonies were therefore
asking for something like municipal independence.
In 1768, the first British empire reached the second phase of expansion with
the exploratory voyages of James Cook, who undertook the first of three
voyages to the Pacific, surveying New Zealand, modern Australia, Tahiti and
Hawaii. His second voyage (1773) made him the first Britain to reach
Antarctica, and his third voyage (1778-1779) led him to discover and name
island groups in the South Pacific, such as the Sandwich Islands.
Unfortunately, Cook was killed on Hawai on 14 February 1779.
Eventually, the colonisation of the Antipodes, that is, Australia and New
Zealand took place as an attempt to find a place for penal settlement after
the loss of the original American colonies. The first shipload of British
convicts landed in this largely unexplored continent in 1788, on the site of the
future city of Sydney. Most convicts were young men who had only
committed petty crimes. In the nineteenth century (1819) new settlers were
allowed to set up in New South Wales and by 1858 transportation of convicts
was abolished.
Following the information given in www wwnorton com “During the next
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 13/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
Following the information given in www.wwnorton.com, During the next
decades, two great statesmen brought the issue of imperialism to the top of
the nation’s political agenda: the flamboyant Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881),
who had a romantic vision of empire that the sterner William Ewart
Gladstone (1809–1898) distrusted and rejected. Disraeli’s expansionist vision
prevailed and was transmitted by newspapers and novels to a reading
public dramatically expanded by the Education Act of 1870.
Symbolically, the British Empire reached its highest point on June 22, 1897,
the occasion of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, which the British
celebrated as a festival of empire. It was a great moment where the British
Empire was compared to the Roman Empire2, comparison which was
endlessly invoked in further discussions and literary works (Conrad’s Heart
of Darkness (1902); Thomas Hardy’s Poems of Past and Present (1901)).
In 1897 the Empire seemed invincible, but only two years later British
confidence was shaken by the news of defeats at Magersfontein and Spion
Kop in the Anglo-Boer War (1899- 1902). Those and other battles were lost,
but eventually the war was won, and it took two world wars to bring the
British Empire to its end. Those wars also were won, with the loyal help of
troops from the overseas empire”.
2 “The Roman Empire, at its height, comprised perhaps 120 million people in
an area of 2.5 million square miles. The British Empire, in 1897, comprised
some 372 million people in 11 million square miles. An interesting aspect of
the analogy is that the Roman Empire was long held – by the descendants
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 14/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
Also, between the years 1857 and 1858 Britain acquired in India the cities of
Agra, Bengal and Assam after some local wars against French influence.
Perhaps the Napoleonic Wars brought about more new acquisitions to the
British empire in this century than any other war, since the Crimean War
(1854-1856), the pacification programs in Africa, and some conflicts in New
Zealand (against the Maoris) made little or no difference to the British
empire. Yet, the most serious conflict was just about to come towards the
end of the century with the War in Sudan (1884) and the Boer War (1881,
1899-1902). So, as we can see, still in the nineteenth century, Great Britain
maintained her political and imperial sovereignty.
1850s, they were ruled by legislative bodies, since the colonies continuously
asked for
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 15/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
However, these legislative bodies governing the new settlements were soon
to be replaced by an executive body which took over the financial control.
This elected assembly would be represented by the figure of the governor
and would be responsible for the colonial government. Therefore, these
settlements became ‘crown colonies’, and were subject to direct rule, as we
can
see in the African and Pacific expansion where the crown colony system was
established. Let us examine how this new colonial governing body was
applied in the colonies of Australia, Asia and Africa.
Finally, the greatest development of the British Empire took place in Africa in
the last quarter of the century. The reign of Queen Victoria brought about a
great enthusiasm for a ‘similar Roman empire’, whose power might extend
from the Cape of Good Hope to El Cairo. This idea fascinated the British
citizens who, in Queen Victoria’s two jubilees, offered colonial conferences,
the search of new areas of opportunity, and the discoveries and wars for
mining wealth in South Africa. In fact, the spread of the British empire
comprised by the nineteenth century nearly a quarter of the land surface
and more than a quarter of the population of the world.
