Exploring Standard English: Its Superposed Variety, Historical Development, and Social Implications

Abstract

The English we learn in the classroom is called “Standard English”. In fact, Standard English is just one of the many dialectal variants of English. Although Standard English has a significant number of speakers in the UK, its relationship to other language variants of English is similar to that between Mandarin and the various dialects in China. Standard English is acknowledged as a superposed variant considering its development in the history and social context. This thesis will attempt to identify the historical and social factors that promote the continuous development and spread of Standard English through a comprehensive literature review and qualitative research, and explore the social and cultural implications of using Standard English as the normative standard.