Accents and Dialects - notes

Notes: Accents and Dialects

• a school in Essex "discouraging students from using words likes ain't, geezer, whatever, like and literally"
• "native speakers of English are generally at least bidialectal"
• Julia Snell argues that “to learn and develop, children must participate actively in classroom discussion; they must think out loud, answer and ask questions”

Quotes to support:

• the head teacher, David Grant says that students’ dialect “may not favourably reflect on them when they attend college and job interviews”
• David Grant also says we should “ensure the way the pupils talk gives a positive impression”
• James Sledd: “To use slang is to deny allegiance to the existing order … by refusing even the words which represent convention and signal status.”

Quotes against:

• been tried for over 100 years but not worked
• "there’s nowt wrong with regional dialects, nothing broke ass about slang. They’re part of our identities, connecting us to time, place, community, and self-image. They needn’t be displaced by formal English – we can have both"
• "because children are sensitive to how they’re perceived, stigmatising their everyday speech can be harmful"
• "educating them about linguistic diversity instead of proscribing it, we can empower students and deter misguided pedantry"
• "research shows that gradual transition towards standard English works better. But because dialect prejudice is so prevalent, this must be done in such a way that children understand there’s nothing inherently wrong with their natural expression"
• "learning different Englishes gives us command of different domains, a skill we can then put to creative and appropriate use"
• "facility with slang is a real advantage in some jobs"
• "we pick up linguistic norms and learn to code-switch according to context"