From 1882 onwards Britain controlled Egypt and Alexandria (by force), and a
joint
2.1.3. The dismantling of the British empire: XXth and XXIst century.
Therefore, by 1897 the Empire seemed invincible, but only two years later
British confidence was shaken by the news of defeats at Magersfontein and
Spion Kop in the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). Hence, after the Boer War
(1902), the countries of the overseas empire wanted a greater measure of
self-government, and those and other battles were lost. Yet, eventually the
war was won, and it took two world wars to bring the British Empire to its end.
Those wars also were won, with the loyal help of troops from the overseas
empire (more than 200,000 of whom were killed in World War I alone)”.
Commonwealth.
During the Second World War, Britain’s civilian population found themselves
under severe domestic restrictions, and occasionally bombing. Also, conf lict
accelerated many social and political developments and growing
nationalist movements impacted both on the British rule of Empire and on
the individual nations of the British Isles. Hence, most of the remaining
imperial possessions were granted independence, for instance, fifty years
after Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, India was cut in two to become the
Commonwealth countries of India and Pakistan.
The most recent development in the dismantling of the British Empire was
the restoration to Chinese rule, under a declaration signed in 1984, of the
former British crown colony of Hong Kong, on the southeastern coast of
China, where the Union Jack was finally and symbolically lowered on July 1,
1997. So, one by one, the subject peoples of the British Empire have entered a
postcolonial era, in which they must reassess their national identity, their
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 18/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
history and literature, and their relationship with the land and language of
their former masters.
As seen above, “territorial acquisition began in the early 17th century with a
group of settlements in North America and West Indian, East Indian, and
African trading posts founded by private individuals and trading companies.
In the 18th century the British took Gibraltar, established colonies along the
Atlantic seacoast, and began to add territory in India. With its victory in the
French and Indian War (1763), it secured Canada and the eastern Mississippi
Valley and gained supremacy in India” (Britannica, 2004). By 1776 the
American colonies were controlled by governors appointed by the British
government and by 1783, North American colonists got their independence
by establishing the Constitution of the United States.
After that, the British began to build power in Malaya and acquired the Cape
of Good Hope, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and Malta. The English settled Australia in
1788, and subsequently New Zealand. Aden was secured in 1839, and Hong
Kong in 1842. Britain went on to control the Suez Canal (1875-1956) and after
the 19th-century partitition of Africa, it acquired Nigeria, Egypt, the territories
that would become British East Africa, and part of what would become the
Union of South Africa. It must be borne in mind that prior to 1783, Britain
claimed full authority over colonial legislatures, but after the U.S. gained
independence, Britain gradually evolved a system of self-government for
some colonies. Hence since Dominion status was given
After World War I, Britain secured mandates to German East Africa, part of
the Cameroons, part of Togo, German South-West Africa, Mesopotamia,
Palestine, and part of the German Pacific islands. Yet, the dominions signed
the peace treaties themselves (Paris Peace Conference (1919), where
commissions were appointed to study specific financial and territorial
questions, and the Treaty of Versailles, an international agreement signed in
)
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 19/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
2.2.1. Definition.
Rico, which has been a commonwealth rather than a state since 1952; and
“its residents, though
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 20/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
definition, the Commonwealth’s (b) main principles and values, and how
these principles and values are present in (c) the countries which founded
the Commonwealth, namely (i) Canada, (ii) Australia, (iii) New Zealand, (iv)
South Africa, (v) India, and (vi) the Caribbean Islands. Finally, (3) we shall
approach the scope of the English language at an internationa l level in
those countries which do not have the English language as a mother tongue
or second language, but as a foreign language.
The Commonwealth strengths lie in the following principles and values. First
of all, among the three most important principles we include (Secretariat,
2003): first, “the combination of the diversity of its members with their
shared inheritance in language, culture and the rule of law”; secondly,
“seeking consensus through consultation and the sharing of experience”;
and finally, “sharing a commitment to certian fundamental principles set
out in a Declaration of Commonwealth Principles agreed at the Singapore
meeting in 1971 and in follow-up Declarations and Communiqués.”
