Language and Intelligence

The articles I read for this past week’s class has taught me an important lesson. As a teacher, I cannot make judgements about students based on their ability to speak Standard English. Now, I have to admit that before learning more about different forms of English, I was guilty of placing a judgement about intellectual ability on a person based on their level of Standard English. From this I can see how I have been socialized into acquainting intelligence with Standard English. After this week’s class I feel a sense of liberation from an unjust belief I used to hold. I have a great example from another part of my life that I believe illustrates that Standard English has no bearing on intelligence.

With my part time job in a lumber yard, I have had lots of interaction with people who speak slightly different than I. The majority of the customers I interact with are working class people who did not attend University after high school. Although many of these people do not use Standard English as their daily communication language, they are very much intelligent people. For example, their ability to problem solve and create in the construction industry far exceeds what a person “without intelligence” could do. As they excel in the trades, they make me, a university educated person feel inferior due to the knowledge they bring to our conversations. Although I am able to articulate better in Standard English, this skill does not have relevance in a lumber yard. In fact, when I go to work, I notice myself speaking differently than I do at school or at home. Subconsciously I do not want to sound like I don’t know what I am talking about when I speak with contractors so I subconsciously begin to emulate their way of speaking.

From this example within my own life, I can see how a person’s level of Standard of English is not a reflection of their intelligence. It is our society that has placed a higher value one on form of English over another. I believe my example illustrates that class issues also have an impact on how we value language use. As a teacher, by recognizing the association between social stratification and language, I believe I am helping to eliminate inequality in education.