2023学年完整公开课版Unit2Englisharoundtheworld【市一等奖】

BritishandAmericanEnglish

Introduction

ThosepeoplewhocomplainaboutthedifficultiesoflearningGerman,don'tknowhowluckytheyreallyare-theyonlyhaveonelanguagetomaster.Admittedly,thereareregionaldifferencesofdialectinGerman-speakingcountries,butthenon-nativespeakerwhohaslearnedHochdeutsch(highorstandardGerman)shouldhavenoproblemsinmakinghimselfunderstoodbycitizensofGermany,AustriaorSwitzerland.Thedifficultyforthenon-nativelearnerofEnglishontheotherhandisthatthereisnostandardEnglishform.Heisconfronted(面对)withtwoEnglishdialectstolearn:BritishEnglishandAmericanEnglish(leavingasideAustralian,Indian,SouthAfricanEnglishetc.)Anddespitethemanycross-culturalinfluences,itseemsthatthevocabularies,spellingsandpronunciationsofthesetwodialectsaredivergingyearbyyear.

TobeconsistentinhisuseofEnglishand,moreimportantly,tobeunderstood,thenon-nativespeakerneedstoknowwhichwordshavedistinctmeaningsandpronunciationsdependingonwhethertheyareusedbyaBritonoranAmerican.Thisisnecessarynotonlyforsakeofcommunication,butalsotoavoidembarrassment(尴尬).Forexample,ifaLondonertellsaresidentofNewYorkthatshehasleftherchild'sdummyinthepramanditsnappyintheboot,shewillmerelybegreetedwithalookofbewilderment.IftheNewYorkerthentellstheLondonwomanthatshehasnicepants,hemaywellwonderwhyshedoesn'tseemtotakehisremarkasacompliment.

[InAmericadummiesandnappiesarecalledpacifiersanddiapers;pramsandbootsarecalledbabycarriagesandtrunks.ForAmericanspantsaretrousersbutforBritonspantsarewhatyouwearunderyourtrousers.]

Whatfollowsarebriefexamplesofthemajorareasofdifferencebetweenthetwolanguages,togetherwithsomequizquestions:

Spellingdifferences

Ingeneral,wheretherearedifferencesbetweenBritishEnglish(BE)andAmericanEnglish(AE)spelling,itcanbesaidthatAmericanEnglishhasthemoreeconomicalandphoneticspelling.Unnecessarylettersareleftoutandwordsarespelledhowtheysound.AnobviousexampleistheomissioninAEoftheletteruinwordssuchascolor,neighbor,honoretc.ComparealsotheAEwordstraveling,jewelryandprogramwiththeirBEcounterpartstravelling,jewelleryandprogramme.However,thisruledoesnotalwaysapply.Forexample,youwouldexpectskilfultobetheAEspellingandskillfultheBEspelling,butunfortunatelyyouwouldbewrong!

Quiz1

Inthefollowingtable,whichwordsarespelledinAmericanEnglishandwhichinBritishEnglish?Canyougivethealternativespellingineachcase?

Example:AE-mustache|BE-moustache

airplanechequetheatretyre

defensewoolenpajamasgaol

Pronunciationdifferences

Thereareofcoursegreatregionaldifferencesinpronunciationwithinbothcountries,butthefollowingisalistofwordswhicharepronounceddifferentlybymostAmericansandmostBritish.Thedifferenceinlieseitherinusingdifferentvowelsoundsorbystressingthewordinadifferentplace.

Quiz2

CanyousaythefollowingwordsbothhowanAmericanandhowaBritonwouldsaythem?

vaserouteballetaddress(noun)ate

buoytomatoadvertisementgarageleisure

Vocabularydifferences

AsapercentageofthetotalEnglishvocabularythenumberofwordswhichareusedonlyinoneortheothercountryisverysmall,buttheproblemforlearnersofEnglishisthatthesewordsareamongthemostcommoninthelanguage.TherearemanywordsthatareusedalmostexclusivelybyAmericanswhichareunderstoodbymostBritons,andviceversa.Butthereareotherswhichcancausedifficulty.Forexample,mostBritonsknowthatAmericanscallbiscuitscookiesandflatsapartments,butnotsomanyknowwhatanalumnusorafenderis.Similarly,AmericansknowthatwhattheycalltheiryardiscalledagardeninBritainandthattrucksarelorries,butcommonBritishEnglishwordslikeplimsollsoroff-licensemaymeannothingtothem.

Quiz3

Fromthelistsbelow,choosethepairofwordsthathavethesamemeaningandidentifythemasAmericanEnglishorBritishEnglish.

Example:AE-cookie=BE-biscuit

closetqueuevacationfallbonnet

sweetsthumbtackliftbillcaravan

flashlightsubwaypostmanbaggagemovie

drapesundergroundluggageelevatorcupboard

hoodmailmantorchcheckline

curtainsfilmcandygasautumn

petroldrawingpinholidaytrailer

Grammar

BritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishgrammararemostlyinagreement;therearehoweversomeinterestingvariations.Forexampletherearedifferencesincertainverbforms.InAEthepasttenseoffitisfit;inBEitisfitted.AmericanssayI'vegottentoknowherwell;BritonsI'vegottoknowherwell.InBEthepresentperfecttenseisusedforsituationsinwhichAEwouldtypicallyusethepastsimple.Forexampleusingthewordsjustoralready,Britonswouldbemorelikelytosay:I'vejustseenhimorI'vealreadydoneitwhereasinAEitwouldbecommontohearIjustsawhimorIalreadydidit.