On the other hand, “Commonwealth ‘values’ are the principles that bind
Commonwealth member countries together and they derive from various
Commonwealth Declarations and Principles agreed upon at various
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGMs). These values
are enshrined in the 1991 Harare Commonwealth Declaration (Zimbabwe),
hi h hi i t t d t fb i i i l At Millb k
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 21/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
which enshrines common interests and a set of basic principles. At Millbrook
(New Zealand) in 1995, Heads of Government adopted an action
programme to fulfil their commitment to the Harare Principles. At Coolum
(Australia) in 2002, Heads of Government committed to ‘The Coolum
Declaration on the Commonwealth in the 21st Century: Continuity and
Renewal’.”(Secretariat,
2003).
there are no distinctive grammar features. We also highlight the fact that
there are also several words of Canadian origin (chesterfield).
Australia was long inhabited by Aboriginals until the first English sett lement,
at Port Jackson (1788). It consisted mainly of convicts and seamen, who
were to make up a large proportion of the incoming settlers. In linguistic
terms, Australian English starts in the second half of the eighteenth century
when pidgin English appeared due to the interrelationship of settlers and
Aboriginals. The Aboriginal vocabulary of Australian English has become one
of the trademarks of the national language (boomerang, jumbuck –
sheep-). Yet, the number of Aboriginal words in Australian English is quite
small and confined to the naming of plants, trees, animals, and place-
names. Nowadays, though English is the official language, Australian English
is known for its preserving nature, since it still keeps eighteenth and
nineteenth-century lexis from the European Continent (Wessex, Scotland,
Ireland). Moreover, it has no regional variation of accent.
In linguistic terms, the New Zealand language has been influenced by its
Australian neighbours (bush lawyer, bush telegraph) as well as by the
Scottish language, namely in family names (Dunedin, Murray). From
Australia, many Zealanders were influenced by the native Maori culture,
hence many maori words were borrowed on making reference to animals,
plants and local trees (kiwi). In addition, Zealanders created their own
vocabulary for some places, roads and local places (lines).
Historically speaking, India is the home of one of the world’s oldest and most
influential civilisations of South Asia. By the early seventeenth century, the
East India Company was founded and attracted many European visitors up
to the eighteenth century. In linguistic terms, it was in the nineteenth century
that, at the highest peak of the British empire, there was a flood of English
administrators, educators, army officers and missionaries who spread the
English language throughout the sub-continent. Hence by the turn of the
century English had become the prestige language of India.
After a century, the Jewel of the Crown had added many Indian words into
the English language, so as to be able to express different concepts. In
additio n, Indian English possesses a number of distinctive stylistic fatures,
some of which are inspired by local languages and some by the influence of
English educational traditions (change of heart vs. God is merciful).
Nowadays, even after Indian’s independence (1947), there are more
speakers of English in India than in Britain (over 70 million). English became
the official language of everyday life at any sphere. It is worth noting that,
though the speakers of English belonged to the educated ruling elite, English
is taught at every stage of education in all the states of the country.
In linguistic terms, we may highlight the fact that the tiny Indian population,
once native to the region, speak creolized forms of the invading European
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 25/51
13/11/2020
g g
Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
When approaching the cultural dimension of the English language out of the
Commonwealth, we deal with a widespread phenomena: English as a
common means to communicate all over the world. Actually, namely
spoken in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and
103 other countries, “English is the second most popular ‘first’ language
(native speakers), with around 402 million people in 2002” (wikipedia, 2004).
Also, “it is the most widely used
‘second’ and ‘learning’ language in the world, and as such, many linguists
believe, it is no
longer the exclusive cultural emblem of ‘native English speakers’, but rather
a language that is absorbing aspects of cultures worldwide as it grows in
use. Others theorise that there are limits to how far English can go in suiting
everyone for communication purposes.”
The fact is that English has become the most important and the most
spoken language in the world due to two main reasons: first, in the past,
because of the highest number of colonies at the beginning of the century
and, second, nowadays, because of its status as a lingua franca, due to the
military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the United
Kingdom and later the United States. In fact, it has become the official
language of international organisms such as the European Parliament, the
EU Committee, the UNESCO, and NATO, among others.
This overall influence of the United States throughout the modern world has
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 26/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
so e a ue ce o eU ed S a es oug ou e ode o d as
made English become by far the dominant language of contemporary
science and technology, multinational industry and commerce, and of
computerized information networks. Where possible, virtually all students
worldwide are required to learn some English, and knowledge of English is
virtually a prerequisite for working in many fields and occupations. Higher
academic institutions, for example, require a working command of English.
