Have you ever noticed that Americans and British people say the word “right” differently when they talk? A recent study done by Rutgers University has looked into this and found some surprising results!
Researchers from Rutgers have published their differences in the Journal of Pragmatics, which is a type of research paper. This report compares how Americans and British speakers use “right” in conversations.
American people usually say ‘right’ to show that they understand a certain thing or situation. In contrast, British English speakers use the same word when they find something new and information-rich in an ongoing talk. Therefore, Americans misunderstand British people because it looks like they already knew what is being said even though it’s not true.
The British use the word “right” in conversations more than Americans, and this could lead some Americans to believe that British people are smarter. This may also be because their accent sounds more sophisticated compared to an American accent.
In this research, the scientists examined conversations among 125 people, which included 70 from Britain and 55 from America. Professor Galina Bolden from Rutgers said that even if we don’t realize it, our speech differences have a real effect on how other people view us and think about our knowledge.
Recently, Rutgers researchers noted an interesting “confusing situation” when they heard an American and British person talking.
The findings of this study show us different ways people can express how sure they are about something they’re saying. It also shows us that using the methods of conversation analysis helps us to understand communication between people from different cultures, and helps us learn more about all kinds of languages.
This study suggests that more research should be done to compare how people in the United States and United Kingdom use response particles in conversations. Specifically, researchers should look into what kind of stances these particles convey when used internationally. Doing this would help us figure out if the difference between using American English and British English mainly comes from culture or language itself.
A special article called “The distinctive uses of right in British and American English interaction” was published in the Journal of Pragmatics on 16 January 2023. It is written by Galina B. Bolden, Alexa Hepburn, and Jenny Mandelbaum.
