CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Problems

Language is a systematic symbol that is used by human to

communicate, because language is a tool of communication. People use

language to deliver ideas, opinions and feeling by oral or written ways.

Without language, people cannot communicate each other. Every country

has different language to communicate. But, we have an international

language that is English.

As we know, English is international language which used almost

of countries in the world. English as international language has two major

varieties, namely: British English (BE) and American English (AE). There

are many differences both of them, such as differences in vocabulary,

spelling, pronunciation, grammar, and abbreviation. For native speaker,

the differences are not problems because they understand those

differences. However, for countries where English is as foreign language,

like Indonesia, sometimes become a problem.

Especially in Indonesia, the teaching material of English subject

does not differentiate between British English and American English.

Sometimes, the teacher uses both of them when explain the material. It

makes students becomes confuse when they try to understand the meaning

of the word and write something in the correct way. The students also

confuse which one is correct or incorrect. For example when some

students argue warna in English is color, other students say the correct

spelling for color is colour. Even, some teacher also still confuse which

one the correct spelling. In the fact, both of them are correct spelling in

different varieties. Colour for British English and color for American

English. Other example is can. Some students said the meaning of can is

kaleng, but other students said the meaning of can is dapat and kaleng in

English is tin. This case makes students confuse and think which one is

correct. So the teacher has to explain that kaleng in English is can based

on American English, while based on British English, kaleng is tin. And

both of them are correct.

The curriculum in Indonesia does not specify which variety of

English should be used in the learning process. So, the teacher confuses to

choose which variety of English that will be used. Sometimes, the teachers

use both varieties of English when they deliver their materials in the class.

For example, when elementary school the teacher often give British

vocabularies like colour, biscuit, favourite, neighbour, etc. But, when

Junior High School, the students begin to know American English

vocabularies like cookies, color, neighbor, favorite and others. Lack of

knowledge about British English and American English is the cause of this

confusion. To reduce this misunderstanding, the teachers have to know the

differences between American English and British English and choose

which one will be used in learning process. The teachers also have to study

before they deliver their materials to the students.

 From the reason on the previous stage, the researcher would like to

clarify about the differences between British English and American

English. And the researcher is motivated to conduct the research entitled

“A COMPARATIVE BETWEEN BRITISH ENGLISH AND

AMERICAN ENGLISH: VOCABULARY ANALYSIS”.

B. Identification of the Problems

Based on the background of the problems above, the researcher can

identify some problems, they are:

1. Lack of knowledge about British English and American

English.

2. The curriculum in Indonesia does not determine the use of

British English or American English in the learning process.

3. Lack of vocabulary of British English and American English.

4. The teachers still confuse to determine which varieties of

English that will be used in learning process.

5. The students confuse to determine the correct spelling.

C. Limitation of The Problems

Based on the identification above, the researcher wants to limit the

problem on the Comparative between British English and American

English: Vocabulary Analysis.

D. Research Questions

Based on the limitation of the problem above, the research

question for this study can be formulated as: what are differences between

British English and American English?

E. Research Purpose

The research is conducted to investigate the comparative between

British English and American English.

F. Significance of The Research

The significance of the research will be useful for:

1. Students :

The findings of the research will give new information to

the students about the differences between British English and

American English. So, it will decrease confusion of the

students.

2. Teacher

The researcher hopes this research will give new references

for the teacher, so the teacher can determine to use British

English or American English consistently.

3. Reader

This research will give new knowledge to the reader and

make the reader more insightful. So, the reader can

differentiate the differences between British English and

American English.
4. Researcher

This research will answer the curiosity of the researcher

about the differences between British English and American

English.