Yet, nowadays, recent figures show that over
320 million people speak English as a mother tongue and further 400 million
people use it as a foreign language. In short, over 700 million people use
English nowadays as a first, second or foreign language and have become
international users of English.
2004).
So, figures regarding the use of the English language around the world have
been continuously increasing during the twentieth and twenty-first century.
Actually, we may find people who speak English as a native, second and
foreign language. Yet, let us clarify the difference between these similar but
confusing concepts. For instance, a mother tongue is considered to be the
first language (L1) one learns as a child whereas a second language (L2) is
acquired under the need of learning the language of another country. On
the other hand, when languages are acquired in school, it is considered as a
foreign language. The acronyms ESL and EFL stand for the learning of English
as a Second and as a Foreign Language.
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 27/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
So, these concepts will help us to establish the three main parametres under
which we shall examine the way the English language is used in countries
out of the Commonwealth, for
3 Note that “these varieties may, in most cases, contain several subvarieties,
such as Cockney within
Regarding the countries that use English as their native language or mother
tongue, it is worth noting that most of those 402 million people (mentioned
above) who speak English as their native language are citizens of the United
States (est. 287,602,000 by 2002). Moreover, regarding its geographic
distribution English is regarded as the first language in Australia, the
Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Guyana, Jamaica, New Zealand, Antigua,
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom and the
United States of America (wikipedia, 2004).
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 28/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
Recent figures show that the number of people who speak English as a
foreign language nowadays exceeds 400 million or even more. English has
become one of the main aims in teaching foreign languages so grammars,
dictionaries, and manuals on it proliferate nowadays.
Namely, this section will outline the main differences between British English
(more precisely known as Commonwealth English) and American English
(the form of the English language spoken in the United States) following the
website wikipedia (2004). Broadly speaking, it is worth mentioning that “a
lthough American and British English are generally mutually intelligible, there
are enough differences to occasionally cause awkward misunderstandings
or complete failures to communicate. George Bernard Shaw said that the
United States and United Kingdom are “two countries divided by a common
language. A similar comment is ascribed to Winston Churchill.”
3.1.1. Spelling.
“American words ending in “or” may end in “our” in British Englis h. For
example, in American English, one would use color, flavor, honor, whereas in
British English one would use colour , flavour and honour. In addition,
Americans replace “ou” with “o” in derivatives and inflected forms such as
favourite, savoury versus favorite, savory. One exception to this distinction is
glamour, which is usually spelled that way in American English as well as in
British usage. In both systems, the adjectival forms that end in -ous are
spelled without the penultimate u (e.g. glamorous, vigorous, humorous and
laborious). Words in which the stress falls on the “our”, such as hour, our,
fl l d th i b th
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 31/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
flour, velour, sour, and soury, are the same in both usages.
Note the British words ‘centre, fibre, metre, theatre’ (showing an influence
from French) vs. American ‘center, fiber, meter, theater’. “The adjectival
forms of these words are the same in both conventions, however; Americans
do not write ‘centeral, fiberous, meteric or theaterical’ (adjectival forms
derived as past participles, however, are written -ered, as in centered). The
British uses ‘meter’ for a measuring device and
‘metre’ for the unit of measure. The British forms are recognizable by
Americans and
‘theatre’ is generally reserved for more formal settings or for the names of
specific
‘analog, catalog, dialog’.” The -gue forms are also relatively common in the
United
States. Some -gue forms are common in both British and American usages,
such as
British words, such as ‘colonise, harmonise, realise’ are set in contrast with
the American ones ‘colonize harmonize realize’ (and derivatives and
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 32/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
the American ones colonize, harmonize, realize (and derivatives and
inflexions therefrom: colonisation – colonization). “This is a somewhat
artificial distinction, since the most authoritative British sources, the Oxford
English Dictionary and Fowler’s Modern English Usage, prefer -ize, and most
British writers use either freely; however, British
editors tend to enforce that the norm is to use -ise as the standard
orthographical practice. Also: British ‘analyse’ vs. American ‘analyze’. It
should also be noted that not all spellings are interchangeable; some words
take the -z- form exclusively, for instance
‘capsize, prize (to value), seize, size,’ whereas others take only -s-: ‘advertise,
advise, apprise, arise, circumcise, comprise, demise, despise, devise,
disguise, exercise, franchise, improvise, incise, promise, poise, praise, raise,
rise, supervise, surmise, surprise and televise’. ”
Note that “the spellings ‘connexion, inflexion, deflexion, reflexion’ are now
somewhat rare, perhaps understandably as their stems are ‘connect, inflect,
deflect, and reflect’ and there are many such words in English that result in a
-tion ending. The more common American ‘connection, inflection, deflection,
reflection’ have almost become the standard internationally. However, the
Oxford English Dictionary lists the older spellings as the etymological form,
since these four words actually derive from the Latin root ‘xio’. Given this, it
might be preferable to retain the original spellings. In both forms,
complexion is used in preference to complection, as it comes from the stem
complex in British and in American English, just like ‘crucifix’ and ‘crucifixion’.
