African American Vernacular English

Our class discusion on African American Vernacular English reminded me of this youtube video. Although it plays on sterotyoes, I think it is a good example of switching between types of English based on geographic and race group assosiation. It is also cool because it is about a substitute teacher; a job that I can see myself having in the near future.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd7FixvoKBw

Standard English

Standard English: What it isn’t

I have to admit that after reading this article, I still am not sure what Standard English is. At the same time, I have a better understanding of what it isn’t. I thought that the author’s decision to write the article by explaining the common misconceptions of Standard English has left me more confused than if she had just attempted to define Standard English. However, I will write about my interpretation and potential problems with the idea of Standardized English.

What I can’t seem to comprehend is the idea that there can be more than one Standard English. But if there is more than one Standard English, doesn’t that defeat the purpose of what is Standard English. If you have more than one standard of the same thing then you really haven’t established a standard at all. It seems to me that establishing a standard based on varying dialects is actually working to create different languages all together. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of trying to create a standard?

At the same time, we do not need to establish the one superior version of English that we can all agree is the standard. With so many different countries and unique regions now speaking English around the world, we will never be able to agree on a true standard. English has already evolved too much from its spread out of Britain. Complicating the idea of standardization even more, in my opinion, is that every English speaking region believes that there English is superior to anyone else’s. In this sense, we can have many different versions of standardized English. I would not consider either of them to be Standard English with a capital S because there is not one version that ranks above the rest.

My other concern with the idea of Standardized English is the creation of a hierarchy based on a person’s ability to speak in the established superior version. There is power in language. If we devalue one group of people’s way of speaking and establish another as better, we stand to do the same in other aspects of society. We will begin to perceive a person of being of lower status based on the way they talk and use the English language. I believe that in this sense, language becomes a hegemonic device as one group is able to establish dominance over another. For these reasons, I have concerns about the idea of Standardized English.