David, I find your posts extremely rude. There is no need to tell
me in each post how I "obviously haven't done my homework", or how "it
is I who may be doing the students a disservice". There is no
need to make
ad hominem attacks. I have supported my views with evidence in each post and I will continue to do so.
According to wikipedia,
67.2% of all native English speakers are American
(and 5.8% are Canadian). Assuming about half of Canadians lean
toward American usage, that would be 70% even if no other English
speaking country in the world used American English.
Ethnologue.com also concurrs that American English is used by about 70%
of all native English speakers. Do you disagree with this
point? If so, what sources can you cite?
While it is true that there are some areas where British English is
dominant as a second language, most notably Inda, American English is
emphasized by more people world around the world. Every single
Chinese person must study English in grade school, and American English
is the model used for spelling, grammar and diction. While the
(very debatable) list of places that use British English is quite long,
the total number of speakers living in all of those places is about
equal to the those living in China. Do you disagree with this
point? If so, what sources can you cite?
In addition to China, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina all
have thriving ESL markets which have a preference for American
English. Check the job listings at
Daves ESL for the Asian countries. For Latin America, check the message at
transitionsabroad.com
that says that " the demand tends to be for American English".
Jobs in these countries don't mention a preference for British or
American English. But those that do, are overwhelmingly more
likely to prefer American (or N. American) English. Do you
disagree with this point? If so, what sources can you cite?
Furthermore, all over the world, people are exposed to more American
media and culture than British. Indians (despite their colonial
history) probably have more contact with American Media than Japanese
have had with British (or Australian or whatever) media. In fact,
I would argue that every single poster on this board has seen more
movies made in the US than every single country on the list you wrote
in your last post... combined. Do you disagree with this point?
I don't really see any structured argument coming from you except that
you don't think American English sounds very good. Yes, you wrote
a long list of other places where people would agree with you.
But you included Canada (twice since you added Newfoundland). My
entire family is Canadian, and as far as I know they all say
"gotten". But in anycase, of all of the ESL students I've taught
in my life (admittedly all in Asia and Latin America) who have told me
which people they want to be able to communicate with... More
have said that they want to communicate with Americans than the people
from all of those places on your list combined. Is this
surprising to you?
Anyway, it sounds to me like you just have a chip on your shoulder
against America. Hey, I do too, especially these last six
years. But, I don't let that get in the way of doing what's best
for my students' careers. Don't let your own prejudice overrule
practicalities. We don't get into teaching for the money.
We do it to make a positive difference in people's lives. We do
it to open as many doors for them in the future as we can. We
have an awesome power to change their lives for the better, and we are
responsible to do all we can to use that power effectively. If
that means giving up petty nationalism and prejudice, then so be it.