British Methodism retains the eighteenth century spelling ‘connexion’ to
describe its national organisation, for historical reasons.”
2. Greek-derived words.
This group includes words derived from Greek which are formed with the
clusters ‘a e’ (separated) or ‘ae’ (together: the ash), and ‘o e’ (separated) or
‘oe’ (together). Among the most common names we find: BrE ‘anaemia,
anaesthesia, diarrhoea, foetus, gynaecology, mediaeval, encyclopaedia’ vs.
AmE ‘anemia, anesthesia, diarrhea, fetus, gynecology, medieval,
encyclopedia.’
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 33/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
Words with the same form and different meaning. For instance, the word
‘pants’ is referred to as ‘underpants’ (BrE) vs. ‘trousers (AmE), and similarly,
‘pavement’ as
Same form and additional meaning in one variety. For instance, the word
‘leader’ is referred to as ‘one who commands guides and directs’ both in BrE
and AmE, but it may also has an additional meaning in British English as ‘an
editorial’; and similarly, ‘dumb’ as ‘mute’ in both varieties and ‘stupid’ as the
additional meaning in AmE, among others.
Same form and difference in style . For instance, the word ‘leader’ is referred
to as ‘one who commands guides and directs’ both in BrE and AmE, but it
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 34/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
may also has an additional meaning in British English as ‘an editorial’; and
similarly, ‘dumb’ as ‘mute’ in both varieties and ‘stupid’ as the additional
meaning in AmE; and ‘autumn’, which is common to all styles in BrE, but it is
namely used in poetic or formal writing in AmE, where we use ‘fall’ instead.
Different form and same meaning, which is the major type wit hin the two
varieties. They are words which may be used almost interchangeably within
a wide range of fields, among which we may mention: food and cooking,
clothing and accessories, household, commerce, transportation, and
miscellaneous. For instance, note the words such as while (BrE) vs. whilst
(AmE) (though Whilst is more often used in instruction manuals, legal
documents, etc); pancake vs. crepe, to grill vs. to broil, cooker vs. stove, jug
vs. pithcer, jumper vs. sweater, vest vs. undershirt, purse vs. changepurse,
sitting room vs. living room, garden vs. yard, dustbin vs. garbage can,
chemist’s vs. drug store, off-licence vs. liquor store, pram vs. baby buggy,
caravan vs. mobile home; and miscellaneous, such as flat vs. apartment.
solicitor vs. attorney, pub vs. bar, cupboard vs. closet, lift vs. elevator, rubbish
vs. garbage, petrol vs. gas, taxi vs. cab, handbag vs. purse, cotton vs. thread,
and flyover vs. overpass, among others.
However, there is no real distinction here, as both forms are used in both
dialects, except that afterward is rare in British English. (2) Prepositions,
which may differ in form in the two varieties, for instance, BrE ‘behind, out of,
round’ vs. AmE ‘in back of, out, around.’ Also, prepositions (usually of time)
which are used identically in some contexts in both BrE and AmE differ in
usage in other contexts, for instance, BrE ‘for weeks; for ages’ vs. AmE ‘in
weeks; in ages’ in a sentence like ‘I haven’t travelled.’ Other miscellaneous
differences include: twenty to four (BrE) vs. twenty of four (AmE) and
similarly, five past eight vs. five after eight, behind the building vs. in back of
the building, Monday to Friday vs. Monday through Friday, and so on. (3) And
finally, adjectives where the most outstanding change is noticed in the
comparative form of the adjective ‘different’, which is usually followed by
‘from’ in BrE whereas in AmE is usually followed by ‘than’ Regarding adverbs
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 35/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
‘from’ in BrE whereas in AmE is usually followed by ‘than’. Regarding adverbs,
it is worth noting that adverb placement is somewhat freer in American
English than in British English.
