The Study of English Style: British English and American English Words

The British English and American English are most commonly used; which are usually referred as two ‘main’ accents for the English language. Both of them are having their own uniqueness and characteristics in terms of word choices. When the speaker utters the words in one particular accent, by some means the listener could recognise which English style is the speaker more familiar with. To obtain the data of which English style are the speaker more familiar with, a straightforward study was held.  The respondents for this study are ten people who live in the city of Singaraja with various ages and social backgrounds. They are requested to determine which English words are more familiar for them by showing them a table of words list. Fine comprehension about English in cooperation with the vocabularies that the respondents have will lead them to English style that fits them in four English proficiencies


I. Introduction
As one of the most spoken languages all over the world, English plays a significant role in every single sector of humans' life. English has also become one of the official languages in the United Nations; together with Arabic, French, Russian, Spanish and Mandarin (Chinese). There are a lot of English accents such as Australian English accent in Australia, Canadian English accent in Canada, Irish English accent in Ireland, Scottish English accent in Scotland, Welsh English accent in Wales and many others.
Nevertheless, at this moment in time, British English and American English are most commonly used; which are usually referred as two 'main' accents for the English language. The differences between those two are actually not only about the accent but also from the spelling differences and pronunciation differences. Another fun fact is that it is not only the spelling and pronunciation that we need to watch out for because there are also a number of words which have different meanings. It is all depending on whether they are used in a British English or an American English context.
The word 'football' in British English, for example, refers to a game played between two teams of eleven people, where each team tries to win by kicking a ball into the other team's goal (Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary Third Edition), whereas in American English the word refers to 'soccer'. In American English, the word 'football' actually refers to American football which is a game for two teams of eleven players in which an oval ball is moved along the field by running with it or throwing it (Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary Third Edition).
Zhang (2008) offered a good example to illustrate how the same utterance could have different meaning in the British English and American English. Zhang explained that there was a lady from Britain encountered an American woman in her visit to a particular destination in The United States of America. The British lady mentioned that she needed to rest because she had already knocked up. The American woman unpredictably congratulated her and this made the lady got annoyed. This seems sensible because the phrase 'knock up' has led the conversation into a misunderstanding. If we say the phrase in the United Kingdom society, it actually means 'exhausted' meanwhile in the United States of America it means 'pregnant'. We can see that the same phrase has really different meanings within different countries. Thus, we should also know the real meaning of the phrase from the two points of view; both in British English and American English.
On the other hand, talking about the use of English language in Indonesia, the Indonesian people tend to mix their English into British and American English altogether. Sometimes, they apply the words which are familiarly used in British English, nonetheless they also apply the American English words on the other occasion. At first glance, this might be seen as an inconsistency of Indonesian people in using English language. However, it is very likely that Indonesian people do not really recognise the differences between those two types. There is a tendency that they prefer to use the words that they are familiar with and often they hear either through daily conversation or from other media. Besides, all those words that they are familiar with become fossilised in their minds and it is rather difficult to use other words. For example, if someone knows the word 'candy' better than 'sweet', they will use the word 'candy' more often in the conversation.
Without a doubt, British English and American English are diverse from each other in many aspects. It is possible as well to find the same word -in British English and American English -which convey very dissimilar context and the exact same context which are stated in different words. Due to the history and local culture, we need to study it thoroughly and carefully to steer clear of the redundant misinterpretation.

The Differences between British English and American English
As being stated previously, even though theoretically all of us speak exactly the same English language, there are some significant points wherein British English is different from American English. The followings are the differences:

a. Spelling
The first difference is in the term of spelling. Especially for the spelling, the British English has commonly maintained the way of spelling of words which has been taken from other languages meanwhile American English has modified the way of spelling to make the word look more like how it actually sounds. For instance, if we talk about a kind of movement which needs skill and care, it is called 'manoeuvre' in British English, meanwhile it is called 'maneuver' in American English. Another characteristic difference in term of spelling is the existence the letter 'u' in the British English word when it is absent in American English word. The examples are 'colour', 'flavour', 'harbour' and 'labour' in British English. They are 'color', 'flavor', 'harbor' and 'labor' in American English.

b. Pronunciation
The second difference is in the term of pronunciation. The words in British English and American English might be the same in the spelling way; however people from London (the United Kingdom) and people from New York (the United States of America) can possibly pronounced it in a different way. We can take the word 'advertisement' as the example. The word is pronounced /ədˈvɜː.tɪs.mənt/ in British English, meanwhile it is pronounced as /ˈaed.vɝː.taɪz.mənt/ in American English. In addition, for another example, the word 'croissant'which is an Austrian piece of light crescent-shaped pastry -is also pronounced differently; it is /ˈkwaes.ɒ/ in British English and /kwɑːˈsɑː/ in American English.

c. Grammar
The third difference is in the term of grammar. There are a number of grammatical differences between British and American English. For instance, if someone asks if you are heavyeyed or sleepy but you have just finished your nap, in British English you need to apply present perfect tense "No, I've taken a nap already". However, in American English, you may answer it by applying the simple past tense "No, I took a nap already" which is considered to be erroneous in British English grammar.
In addition, the two English styles have also their own tendency in the style. Two websites concerning about English styles, www.ulatus.jp and www.enago.jp stated that: a. British English has a predilection to react slowly towards the existence of brand new words and phrases. Conversely, American English implements them more willingly. b. British English diction has a slight tendency to be indistinct and tedious while American English tends to be more straight to the topic and clear.
c. American English tends to contain more slang (very informal language which is usually spoken rather than written) expressions practised by particular groups of people wherein British English does not.

The Test of English Style: British English or American English?
To find out which 'English style' is more familiar and more often spoken by some samples of society, a study was conducted. The respondents for this study were ten people who live in the city of Singaraja.
In this study, all respondents were given a The third respondent stated that he often watches movies and songs which used American English. He mentioned that he thinks that American English is easier and clearer for him to understand than the British one. The respondent stated that according to his acquaintance: 1. 'Biscuit' is a kind of sweet dry small cake which can only be manufactured in factory using machines meanwhile 'cookie' can be made at home (homemade). 2. 'Chip' is a food made from potato or cassava which is round and thin in shape and it is crunchy. Conversely, 'french fry' is only be made of potato which is cut into long thin piece and be fried for snack or main meal.

III. Conclusion
From the results of the test above, it can be seen that there are two respondents (the second and fourth respondents) who are more familiar with British English words. The rest are more familiar with American English words (the first, third, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth respondent).

Conclusion
It is awe-inspiring indeed that there are a lot of differences between British English and American English. Most British people and American people realise that fact, hence they who speak British English and they who speak American English do not need to find themselves in too much trouble when they go travelling to the United States of America or the United Kingdom.
It is a good consideration for trying to be consistent -deciding which type of English you are going to utilise and try to stick with it both in spoken and written way. However, it is still acceptable if sometimes we use the British English words and on another occasion we use American English words. It is also an excellent thought to consider for having study in the United Kingdom if you want to learn more about British English and learn American English in the United States of America. One thing to be sure is there is nothing wrong with the English style which is used by the people. As far as it is meaningful and could be comprehended by the listeners, it would be fair.