British or American English: Emerging Trends in Pakistani English Newspapers

Abstract

This paper analyses the features of American English found in Pakistani English newspapers and accounts for those features quantitatively with reference to British English. Pakistani journalistic English has the tendency to become more Americanized in the recent era. There is a shift from British English to American English in Pakistani newspapers and this brief study aims to show the growing influence of American English on Pakistani English. American English is considered the most influential and powerful variety of English (Kirkpatrick, 2007). The influence of American English in newspaper writing suggests that there is a tendency among the Pakistan English speakers to opt for American English instead of British English particularly at the lexical and grammatical levels. The results indicate that the use of American English is growing rapidly in Pakistan English newspapers. The quantitative findings of the study suggest that although British English is preferred in Pakistani newspapers yet the traces of American English are quite obvious and apparent. The previous studies related to Pakistani English explored the difference between Pakistan and British English at various levels. However, Americanization is Pakistani English is rarely discussed phenomenon. This is less researched area in Pakistani English context and this study aims to fill this gap.