Making Sense of “Bad English”

Abstract

Why is it that some ways of using are considered good and others are considered bad? Why are certain forms of language termed elegant, eloquent or refined, whereas others are deemed uneducated, coarse, or inappropriate? Making Sense of Bad English is an accessible introduction to attitudes and ideologies towards the use of in different settings around the world. Outlining how perceptions about what constitutes good and bad have been shaped, this book shows how these principles are based on social factors rather than linguistic issues and highlights some of the real-life consequences of these perceptions. Features include: an overview of attitudes towards and how they came about, as well as real-life consequences and benefits of using bad English; explicit links between different language systems, including child’s English, as a lingua franca, African American English, Singlish, and New Delhi English; examples taken from classic names in the field of sociolinguistics, including Labov, Trudgill, Baugh, and Lambert, as well as rising stars and more recent cutting-edge research; links to relevant social parallels, including cultural outputs such as holiday myths, to help readers engage in a new way with the notion of Standard English; supporting online material for students which features worksheets, links to audio and news files, further examples and discussion questions, and background on key issues from the book. Making Sense of Bad English provides an engaging and thought-provoking overview of this topic and is essential reading for any student studying sociolinguistics within a global setting.