The document discusses the concept of Standard English, its characteristics, and the distinctions between Standard and non-standard English, particularly focusing on British and American English differences. It highlights how Standard English is defined as a dialect used by educated speakers, emphasizing grammar and vocabulary without considering pronunciation. Additionally, the emergence of World Englishes and the various roles English plays globally are explored, underlining the diversity and sociolinguistic contexts surrounding the language.

1. Standard and
Non-Standard English
Presenter:
Naveed Khokher
Department of Applied Linguistics, GCUF.

3. The Britains
claims
ownership of
Standard
English

4. Standard English

5. • Standard Englishes definition by British English
• The dialect of educated people throughout the British Isles. It is the dialect normally used in
writing, for teaching in schools and universities, and heard on radio and television (Hughes and
Trudgill 1979, repeated in the 2nd edition, 1996).
• Standard English can be characterized by saying that it is that set of grammatical and lexical
forms which is typically used in speech and writing by educated native speakers. 'It ... includes
the use of colloquial and slang vocabulary as well as swear words and taboo expressions'
(Trudgill 1984).
• Traditionally the medium of the upper and (especially professional) middle class, and by and
large of education ... Although not limited to one accent (most notably in recent decades), it has
been associated since at least the nineteenth century with the accent that, since the 1920s, has
been called Received Pronunciation (RP), and with the phrases the Queen's English, the King's
English, Oxford English, and BBC English (McArthur 2002).

6. • Standard Englishes definition by all others from Inner Circle:
• The variety of the English language which is normally employed in writing and normally
spoken by educated speakers of the language. It is also, of course, the variety of the language
that students of English as a foreign or second language (EFL/ESL) are taught when receiving
formal instruction. The term 'standard English' refers to grammar and vocabulary (dialect) but
not to pronunciation (accent) {Trudgill and Hannah 1982, and repeated in the 4th edition, 2002).
• The term 'standard English' is potentially misleading for at least two reasons. First, in order to
be self-explanatory, it really ought to be called 'the grammar and the core vocabulary of
educated usage in English'. That would make plain the fact that it is not the whole of English,
and above all, it is not pronunciation that can in any way be labelled 'Standard; but only one
part of English: its grammar and vocabulary (Strevens 1985).
• Since the 1980s, the notion of 'standard' has come to the fore in public debate about the
English language ... We may define the standard English of an English-speaking country as a
minority variety (identified chiefly by its vocabulary, grammar and orthography) ·which carries
most prestige and is most widely understood (Crystal 1995, repeated in the 2nd edition, 2003b).

7. Essence of Standard English
• Standard English refers to Grammar and vocabulary (dialect)
• Accent is not involved in standard English (pronunciation)
• British general public associate the Standard with the RP accent. (McArthur
implies)

8. Trudgill (1999) views about Standard English:
• It is not a language: It is only one variety of a given English.
• It is not an accent: In Britain it is spoken by 12-15 percent of the population, of whom 9-12
percent speak it with a regional accent.
• It is not a style:
it can be spoken in formal, neutral and informal styles, respectively.
Example: Father was exceedingly fatigued subsequent to his extensive peregrinations.
Dad was very tired after his lengthy journey
The old was bloody knackered after his long trip.

9. Trudgill (1999) views about Standard English: (continued)
• It is not a register:
Register is largely a matter of lexis in relation to subject matter (E.g: the register of medicine,
of cricket, or of knitting). There is no necessary connection between register and standard
English.
• It is a dialect:
Trudgill concludes that standard English is a dialect that differs from the other dialects of English.