3.1.3. Grammar.
There are many small points of difference in the grammar of the two
varieties, though the influence of American English on British English is such
that many of the usages which were once restricted to the former now
appear in the latter. Also, some of the British English usages are found in
American English, withh varying preference, depending on dialect and style.
Thus,
Word order regarding names of American rivers, for instance, the word river
usually comes after the name (for example, Colorado River), whereas for
British rivers it comes before (as in River Thames).
Verbal tenses in the past ending by –t. Note the difference between ‘dreamt,
leapt, learnt, spelt’ (BrE) vs. ‘dreamed, leaped, learned, spelled’ (AmE). The
forms with -ed are more common in British usage (i.e. the two-syllable form
learned [l3:nId], usually spelled simply as learned, is still used to mean
‘educated’, or to refer to academic institutions), though they are also used in
American English.
Other verb past tense forms: note British English words such as ‘fitted,
forecasted, knitted, lighted, wedded’ vs. American ones: ‘fit, forecast, knit, lit,
wed’. But the former forms are also found in American. However, other forms
such as ‘lit’ and ‘forecast’ are also the usual forms in British English. Also, the
past participle ‘gotten’ is never used in
3. Doubled consonants.
“often keeps silent ‘e’ when adding suffixes where American English doesn’t.
British
‘ageing, routeing’ vs. American ‘aging, routing’. Both systems retain the silent
‘e’ when necessary to preserve a soft ‘c’ or ‘g’: ‘traceable, judgement’
(although judgment is also standard in American English).
The second case refers to nouns ending in -ce with -se verb forms:
American English retains the noun/verb distinction in ‘advice / advise’ and
‘device / devise’ (pronouncing them differently), but has lost the same
distinction with ‘ licence / license’ and ‘practice / practise’ that British English
retains. Americ an English uses practice exclusively for both meanings, and ‘
license’ for both meanings (although ‘ licence’ is an accepted variant
spelling). Also, British ‘defence, offence, pretence’ vs. American ‘’defense,
offense, pretense.’
3.1.2. Vocabulary.
modern British English which uses got (as do some Americans) except in an
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 37/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
modern British English, which uses got (as do some Americans), except in an
entire archaic expression such as ill-gotten gains. Yet, British usage retains
the form
In British English the word ‘sat’ is often used to cover ‘sat, sitting and seated’,
for instance, “I’ve been sat here for ten minutes” or “Your boyfriend will be sat
on the right side of the table”. Not all British people do this, but it is not often
heard outside Britain. Similarly stood can be used instead of standing.
In other verbal tenses, such as the present perfect tense, which is much
more common in British dialects than in American, where the simple past
tense is usually used instead. For example, BrE I’ve gone in vs. AmE I went.
Similarly, the past perfect tense is often replaced by the past simple tense in
the USA; this, even more than the dropping of the present perfect, is
generally regarded as sloppy usage by those Americans who consider
themselves careful users of the la nguage.
On informal occasions, the British use ‘have got’, whereas Americans say
‘have”, as the only form to be used in formal writing.
Also, American English allows do as a substitute for have (the full verb, in the
sense of possess), just as for other verbs such as ‘walk’ or ‘think’; in the past,
British English did not allow this, but it is becoming increasingly common.
Compare BrE ‘Have you any coins? Yes, I have’ vs. AmE ‘Have you any food?’
or much more common, ‘Do you have any food?’ Yes, I do.’ Note that such
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 38/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
substitution is not possible for the auxiliary verb ‘have’ in ‘Have you eaten?
Yes, I have.’ for both American and British English. Similarly, in informal
usage, American English often uses the form ‘did’ +infinitive where British
English would use ‘have/has’+past participle. For instance, ‘Did you tidy your
room yet?’ would be usual American English where most British speakers
would say ‘Have you tidied your room yet?’. The ‘have’ form is regarded as
correct in both countries, however, and is required in all formal contexts.
3.1.4. Punctuation.
American students in some areas have been taught to write a colon after
the greeting (“Dear Sir:” ) while Britons usually write a comma (“Dear Sir,”).
