Dialect

day attribute. Having the understanding of different dialects of English such as American English, Canadian English and Australian English is a very impressive skill, it allows people from different societies to be able to interact in a way that they feel comfortable with each other. Although the English language has been firm, the recent emerges of different societies has resulted in the English language to break down into different dialects to enable better communication and understanding.…

article “Students’ Right to Their Own Language” provides an argument regarding a resolution arrived at by the Conference on College Composition and Communication Committee (CCCC) concerning students’ dialects. From the article, this became an issue due to an influx of students with foreign dialects in American schools. Thus, the significant argument in the article regarded whether students should uphold language variety, modify or eradicate it altogether. Some scholars assume the existence of…

curious about the social aspects involved in language. Natalie Schilling-Este’s chapter about dialect variation in addition to the dialect perception experiment provided insight to some of these curiosities. After reflecting upon the reading and experiment, the topics that stood out to me most were factors that contribute to language change, the social implications of dialect, and the perception of dialects from Dominican students. In Schilling-Este’s chapter, she emphasizes many factors that…

language. Various dialects of English reflect cultural, racial and socioeconomic aspects of these groups (“What Privilege”) Standard English has often been defined as the correct form of the English language. This is emphasized everywhere from public schools to mass media. In the United States it is viewed as the default dialect, providing a linguistic common ground for all speakers. Despite this Standard English is not grammatically or expressively superior to any other English dialect. Today,…

blacksmith’s boy, you might know the son of the local baronet, but you didn’t speak his language. You spoke the language of your social group, and he that of his, and over the centuries these social dialects remained widely separated” (329). England today is still separated by the difference in dialects and accents, and it is easy to tell someone’s background and family history solely based on the way they are speaking. It is hard to cross the social lines because of the great barrier that…

While some may be inclined to believe certain dialects, (southern, Boston, etc.,) simply demonstrate improper English and grammar, these ways of speaking more often than not follow specific rules and tendencies as concrete as those in standard written English. However, those who are not in tune with the language style of the group typically get treated as outsiders. Furthermore, language transcends just written and spoken word, the content, and style with which a particular group chooses to…

the whole population recognise these words and say them rather than “Kumina” and “Umtram”. It is interesting because it seems as though isiZulu is phasing out when it comes to these words. This could be because majority of people come from a Xhosa dialect rather than a Zulu one according to what the data suggests. It could also be due to the Zulu culture being more secluded but one does not know for sure. Either way, it shows that Xhosa does not display much variation with these two words and…

There are dozens of languages on this planet for the purpose of millions or even billions of people to be able to communicate with each other. Even within one language there are different dialects and sects which help to make communication with in one certain group even more efficient. In English for example there are thousands of different words just within the English language. However, because the English language is so diverse and carries…

integrity and speak properly? This situation is one that I know I am not alone in, which leads me to ask: What is standard American English, really? I think it has more to do with where you are rather than a “by the book” grammatical breakdown of a dialect given to a country by the…

The scholarly article I chose was “Dialects and Influences on the Academic Experiences of College Students”. Basically this study was conducted to see if dialect is a hindrance on the learning of students who do not speak the same dialect. This research is important because it could give teachers more insight on how to help students understand material better. The study brings to question why, in such a diverse country, is there only one form of proper English. Students cannot help where and how…