Expanding the tomato controversy: an exploratory study of the perception of standard British and American English in Portugal

Abstract

The recognition and reception of the two major international varieties of English in Portugal.

English has become the predominant language of the globe and Portugal is no exception to this predominance. It is the language that Portuguese people mostly use in international settings, the idiom dominating youth culture, science and technology, and a skill generally required in the tertiary sector. Though proficiency in English is far from attained at a national level, it is a subject that has been taught from the fifth grade in Portuguese schools for almost thirty years and which was recently made compulsory in primary schools.

However, the presence of English in Portugal far antedates its use for international, professional and academic purposes and its elevation to an international, global or world (standard) language. This recent condition was prepared by a long history of contact with Britain and its varieties and by a more recent record of low-mediated contact with American English due to the influx of American mass culture.