VARIETIES AND REGISTERS OF SPOKEN AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE - Chapter 4

Varieties of English

refer to the different kinds of English used around the world based

on geographical locations. There are over a hundred varieties of the English

language, but two of the most prevalent varieties of the English language are British

and American English.

American English (AmE)

• It is a variant of the English language which is spoken mainly in the United States.

About two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in America and

speak this variant.

British English (BrE)

• It is a variant of the English language which is spoken in the United Kingdom. •

Along with American English, British English is one of the main variants taught in

English as a second language or English as foreign language programs.

Australian English (AuE)

• It is another variant of the English language which is spoken in the Australia. •

Australian English began to diverge from the British English shortly after Australia

was settled in the late 18th century. This variety is similar to New Zealand English

and bears resemblance to dialects of South East England. Its spelling corresponds

to British English spelling.

New Zealand English (NZE)

• It is the variant of the English language spoken as the first language by my most

people in New Zealand.

• New Zealand English is most similar to Australian English in pronunciation, with

some differences.

Black English (African American Vernacular English)

• It is a broad term used to refer to American English and British English as spoken

by the black communities in the United States and the United Kingdom.

• It is also used to refer to black communities in Caribbean and Africa. There are

different varieties of this variant, but its two major sub-varieties are African

American Vernacular and British Black English.

Singapore English (SingEng or Singlish)

• Singapore English is a language variant which is considered the most popular

medium of communication in the academe. There are two main forms of this

variant: Singapore English and Singapore Colloquial English.

Philippine English

• It is another variety of the English language related to American English in terms of

spelling and grammar. Besides the Filipino language, the English language is

native to the Philippines and is considered an official language.

• Non-native pronunciations abound in the spoken language, and grammatical flaws

are oftentimes inevitable. Hence, code-switching is prevalent in formal and more

likely in informal situations.

Forms of Register 

1. FORMAL REGISTER - is appropriate in professional and business writing.
2. INFORMAL REGISTER -

is the way we talk to our friends and family.
3. NEUTRAL REGISTER - not specifically formal or informal,

positive or negative. It is used with non-emotional topics and information.

Formal Register

is appropriate in professional and business writing.

Informal Register

is the way we talk to our friends and family.

Neutral Register

not specifically formal or informal,

positive or negative. It is used with non-emotional topics and information.

Avoid Gender Bias

• Avoid using masculine pronouns when the gender of the person is not known. When a word has the suffix

-man or -woman, check to see if it reflects the gender of the person described. Use more neutral

alternatives when gender is not important to the idea you are getting across.

• For example, use chairperson or chair instead of chairman, fire fighter instead of fireman, or

salesperson instead of salesman.