Standard English Debate
Introduction
Since ages, people communicate between one another with language. Language is a system of communication whereby people use it as a tool to deliver and receive information. In view of English has been the most powerful language nowadays, people tend to question what Standard English is and which Standard English to be used by everybody; Standard British English or Standard American English or any other standard.
1. What is Standard English Debate?
To know what Standard English is, people need to know from where it has been derived and why it is chosen as the standard variety that people prefer to use. It is originated from the south-east Midlands areas. This is due to the fact that the variety of these places which are London, Oxford and Cambridge have already achieved the aspects of learning, politics and commerce successfully (Thomas, 2000). They have these advantages as people from there have the influence and power. So their dialect has been chosen as the standard language. It relates with the words and grammar as being mentioned by Wright (2000);
…process of standardization should also involve lexis, morphology, syntax and pragmatic.
(Wright, 2000, p.2)
The expertises have argued upon how it has been selected but the process of making it standardized requires grammatical rules and standard vocabularies. People have their own dialect as it will portray their own identity and culture. To differentiate Standard English and non-standard English, it is necessary to refer them with the dialect and not the accent (pronunciation) as it has been discussed through the derivation of the variety. It is not easy to define what Standard English is as the dialect has been the major tool for everyone to talk in different situation. As an illustration, for a Kelantanese in Malaysia, the standard Malay language will not be used if a person wants to talk to his or her friends and family members unless he or she is
Since ages, people communicate between one another with language. Language is a system of communication whereby people use it as a tool to deliver and receive information. In view of English has been the most powerful language nowadays, people tend to question what Standard English is and which Standard English to be used by everybody; Standard British English or Standard American English or any other standard.
1. What is Standard English Debate?
To know what Standard English is, people need to know from where it has been derived and why it is chosen as the standard variety that people prefer to use. It is originated from the south-east Midlands areas. This is due to the fact that the variety of these places which are London, Oxford and Cambridge have already achieved the aspects of learning, politics and commerce successfully (Thomas, 2000). They have these advantages as people from there have the influence and power. So their dialect has been chosen as the standard language. It relates with the words and grammar as being mentioned by Wright (2000);
…process of standardization should also involve lexis, morphology, syntax and pragmatic.
(Wright, 2000, p.2)
The expertises have argued upon how it has been selected but the process of making it standardized requires grammatical rules and standard vocabularies. People have their own dialect as it will portray their own identity and culture. To differentiate Standard English and non-standard English, it is necessary to refer them with the dialect and not the accent (pronunciation) as it has been discussed through the derivation of the variety. It is not easy to define what Standard English is as the dialect has been the major tool for everyone to talk in different situation. As an illustration, for a Kelantanese in Malaysia, the standard Malay language will not be used if a person wants to talk to his or her friends and family members unless he or she is
Bibliography: Hart, G,. (2007). What is Standard English? Retrieved on October 4, 2009, from http://www.eslbase.com/articles/english.asp McCarthy, M. & O’Dell, F. (1999). English Vocabulary in Use Upper- Intermediate & Advanced. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. Nordquist, R., (2009). Standard English. Retrieved on October 4, 2009, from http://grammar.about.com/od/rs/g/standengterm.htm Nordquist, R., (2009). Standard American English. Retrieved on October 4, 2009, from http://grammar.about.com/od/rs/g/stamenglishterm.htm Nordquist, R., (2009). Standard British English. Retrieved on October 4, 2009, from http://grammar.about.com/od/rs/g/standbriteterm.htm Standard English. Retrieved on September 16, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/ Thomas, L. & Wareing, S. (2000). Language, Society and Power. London: Routledge. Trudgill, P. 1999. Standard English: why it isn’t. Retrieved on September 16, 2009 from http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/ Twain, M., (1884). The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Wright, L., (2000). The Development of Standard English. Retrieved on October 4, 2009, from http://assets.cambridge.org/97805217/71146/sample/9780521771146ws.pdf