Asanotherexample,AmericansaremuchmorelikelytobetechnicallycorrectintheagreementofcollectivenounandverbformthanBritons.SoinstandardAEitwouldbe:TheteamisplayingwellthisseasonwhereasinBEitiscommonandacceptabletosayTheteamareplayingwell.Similardifferencescanbeseenintheuseofwordslikegovernment,committeeetc.:Thegovernmentis..(AE),Thegovernmentare..(BE).

Quiz4

ThefollowingsentencesaretypicallyAE.WhatwouldthetypicalBritonsay?

Doyouhaveanysiblings?

Itisimportantthatshebetold.

Thejuryhasnotyetreacheditsdecision.

Gofetchyourbook.

Hedoveintothewater.

Youmustcomevisitmerealsoon.

Usage

TherearecountlessothersmallandinterestingdifferencesbetweenAEandBE,whichcomeundertheheadingofusage.TaketheusefulexpressionusedinAEthrough,meaninguptoandincluding..,TheexhibitionisshowingMarchthroughJune.TheequivalentexpressioninBEisfromMarchtoJune,butthisisambiguous.DoestheexhibitioncloseattheendofMayortheendofJune?Toavoidanymisunderstanding,itisnecessarytosaysomethinglikeTheexhibitionisshowingfromMarchtotheendofJune.

Asanotherexample:forAmericansthenumberbillionhas9zeros(athousandmillion);formostBritonsithas12zeros(amillionmillion).ZeroitselfisamuchmorecommonwordinAEthaninBE,wherenoughtismorewidespread.Americanssaythenumber453asfourhundredfiftythree,whereasinBritainitwouldbesaidfourhundredandfiftythree.Andsoon!

Quiz5

Arethefollowingsentencesmorelikelytobesaid(orwritten)byanAmericanoraBriton?

I'lltryandvisityouontheweekend.

Pleasewritemewhenyouarrive.

Callmeassoonasyougetthere.

Mosteveryonehasatelephoneandarefrigeratorthesedays.

Ifyoumakeamistake,you'lljusthavetodoitover.

Hewasborn3/27/1981.

Thefootballteamwontwotonothing(2-0).

Shearrivedattwentyoftwo.

Thesecretarysaid,"Mr.Clintonwillseeyousoon."

Conclusion

Itisclearthatthepoornon-nativespeakerhasanalmostimpossibletasktokeepthetwolanguagesseparated.Thebesthecandoistoacquireagoodreferencebook.TwobooksthatIcanrecommendonthistopicare:

PracticalEnglishUsage,M.Swan(1995),OxfordUniversityPress

TheRightWordattheRightTime(AguidetotheEnglishlanguageandhowtouseit)(1985)ReadersDigest

Answers

Quiz1-Spelling

InthefollowingtabletheredspellingsareAmericanEnglishandthebluespellingsareBritishEnglish:

airplane-aeroplanecheck-chequetheater-theatre

defense-defencewoolen-woollentire-tyre

pajamas-pyjamasjail-gaol*

*JailismorecommoninBEtoonowadays,althoughgaolisstillperfectlyacceptable(andpronouncedthesameasjail!)

Quiz2-Pronunciation

AmericansandBritonsagreeinmostcasesonwhereawordinstressed.Forexample,everyonesayspencilandrelax,cinemaandconsider,butthefollowingwordsfromthetablearestresseddifferentlyinthetwodialects:

ballet-BE|ballet-AE

address-BE|address*-AE

garage-BE|garage-AE

advertisement-BE|advertisement-AE

Thedifferencesinpronunciationoftheotherwordslieinthevowelsounds,notindifferently-stressedsyllables.Theyarethereforemoredifficulttoillustrateinwritingwithoutrecoursetophoneticscript,whichfewpeopleknow.Theirproununciationsareillustratedthereforebyreferencetocommonwordswiththesamesound

vase:vaysasinplays(BE)|vaceasinface(AE)

route:rootasinshoot(BE)|rout*asinshout(AE)

buoy:boyasintoy(BE)|booeyasintheFrenchnameLouis(AE)

ate:etasinlet(BE)|ateasinlate(AE)

tomato:tomarto(BE)|tomayto*(AE)

leisureasinpleasure(BE)|leesure(leeasinshe)(AE)

*SomeAmericanspronouncethesewordsasBritonsdo.

Quiz3-Vocabulary

FirstAESecondBR

|closet-cupboard|vacation-holiday|fall-autumn|thumbtack-drawingpin|flashlight-torch|subway-underground|baggage-luggage|movie-film|drapes-curtains|elevator-lift|hood-bonnet|mailman-postman|check-bill*|line-queue|candy-sweets|gas-petrol|trailer-caravan|

*InEnglandyouaskthewaiterforthebillattheendofyourmeal.InAmericayouaskforthecheck.AbillinAEisasynonymforabanknote.

Quiz4-Grammar

AE-Doyouhaveanysiblings?

BE-Haveyougotanybrothersorsisters?

AE-Itisimportantthatshebetold.*

BE-Itisimportantthatsheistold.

AE-Thejuryhasnotyetreacheditsdecision.

BE-Thejuryhavenotyetreachedtheirdecision.

AE-Gogetyourbook.

BE-Goandfetchyourbook.

AE-Hedoveintothewater.

BE-Hedivedintothewater.

AE-Youmustcomevisitmerealsoon.

BE-Youmustcomeandvisitmereal