British English or American English vocabulary? A sociolinguistic study of Swedish upper secondary school pupils’ choice of vocabulary and their attitude towards the two language varieties

Abstract

Institution: Göteborg University/Department of English Course: C-level paper, interdisciplinary paper Semester: Spring 2007 Title: British English or American English vocabulary? A sociolinguistic study of Swedish upper secondary school pupils’ choice of vocabulary and their attitude towards the two language varieties. Writer: Charlotte Spångberg Purpose: To examine Swedish upper secondary pupils’ use of American and British lexemes and their attitudes towards the two language varieties. Method: A quantitative study of pupils’ use of American and British lexemes in a questionnaire and a qualitative study of their attitude and reasons for choosing one of the two varieties. Material: 70 pupils’ answers to a questionnaire. Main results: A majority (70-80%) of the pupils preferred American English. Boys favored American English slightly more than girls did. A difference between the two school areas was that more pupils from the affluent school chose AmE words than the pupils at the less affluent school. The pupils were generally more positive towards the variety they had chosen.