Week 6: English in North America

This section introduces North American English, the term that refers broadly to the varieties of the English language spoken and written in the United States and Canada. More narrowly (and more commonly), American English refers to the varieties of English used in the U.S.

American English (AmE) was the first major variety of the language that developed outside of Britain. "The foundation for an ideological American English," says Richard W. Bailey in Speaking American (2012), "began shortly after the Revolution, and its most articulate spokesman was the quarrelsome Noah Webster." 

"American English is, without doubt, the most influential and powerful variety of English in the world today. There are many reasons for this. First, the United States is, at present, the most powerful nation on earth and such power always brings with it influence. . . . Second, America's political influence is extended through American popular culture, in particular through the international reach of American films (movies, of course) and music. . . . Third, the the international prominence of American English is closely associated with the extraordinarily quick development of communications technology."
(Andy Kirkpatrick, World Englishes: Implications for International Communication and English Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press, 2007).

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