TOPIC 66: Current cultural dimensions of the English language. British English and American English. Presence of the English language in Spain. Anglicisms.

(Introduction) The globalization phenomenon has led to

major linguistic changes on a worldwide scale and English has become the leading international language.

(Introduction) The aim of this unit is to provide a useful introduction to

the ever-changing cultural dimension of the English language.

(Introduction) After briefly outlining the importance of English as an international language, a detailed analysis will be given of

British and American English, including their main features and differences.

(Introduction) Finally, the impact of the English language in Spain

will be explored and anglicisms will be explained.

(The World of English) Language is

the most important vehicle of communication.

(The World of English) Language is founded on

the need for communication of a community of people that share the same social and cultural context.

(The World of English) The need for communication among people

belonging to different cultural communities has prompted the learning of foreign languages.

(The World of English) Learning a language implies not only the acquisition of knowledge about language rules

but also acquiring knowledge about social norms and cultural values.

(The World of English) English language has gained enormous importance in the world, becoming the leading international language

– or lingua franca – in economic and political spheres and the common language in science, technology and culture.

(The World of English) Lingua France is a language that serves as

a common means of communication between speakers of different native languages.

(English as an international language) There are several contributing factors to why English is the world’s lingua franca, including

• British colonialism and imperialism

• The USA’s prominence as a political and economic superpower

• The internet

• British and American music

• and increasing globalisation.

(English as an international language) In the fast-evolving world, English is considered

a language of opportunities that opens paths for individuals worldwide.

(English as an international language) Nowadays, English is

the mother tongue of more than 360 million people, and 67 countries recognise it as their official language.

(English as an international language) English is the mother tongue of

more than 360 million people

(English as an international language) 67 countries

recognise it as their official language (English).

(English as an international language) Due to the spread of the British Empire across every continent and colonization, several countries, such as

• New Zealand

• Australia

• India

• and Nigeria,

  have English as their official language.

(English as an international language) Although the varieties of English used in the former British Empire are often, to various extents, based on

standard British English, most of the countries have developed their own unique dialects; for instance, Canadian and Australian English.

(English as an international language) most of the countries have developed their own unique dialects;

for instance, Canadian and Australian English.

(English as an international language) The Commonwealth maintains unity in certain aspects, including

• political agreements

• economic treaties

• and social events.

(English as an international language) English dominates industrial and technological fields,

particularly space technology, due to NASA, as well as computing and software development.

(English as an international language) In scientific research, it is

the primary language for international communication.

(English as an international language) English is

the most widely used language for email communication.

(English as an international language) In the music industry, British and American music dominate globally with

English speaking artists such as Elvis Presley, The Beatles and the Rolling Stones but also contemporary starts like Adele and Harry Styles.

(English as an international language) There are some British Institutions that render a

direct or indirect service to the English language, i.e. the British Council and the British Broadcasting Corporation, most commonly known as BBC.

(English as an international language) There are some British Institutions that render a direct or indirect service to the English language, i.e.

• the British Council

• and the British Broadcasting Corporation, most commonly known as BBC.

(English as an international language) Given the importance of English as the international language of commerce and culture,

the global demand for English language learning is immense.

(English as an international language) Therefore, the demand for English teachers worldwide is

huge and continues to grow.

(English as an international language) ESL and EFL are terms that are often used interchangeably, but

they actually refer to two different types of English language learning depending on the context.

English as a Second Language (ESL)

refers to teaching English in an English-speaking country, where English is the official or dominant language. For example, learning or teaching English in the UK and the US would be considered ESL.

English as a Second Language (ESL) EXAMPLE

For example, learning or teaching English in the UK and the US would be considered ESL.

English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

refers to learners who are studying English in a non-native country. For instance, teaching English in Spain or Japan would be considered EFL.

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) EXAMPLE

For instance, teaching English in Spain or Japan would be considered EFL.

(British English and American English) Over the past 400 years, the form of the language used in the Americas, especially in the United States, and that used in the United Kingdom have diverged in many ways,

leading to the varieties or dialects now commonly referred to as American English (AmE) and British English (BrE).

(British English and American English) The differences between the two include

• vocabulary

• pronunciation

• spelling

• grammar

• punctuation, and so on,

• although there are fewer differences in writing than in speaking.

(British English and American English) For instance,

a ‘biscuit’ in British English is called a ‘cookie’ in American English.

