Discuss what is meant by the term “language variety” and show how one variety of English may differ

Discuss what is meant by the term “language variety” and show how one variety of English may differ from Standard British English in a number of ways. Should non-native speakers be taught Standard British English and RP?

Introduction

The influence of the Americans across the world has led to the spread of English in most parts opt the world. The spread of English across the globe has led to emergence of English varieties. (Crystal and Yule 203) call these language varieties language dialect or regional dialect this paper will majorly tackle the Irish English. This is the English spoken in Ireland. English majorly came from Britain and America. It later spread to various parts of the world. Countries that were colonized by the Great Britain use the standard British English version whereas those that were colonized by America use the standard America version. These regions later adapted English as either their national or as the official language. Various factor led to variations in the English language leading to what is termed as regional dialect.

This essay will argue that non native speakers of English should be taught British Standard English and not Received Pronunciation. In my own opinion it’s important because the British standard version in recognized internationally when it comes to the written form but it’s very difficult to teach the Received Pronunciation unless one is the native speaker of the language.

Definition and background information

According to crystal language variety is the variation that people have in their spoken and written language as influenced by the regions they come from. (Yule 195) simple describes language variation as the regional dialects of a language. Yule defines standard language as the variety of language that is considered the most correct and preferred way of writing and speaking. According to him the standard language is not a language but the preferred variety among the many regional dialects.

Irish English is the English spoken in Ireland, a country located north western of the European. The native language in Ireland was basically Greek and Latin. The English spoken by Irish was greatly influenced by the Gaelic language.

Interview structure, place and length

To understand the English dialect in Ireland simply known as the Irish English, 100 English speakers in Ireland were interviewed on the basis of grammar, spelling, vocabulary and pronunciation. To eliminate biasness the selection was done randomly. The interview took place in the small town called Dublin. The interviewed were asked to spell different English words. They were also tested on grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. Whereby, in grammar and vocabulary testing, they wer