Accent, Dialect and the School

Abstract

DIVERSITY IN LANGUAGE : Variation in English. The causes of variation in English. Dialect and standard English. Style. Accent. Drawing boundaries. GOOD AND BAD LANGUAGE : Attitudes to language: linguistic or social? Social judgements about accents. 'Aesthetic' judgements about accents. 'Right' and 'wrong' in language. Two types of 'mistake' in English. LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY AND THE SCHOOL : Accents, reading and spelling. Accents and reading materials. Changing accents: reading. Changing accents: comprehension. Changing accents: social stigma. Leaving accents alone. Dialect diversity in the school. Attitudes to language in school. WHY STANDARD ENGLISH? : Elimination of non-standard English. Bi-dialectalism. Appreciation of dialect differences. Correctness. Expressiveness. Logic. Educational progress. Hearing and understanding. Reading. Speaking. Writing. English as a world language. The special position of some West Indian children. NON-STANDARD DIALECT, RESTRICTED CODE, AND VERBAL DEPRIVATION : Bernstein. 'Restricted code' and non-standard dialect. Verbal deprivation. Bernstein's later work.