(British English and American English) The English of the UK and the English of North America are

the reference norms for English as spoken, written and taught in the rest of the world.

(English Language in the UK) British Standard English (BrE) is a widely recognised standard form of the English language that possesses

20 vocalic sounds, 22 consonant sounds, plus two semi-vowels.

(English Language in the UK) Received Pronunciation (RP) is commonly associated to recognised British institutions such as

• The Queen’s English

• BBC English

• and Oxford English.

(English Language in the UK) This term (Received Pronunciation) was first coined by

linguist A. J. Ellis in 1869.

(English Language in the UK) Received Pronunciation (RP) has traditionally been regarded as

“proper English” but it is spoken by a small percentage of the population.

(English Language in the UK) RP serves as the standard for

dictionary pronunciation guides.

(English Language in the UK) RP accent is associated with high middle-class circles as it emerged from people

attending prestigious public schools like Eton and Winchester, as well as those educated at Oxford and Cambridge.

(English Language in the UK) However, the BBC and other broadcasters now intentionally use a mix of presenters

with a variety of British accents and dialects since the concept of “proper English” is now far less prevalent.

(English language in the United States of America) General American English (GAE) or

network English

(English language in the United States of America) General American English (GAE) or network English is

a variety of spoken American English that seems to lack the distinctive characteristics of any particular region or ethnic group.

(English language in the United States of America) The term “General American” was coined by

English Professor George Philip Krapp in 1925.

(English language in the United States of America) Who did coin the term “General American” in 1925?

English Professor George Philip Krapp

(English language in the United States of America) General American main quality is

homogeneity; although settlers came from different countries, and, consequently, spoke different languages, American English kept a relative uniformity.

(English language in the United States of America) General American represents

the process of preservation of old features of the language (archaisms) which have gone out of use in Standard English.

(English language in the United States of America) Instance of preservation of old features of old language (General American)

• It preserves [i:] instead of diphthong [ai]: either,

• uses the archaic past participle form of some verbs like “gotten”

• and keeps the old meaning of some words like mad.

(English language in the United States of America) On the other hand, English is known to be

tolerant of innovations, as seen in the adoption of new words during the period of colonial expansion.

(English language in the United States of America) Examples include words such as sweet potato and eggplant as well as loans from various languages such as

• Native American (e.g., canoe)

• French (e.g., bureau)

• German (e.g., pretzel)

• and Spanish (e.g., coyote).

(English language in the United States of America) As the USA grew more influential in the world, the variety Standard American English

also became more popular worldwide – with the exception of Europe.

(English language in the United States of America) Today American English is probably the most important language in the world,

its influence is clearly present in areas such as air control, commerce, the internet, films, music and research.

(Differences between British English and American English) Most of the differences between British English and American English involve

• vocabulary

• pronunciation

• and spelling.

(Differences between British English and American English) However, there are also some differences in the way grammar is used, including

• verbs

• prepositions

• and adverbs.

(Differences between British English and American English) Language is always changing, and many new ways of using vocabulary and grammar in British English

come from American English, because of the influence of American popular culture.

(Differences between British English and American English) One of the most noticeable differences between British and American English is in

the spelling of some words such as color (AmE) and colour (BrE).

(Differences between British English and American English) While “-ed” may be used in AmE for the past tense of a verb

“-t” is common in BrE: dreamed and dreamt.

(Differences between British English and American English) Many times, although words are spelled the same in both forms,

they may have different pronunciation, for example, in the phoneme /r/.

(Differences between British English and American English) In rhotic accents (like AmE), the /r/ sound is pronounced in all positions, e.g. car /kɑːr/

whereas in non-rhotic accents (like RP) the /r/ sound is often not pronounced when it appears at the end of a word or before a consonant, e.g. car /kɑː/.

(Differences between British English and American English) Some everyday objects have different names depending on the English variety:

• flat vs. apartment

• university vs. college

• shop vs store, etc.

(Differences between British English and American English) Many of these differences stem from

the 19^th and 20^th century.

(Differences between British English and American English) Regional variations within both the UK and the US

can also contribute to these differences.

(Differences between British English and American English) Speakers of BrE are likely to

understand most AmE terms without any problem, although they would generally not use them: e.g., elevator.

(The English language in Spain) As in many other countries in the world,

English is the first foreign language in Spain.

(The English language in Spain) English has displaced French from this position (first foreign language), and

is becoming increasingly important in the education system year by year.