However, this practice is not consistent throughout the United States, and it
would be regarded as a highly formal usage by most Americans.
Regarding abbreviations, note the difference between BrE: ‘US’, ‘UN’, ‘Mr’, ‘Mrs’,
‘St’, ‘Dr’ whereas Americans tend to write a full point after each letter: ‘U.S.’,
‘U.N.’,
‘Mr.’, ‘Mrs.’, ‘St.’, ‘Dr.’, following the rule that a period is used only when the last
letter of the abbreviation is not the last letter of the complete word. However,
many British writers would tend to write without a full stop other
abbreviations, such as
Regarding quoting, Brit ish English use single quotation marks (‘) for
quotations (though not on every occasion) whereas Americans start with
double quotation marks (“). Moreover, inside the quotation mark, British
English places the punctuation inside if it belongs to the quote whereas
American English usually put commas and periods inside quotation marks.
3.1.5. Pronunciation.
the two varieties regarding vowels and consonants following the website
wikipedia (2004).
The long ‘a’ of ‘father’, the famous British broad ‘a’, is used in many British RP
words, especially common ones, in two phonetic situations. Firstly, before
three of the four voiceless fricatives, as in ‘path, laugh, pass, past’, though
not before ‘sh’. Secondly, before some instances of ‘n’ and another
consonant, as in ‘aunt, plant, dance’. In most northern dialects, not to
mention Scotis h and Irish, though, the short ‘a’ is the norm. An
‘a’ at the beginning of a word (such as ‘ant’) is usually short throughout the
country,
just as in the American. Note that Australian usually follows RP in the first
case, though
‘castle ’ and ‘graph’, among others, often have the short vowel, and ‘aunt’
and ‘can’t’
British Received Pronunciation (RP) has generally lost the long /o:/ as in
boat, replacing it with a diphthong that is close to /au/. Some British
speakers still have /o:/, but it appears only as a result of a lost /r/, in words
like ‘force’. More northerly and westerly British speech preserves /o:/. The
British diphthong /au/ is enunciated as /ou/ or sometimes as /o/ in
American English.
American speech usually does not soften consonants /n/, /t/ and /d/ with
/j/, unlike British pronunciation in certain cases. This is particularly
noticeable in the British words ‘new, tune and dual’, which are respectively
pronounced like /nju:/, /tju:n/ and
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 41/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
Most American dialects “have not lost the non-prevocalic r. That is,
‘standard’ American English preserves the sound of ‘r’ in all occurrences,
whereas British English only preserves it when it is followed by a vowel (see
rhotic r). However, this holds true neither for all American dialects nor for all
British dialects; the dialects of New England and the American South both
exhibit a similar sound change found in southern England. In England,
however, when a former syllable final /r/ appeared before a consonant not
at a word boundary, a schwa was substituted for it, giving British English a
new class of falling diphthongs. The non-rhotic North American dialects do
not show this. This phenomenon also partially accounts for the interlocution
of ‘r’ between a word ending in a vowel and one beginning with a vowel
(such as ‘the idear of it’) exhibited both in some dialects of Britain and in the
Boston (USA) dialect of American English. Most other American dialects
interpose a glottal stop where ‘r’ appears in the Boston example, and
appears to perform the same function of separating adjacent (non-
dipthongized) vowels.”
Words ending in –ile and –ine (fertile , docile , missile, turbine) are
pronounced with the last syllable sounding the same as isle for the -ile
words in British English, and with a short, reduced i (rhyming with turtle) in
American (although exceptions can be found, such as reptile, which is
pronounced by most Americans so that the last syllable rhymes with ‘style’).
The name of the letter Z is pronounced zed in British English in contrast with
the American English zee, though the words are normally only spelled out
when noting the difference. Other Greek letters are also pronounced
differently, for instance, BrE beta
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 42/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
through the influence of the media (press, radio, television, magazines, the
Internet) and the world of sports, fashion, or travelling through advertising.
So, following Pratt (1980), there is no a cle ar-cut division between ‘well-
known anglicisms’ and other similar words which, despite being used in
Spain, are still considered ‘foreign words’. Yet, we shall present a list of words
that are considered to be ‘anglicisms’ within all type of variations:
Words which have been fully adapted from English and keep the same form.
