Varieties of English
Varieties of English are the different kinds of English used around the world.
Background
English is the native language of England. Due to various cultural, economic, migration and other reasons the langauge spread across to what became the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries around the world. It was also used as the lingua franca in many other countries (often countries which formed part of the British Empire).
However, language is not static. In relative isolation from each other (this spread of language took place before the advent of modern communications) the language used in these different countries began to develop independently from the original language, often influenced by local languages as well.
Thus we can speak of the English used in the United Kingdom as being related to but different from the English spoken in the United States.
Varieties of English
Dealing with main varieties, we can talk of:
- British English (BrE)
- American English (AmE)
- Australian English (AuE)
- Canadian English
- South African English
- New Zealand English
- Caribbean English
In addition, each main variety of English has sub-varieties or regional variations. For example, within the British English variety we have: Cockney, Essex English, Geordie, Received Pronunciation, Scottish English, Standard English and so on.
What to Teach
In general depending different countries prefer different varieties of English. Often the reason for this is historical and political. As a rough guide:
- British English is taught in: Europe, Russia, Africa and the Middle East.
- American English is taught in South America and Korea.
Both are taught in Asia.
Bear in mind, however, that the variety of English taught will depend upon the background of the teacher. In most cases there is no preference for either British or American or any other English.