(The English language in Spain) The spread of English in Europe has been a powerful promoter of

both societal and individual bilingualism and multilingualism.

(The English language in Spain) In most European countries, English is of considerable importance in higher education,

often being a prerequisite in many academic careers.

(The English language in Spain) Bilingual education has been

growing increasingly in Spain

(The English language in Spain) English as a foreign language (EFL) is part of

the Secondary Education curriculum.

(The English language in Spain) Students from 12 to 18 usually take English as their first foreign language, and

those who take another foreign language can also take English as their second foreign language.

(The English language in Spain) New trends in EFL education have led to the promotion of

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in both primary and secondary education.

(The English language in Spain) More and more schools are selected every year as

bilingual schools where CLIL is implemented.

(The English language in Spain) In Spain, English is prominent in domains such as

• Commerce

• Sport

• Entertainment

• Youth culture

• and particularly, tourism.

(The English language in Spain) The presence of English can be also in texts produced and found in the urban environment, e.g.,

• menus

• advertisements

• and street signs.

(The English language in Spain) Additionally, in Spain current job requirements include

knowledge of modern languages.

(The English language in Spain) The internet has become the most important vehicle of communication in present-day society, transforming

the world of communications by breaking the old barriers of time and space.

(The English language in Spain) It does not matter where a person is - whether Spain or Britain -

as long as they have access to the Internet they can freely interact with others; for example, through video conferences.

(The English language in Spain) Today, English brings the promise of

material gain, higher status and further prospects of mobility, and so, it is a powerful motivator for maintaining and developing English after schooling.

(The English language in Spain) In order to partake in Europe politically, economically and socially, it is desirable for Spain – and its citizens

– to possess an appropriate communicative competence in English.

(Anglicism) Anglicisms are linguistic borrowings from the English language to another language,

e.g. sandwich in Spanish.

(Anglicism) Often, anglicisms result from

poor translations of printed or spoken English material.

(Anglicism) In other cases, anglicisms emerge

due to lack of an equivalent term in the target language.

(Anglicism) They are very common in the language used by adolescents

due to the influence of foreign mass media on their speech

(Anglicism) Anglicisms are very common in the technical language of sciences and engineering

due to the significant contributions of English-speaking countries to research and technological development.

(Anglicism) In fact, scientific and technological news often include loanwords

as translation may reduce precision or require more words. For instance, burnout syndrome instead of síndrome del trabajador quemado.

(Anglicism) Regarding sports, anglicisms are becoming increasingly common, especially when the sport originates from an English-speaking country or has gained international popularity,

e.g. in football, players prefer using terms of the language of origin like goal and corner.

(Anglicism) Some borrowed words, such as golf, rugby and volleyball,

retain their original spelling but are pronounced with a Spanish accent.

(Anglicism) The economy is another section where linguistic loans are prevalent, there are many anglicisms,

as English-speaking countries (mainly, the US) dominate the global economy.

(Anglicism: economy) Some terms have been adapted to the Spanish language such as

“desinversión” (disinvestment), while terms like “cash” or “stock” remain the same.

(Anglicism) In general, anglicisms are present in all spheres of life, reflecting the influence of

American culture in today’s world.

(Anglicism) Some examples include

• the word parking, which is equivalent to AmE parking lot,

• the widespread use of the English expression O.K. (written okay, ok or OK)

• and terms such as: chatear, customizar, flirtear, spoilear, postear and zapear.

(Conclusion) The continued spread of English today is both a consequence of and a contributor to globalization, driven by factors such as

• international trade

• American mass media

• and the Internet.

(Conclusion) This unit has provided an overview of

the cultural dimension of the English language, and its influence in Spain.

(Conclusion) This information is fundamental for language learners of all levels, as

they may not immediately recognise the differences between various English varieties or appreciate its role as a lingua franca.

(Conclusion) As we have seen, understanding how language develops and its reflection in today’s world is important to students,

who are expected to be aware of the richness of the English language in both English-speaking countries and in Spain.

(Bibliography) ________ Oxford guide to British and American culture. Oxford University Press.

Crowther, J. (2004).

(Bibliography) Crowther, J. (2004)._________________ Oxford University Press.

 Oxford guide to British and American culture.

(Bibliography) Crowther, J. (2004). Oxford guide to British and American culture. _____________

Oxford University Press.