10. 5 Main Features of Standard English
1. A high sociolect. It is a associated with elite groups of people, wealthy highly, educated,
affluence, articulate and whom have power over people.
2. It is recorded and codified. You will find these in dictionaries, grammar books, styles guides.
3. It doesn’t have a home; You may think that the Great Britain will claim this idea of standard
variety however there are standard varieties throughout the world.
4. It is easily recognizable. Most people write in Standard English however David Crystal says
around 5% of the world speaks the standard variety.
5. It can be spoken with any accent, but only pays attention to vocabulary, spelling and
grammar

11. Definition:
• Any dialect of English other than Standard English.
• A term used disapprovingly by some Non-Linguists to describe “bad” or “incorrect” English.
Non-Standard English

12. British and American Pronunciation Differences:
• In British English, many vowels have different sounds and are usually not
nasalized.
- down, sound, found
• In British English the “a” sound is pronounced at the back of the mouth /ɑː/.
While in America English it's pronounced at the front of the mouth. /æ/
- class, grass, can’t, fast, ask
• Stressed vowels are usually longer in American English. In packet, for example,
the "a" is longer.
• In British English the /r/ sound is pronounced only before a vowel (Ex. red, real,
bedroom). In all other cases the /r/ is silent, sounding more similar to the sound
"ah"
- word, heart, car, over
• In American English the /r/ sound is always pronounced wherever it appears in

13. British and American vocabulary differences
American English British English
Antenna Aerial
Apartment Flat
Apartment building Block of flats
Bathroom Toilet
Busy (phone line) Engaged
Cafeteria Canteen
Candy Sweets
Cookie Biscuit
Cotton candy Candy floss
Crosswalk Zebra crossing
First floor Ground floor

14. British and American spelling Differences
British Englsih American English
-our (honour, flavour) -or (honor, flavor)
-re (centre, metre) -er (center, meter)
-ogue (dialogue, catalogue) -og (dialog, catalog)
-ce (defence, licence) -se (defense, license)
-ise (apologise, realise) -ize (apologize, realize)
-yse (analyse, catalyse) -yze (analyze, catalyze)

15. British and American Grammar Differences
• In sentences which talk about an action in the past that has an effect in the present:
- Jenny feels ill. She ate too much.
- Jenny feels ill. She's eaten too much.
- I can't find my keys. Did you see them anywhere?
- I can't find my keys. Have you seen them anywhere?
• In sentences which contain the words already,, just or yet:
- Are they going to the show tonight?
- No. They already saw it.
- Are they going to the show tonight?
- No. They've already seen it.
- Is Samantha here?
- No, she just left.
- Is Samantha here?
- No, she has just left

16. Which is better?
An important point to make is that different doesn’t mean wrong.
Comments such as “American English is inferior to British English”, or
“American English is better than British English” have no solid basis
other than the speaker’s opinion. The truth is that no language or
regional variety of language is naturally better or worse than another.
They are just different. Students will often have very firm beliefs on
which English they think is better/easier to understand/clearer etc. While
it may be true for that particular individual, there is no evidence to
suggest that one variety is easier to learn or understand than the other
and there are no scientific criteria to validate the superiority of one
variety over another.

17. World Englishes
World Englishes refers to the emergence of localized or indigenized varieties of English,
especially varieties that have developed in nations colonized by Great Britain or influenced
by the United States. World Englishes consist of varieties of English used in diverse
sociolinguistic contexts globally, and how sociolinguistic histories, multicultural
backgrounds and contexts of function influence the use of colonial English in different
regions of the world.
The issue of World Englishes was first raised in 1978 to examine concepts of regional
Englishes globally. Pragmatic factors such as appropriateness, comprehensibility and
interpretability justified the use of English as an international and intra-national language. In
1988, at a Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) conference in
Honolulu, Hawaii, the International Committee of the Study of World Englishes (ICWE) was
formed.[In 1992, the ICWE formally launched the International Association for World
Englishes (IAWE) at a conference of "World Englishes Today", at the University of Illinois,
USA.
Currently, there are approximately 75 territories where English is spoken either as a first
language (L1) or as an unofficial or institutionalized second language (L2) in fields such as
government, law and education. It is difficult to establish the total number of Englishes in
the world, as new varieties of English are constantly being developed and discovered.

18. Classification of Englishes
• The spread of English around the world is often discussed in terms of three distinct
groups of users, where English is used respectively as:
• a native language (ENL); the primary language of the majority population of a country,
such as in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
• a second language (ESL); an additional language for intranational as well as
international communication in communities that are multilingual, such as in India,
Pakistan Nigeria, and Singapore.
• A foreign language (EFL); used almost exclusively for international communication,
such as in Japan and Germany.