Abstract

<p><em>As a result of colonization of the British, the English used in many African countries and for that matter Ghana, is the British standard variety. However, the English used in Ghana, appears to have been invaded by the American English. This poses a problem as both teachers and students especially at the senior high school level confuse themselves about which word or spelling is right and vice versa. This study thus seeks to investigate students’ awareness of this invasion, the extent of the invasion and also to ascertain which of the aspects of the language has been much influenced by the American variety. The underpinning framework for this study is Kachru’s (1985) concentric model to situate the type of English used in Ghana. A sample size of 100 Students of English Education Department of University of Education, Winneba was selected for the study. The data was a secondary one: a random collection of vocabulary. Test, interview and questionnaire were also employed to gather other related data for the study. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to analyse the data with precedence on qualitative analysis and the findings were thematically presented. The results indicate that although students use both American and British English together, they have little knowledge about the differences between them, especially, with the vocabulary aspect. Students have fair knowledge about the differences between the two varieties as regards the orthography aspect. These findings have implications on the teaching of English language and on examination issues in the country. It also informs writers of various educational materials about what variety to use.</em></p>

Highlights

  • 1.1 History of English Languages such as Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Arabic and French were at various times lauded for their prestige and popularity

  • The students could not indicate whether or not what makes the words British or American stems from vocabulary or pronunciation. 4.1 Results from the Test on the Set of Words As indicated earlier, the students were tested on their knowledge of the spelling and vocabulary differences of some words belonging to either the American or British English variety

  • Students are cognizant of the fact that a British variety (British Standard English) is the acceptable variety for educational purposes in Ghana and they support its continuity as the language for education. This preference of the respondents tows the direction of Janicki’s (2005) finding that some teachers hold the view that British English variety should continue to be the ideal variety of English to teach in schools

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Summary

Introduction

1.1 History of English Languages such as Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Arabic and French were at various times lauded for their prestige and popularity English, as it is used did not enjoy the same status and prestige during the early days. It must be stated that before the colonization splurge of Great Britain, the classical languages (Greek and Latin) used to be the languages in vogue This is because the Romans were in control of many parts of the world. English is represented in every continent, and in islands of the three major oceans—Atlantic (St Helena), Indian (Seychelles) and Pacific (in many islands, such as Fiji and Hawaii) It is this spread of representation which makes the application of the label “global language” (Crystal, 2003), a realism. Fishman’s (1996, p. 628) concluding statement supports the expansion of the language as,

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