? Paper Keywords: British English American English teaching
? Abstract: British English and American English are two main popular varieties of world languages. Although they are similar, there are obvious differences in pronunciation, spelling and grammatical rules. At present, there is a serious mixture of English and American in English teaching in China, which is ignored by various schools. This kind of malpractice is fully exposed in English teaching in colleges and universities. Moreover, many teachers' own teaching language is not rigorous, and English and American are mixed, which will have a bad influence on college English teaching. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish English from American English in college English teaching.
American English originated from British English and was brought to the American continent by British immigrants in Shakespeare's time. From the beginning of17th century to the present, the history of American English is less than 400 years. This kind of intermediate English has developed and changed in two places, forming its own characteristics. The biggest difference between British English and American English lies in pronunciation and spelling. The mixture of British and American English will directly affect English learners' listening and speaking ability, and it is not conducive to their accurate understanding of British and American culture. Therefore, in today's increasingly Americanized English, especially for college students in China, it is of great practical significance to understand these differences. When teaching, university teachers should compare English with American English, or use one of the teaching languages, so that students can master the language characteristics of English and learn English well.
Teaching status quo
From the early days when English was included in the compulsory education curriculum in China, English textbooks and supporting audio materials in primary and secondary schools were mostly British English. However, with the popularity of American English in recent years, more and more people begin to favor American English. American English speeches, American dramas and American pop songs have aroused students' enthusiasm for learning American English. Coupled with the regional influence of China people's speech (for example, northerners in China tend to speak with one vowel, while southerners speak with their tongues), many teachers' imprecise pronunciation leads to mixed English teaching, and students also refer to teachers' pronunciation more, which makes this mixed English spread in all kinds of school English teaching. Many English learners always think that as long as they understand and speak well, they don't care what kind of English they speak. This obstacle to mixed English in primary and secondary schools has not been revealed, but it is very obvious after detailed study of college English, especially in listening and speaking teaching. At present, most of the audio materials in many university textbooks are American pronunciation, which makes students uncomfortable in listening and speaking practice. In a word, first, it doesn't matter if you blindly learn American or British pronunciation, which leads to no difference between tongue rolling and tongue rolling. Secondly, the differences between them in pronunciation, intonation, vocabulary and grammar cause students' understanding deviation or obstacles. Thirdly, some teachers use English as the medium of instruction in class, which makes it more difficult for students to learn.
Secondly, it is necessary to distinguish British English from American English.
In view of the above problems, it is very necessary for college teachers to strengthen the introduction of the differences between British English and American English in teaching, help students eliminate language barriers and help students find a language style suitable for their own characteristics.
1. It is good for pronunciation learning and listening test.
The biggest and most intuitive difference between two kinds of English that China students can feel is the phonetic difference. As soon as the listening part of the two English tests is played, the huge phonetic differences are highlighted. However, if anyone is asked to tell what this difference is, few people can make it clear, including experienced English teachers. This is the difficulty in learning English pronunciation. The problem is that swinging between British English and American English will make English learners' English pronunciation always in a state of confusion, and it is difficult to fall to any side, and it is impossible to form a stable personal pronunciation awareness and ability, which is extremely unfavorable for further phonetic memory. Not knowing the pronunciation differences between American English and English will lead to long-term learning confusion and affect English learners' choice of listening and speaking materials. In this way, many people will learn in disorder, resulting in "four unlike" English pronunciation. In addition, in colleges and universities, English majors and non-English majors should take CET-4 and CET-6 respectively. Students who study business English also need to take Cambridge Business English, and students who go abroad need to take IELTS and TOEFL. These exams all have listening tests, and some even have oral tests. The success of the listening part almost determines the success or failure of the exam. What puzzles most students is whether the listening content is British pronunciation or American pronunciation. If a student doesn't understand the difference between British English and American English, he is likely to hear the wrong words, which will lead to misunderstanding and failure in the listening test. For example: (1) "Please give me half a piece of cheese." This is likely to be misunderstood as "please eat cheese." The color of your collar is white. Listeners are more likely to associate it with the color of your collar being white. Such sentences often make the listener at a loss.
There are many such examples, which are enough to illustrate the importance of distinguishing British English from American English in pronunciation learning and listening.
2. Conducive to language communication
Authentic pronunciation can improve communication. In other words, swinging between British English and American English, with British accent and American accent, will make local people feel strange, just like listening to the mixture of Shandong dialect and Northeast dialect, and they can't tell clearly. If the speaker happens to be able to talk to an Englishman or an American with a good English pronunciation or American pronunciation, it is likely to make him feel intimate, which is more conducive to conversation. However, it should be emphasized that whether individuals need to imitate one of them is purely a matter of personal choice and hobby. Objectively speaking, what we usually call "British English" or "American English" of a China person mainly means that his voice has a "taste" of British English or American English. Of course, speaking more authentic British English or American English is always enviable. Therefore, English learners in China should pay attention to the correct use of English, so as to better communicate in authentic language.
3. Help to understand British and American culture.
Bernard Shaw once joked: "There is a gap between Britain and the United States in the same language." In fact, the development and change of any language is a complicated process, which not only reflects the cultural changes of a nation or country, but also reflects the historical tradition and political and economic development. Language always changes with the development of society and the change of people's lifestyle. English is the most widely used language in contemporary international communication, and it is also a rapidly changing language. By studying the differences between British English and American English, we can see that social and cultural factors play a decisive role in the production and spread of language. Through the above analysis of the causes and characteristics of language development, we can recognize some characteristics of British and American culture, which will undoubtedly help us to understand Britain and the United States more accurately, and the study of British English and American English can also give us a comprehensive understanding of the development of language, especially English. Furthermore, language is also branded with national culture, and English and American languages are also showing their own national characteristics. For example, some words in British English are not found in American English, such as prince, duke, marquis and knight, which are unique to British English. American enthusiasm, British solemnity and tradition are all reflected in their language. Therefore, college students can enrich their English language knowledge and improve their English application ability by analyzing the above characteristics.
Learning a language is to achieve the purpose of mutual communication. Be able to understand each other and express their opinions. No matter what kind of English they learn, English learners should learn purely. They can freely express serious or relaxed topics in solemn occasions or relaxed scenes and go anywhere unimpeded. Only in this way can we gain the respect and recognition of others. Therefore, in order to communicate more effectively and improve the effect and quality of communication, college teachers should standardize their own teaching language and supervise students to enhance their language recognition ability in teaching. This is very urgent and necessary in college English teaching.