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It is becoming increasingly important to train Korea's EFL learners in British English as well as in American English. In Korea, British English has often been relegated to playing second fiddle to American English. In this paper, it will be shown through surveys and experiments that English majors in Korean colleges fare far worse in understanding British English than they do in understanding American English. They were unfamiliar with the British way of pronouncing words and had considerable difficulty recognizing words unique to British English. When two experimental groups with equal English proficiency were asked to listen to two scripts - one narrated with a British accent and one narrated with an American accent, the average of the first group was far lower than that of the second. In the age of globalization, we must be able to communicate not only with Americans, but also with Europeans, Africans, and Indians who typically feel more at ease with British English. Consequently, a more conscious effort has to be made to call attention to the urgency of studying British English. |
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