This group namely includes words from the fields of sports, music, fashion,
business, food, or technology, among others. For instance, ‘corner’, ‘penalty’,
‘CD’, ‘radio cassette’,
Words which have been adapted in form but differ in pronunciation, for
instance,
Words which have been fully adapted from English and do not keep the
same form, for instance, ‘mitin’ (from ‘meeting’), ‘estatus’ (from ‘status’),
‘estándard’ (from
Words which have lost their English appearance, and consequently, are to
be felt to be Spanish words with a Spanish source: ‘agenda’ (vs. agenda),
‘apartamentos’ (vs apartment) ‘evento’ (vs event) ‘educación’ (vs
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 44/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
‘apartamentos’ (vs. apartment), ‘evento’ (vs. event), ‘educación’ (vs.
teaching process), ‘astro’ (vs. star),
Neologisms, which are words derived from words which already existed, but
have been added a prefix or a suffix, for instance, ‘antioxidante,’
‘coproducción,’ ‘coloquial,’
Finally, just to mention those words which are misused due to the influence
of journalistic language. These are words that exist in Spanish with a
different meaning and are slowly acquiring the meaning they have in
English. For instance, ‘sophisticated’ (Spanish ‘chic, modern’ vs. English
‘complex’), ‘routinary’ (Spanish ‘ordinary check
up’ vs. English ‘daily’), ‘domestic’ (Spanish ‘referred to household’ vs. English
So, the distinction between British English and American English, or the
presence of the English language in Spain is quite familiar for Spanish
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 45/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
Thus, E.S.O. objectives (2, 11) make reference to first, “understand and express
oral and written messages appropriately and with communicative
efficiency in the study of a foreign language or languages, and value the
importance of doing so in an open and multicultural society” (objective
2); and secondly, “to know the traditions and cultural patrimony of other
countries, value them critically, and respect the cultural and linguistic
di it l ’ d t i ’ i ht” ( bj ti 11)
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 46/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
diversity as a people’s and countries’ right” (objective 11).
Actually, the success partly lies in the way this issue becomes real to the
users. Actually, we have to recreate as much as possible the whole cultural
environment in the classroom by means of documentaries, history books, or
films. This is to be achieved within the framework of the European Council
(1998) and, in particular, the Spanish Educational System which establishes
a
5. CONCLUSION.
The language may vary slightly from country to country or even between
those country’s states, provinces and territories, but it is in all cases distinct
from American English. It is mostly interchangeable with British English, and
where “Britons” is used, “inhabitants of the Commonwealth” might be a
more accurate , if more unwieldy, replacement. Commonwealth English is
also used by countries and organisations, such as Ireland and the European
Union, whose use of English is most influenced by the United Kingdom. In
short, English is one of the official languages of the European Union (UK and
Ireland) and, as we have seen, all over the world.
The aim of this unit has been, then, to provide a useful introduction to the
cultural dimension of the English language nowadays from a general
overview by focusing on two relevant manifestations of the English
language, that is, British English and American English.
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 48/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
In doing so, Chapter 2 has provided a brief history of the English language
cultural dimension in and out the Commonwealth so as to offer a general
overview of the influence of English around the world by reviewing (1) the
origins of the British colonial empire from the seventeenth century to the
present day; (2) the cultural dimension of the English language within the
Commonwealth countries; and also, (3) the cultural dimension of the English
language out of the Commonwealth scope.
Then, with this background in mind, Chapter 3 has approached the cultural
dimension of the English language from two different perspectives: first,
regarding two specific manifestations of the English language: first, the so-
called distinction between (1) British English and American English within the
scope of English-speaking countries, in terms of differences in (1) spelling,
(2) vocabulary (3) grammar, (4) punctuation, and (5) pronunciation; and
secondly, regarding the (2) presence of the English language in a non
English-speaking country, in particular, in Spain and the presence of
anglicisms.
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Algeo, J. and T. Pyles. 1982. The origins and development of the English
language. Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich, Inc.
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 49/51
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
Framework of reference.
www.wikipedia.org (2004)
www.wwnorton.com
Tags: t 66 i lé d i
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 50/51
tema 66 inglés secundaria
13/11/2020 Topic 66 – Cultural dimension of english in the present world. British english and american english. Presence of the english langua…
Tags:
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-66-cultural-dimension-of-english-in-the-present-worl… 51/51