by Makenna Stone

So like I dunno how you guys speak but um, I know its different then like most of the way you guys speak down here. While I think about all this stuff, could I get a pop? Yeah, I say pop. It’s definitely not soda. Oh, you can’t help me because you’re eating chicken bog, hitting the lights, and mashing the buttons? Ah, gotcha. Moving to the south changed my world. It expanded my horizons far beyond the small-town, Indiana farm culture I grew up in. Though I first believed the people around me all had the accents, I quickly came to realize that I was the stranger to their culture. It was me who had the accent. Not only did I have the midwestern accent, but I also embodied the midwestern dialect. The phrases, words, and sayings are part of my vocabulary, and they followed me to the south. My midwestern dialect penetrated the southern culture, dialect, and accent. Dialects are present within every language due to regional and cultural differences. Theses dialects and respective cultures must, therefore, be recognized within the educational world to teach students about cultural appreciation. However, due to the formalities required in academic writing, dialects, regardless of race, should not be present in academic pieces.

Dialects are variations of their foundational language. Because they are variations, they not only follow similar grammatical rules, but they also have their own forms of slang and colloquial phrases that should not be present in formal writing. Formal writing constitutes pieces designated for the business, legal, scientific, and academic worlds that removes personal connections and voice of the author from the writing. On the contrary, informal writing constitutes pieces that thrive based on the author’s voice and connections being present in writings used for entertainment, academics, or personal use. Informal writing can also contain colloquial diction such as slang, but formal writing tends to avoid it. Because both formal and informal writings can occur in academic settings such as educational institutions, controversy has begun to occur over when it is appropriate to include formal aspects of dialects within academic pieces. In this case, distinctions must be maintained within various contexts and situations. Creative writing classes, for example, should celebrate formal aspects of all dialects as they enhance writings to include the author’s voice; however, writings in science labs should maintain an unbiased, neutral tone that avoids including the author’s voice. If personal feelings are included in formal pieces such as science labs, then a biased tone could come across and result in decreased credibility. The intended audience of said pieces is key to understanding whether dialects should be present in the writing. Clear and concise writings allow readers to understand the points the author is trying to make (Verblio). Once the author identifies the audience, then he or she may proceed to make a well-informed decision as to include his or her dialect in the writing.

Because the dialect controversy occurs within educational settings, sometimes writers must conform to the rubric of an educator. Such rubrics tend to be based around Standard English, as it is a unified, formal version of English that does not include dialects; therefore, it can be a unifying form of writing that all English-speakers understand. Because it is heavily modified and regulated to sound formal, English-speakers generally do not speak in Standard English, but rather their own dialects. Therefore, no specific dialect is being prioritized within formal or academic pieces. All dialects have been modified over time and throughout regions. In Stanley Fish’s article, he supplies the reasoning behind the CCC resolution for student’s language rights within educational institutions. He explains the “theoretical argument (that) linguistic forms… are not God-given; they are the conventional products of social/cultural habit and therefore none of them is naturally superior or politically ‘correct.’” (Fish 2) Once again, though all dialects should be considered equal, the context and audience of the piece should determine whether dialects are used at all. It is not a matter of using one dialect and discriminating against another, it is deciphering when it is beneficial to include a dialect in the piece to begin with.

Some may argue that educational institutions, by forcing students to abide by Standard English, are dismissing the cultural and social significance and personal empowerment that comes with affirming their natural dialects. Regardless of race, forcing any student to abandon a part of his or her-self for the sake of others is a problem that necessitates a remedial action. Standard English educators and classes already have a large curriculum that must be taught though, so a potential solution could be a linguistic diversity class that teaches various dialects. The class would also allow schools to promote dialect diversity within these unique classes while simultaneously teaching formal writing practices in Standard English classes. A class such as this would work to combat the implicit judgement that Standard English is better when non-standard English is corrected, as Qamar Shafiq explains in his blog “Why I Insist on Standard English in My Classroom.” He notes that “This is not a complicated issue to address. I think students should be made aware there are certain circumstance where non-standard English is appropriate, but that in the classroom it is more appropriate to speak in standard English” (Shafiq). Schools should continue to teach Standard English as formal writing, but also have dialect classes that teach the rules behind certain dialects. The class could not only teach the rules, but it could also teach about the cultures that various dialects stem from. Simultaneously, the class will increase the proficiency of code-switching for both students and teachers, “I think,” Shafiq writes, “we undermine the intellectual capacity of our students that prioritizing standard English means to undermine non-standard English. Students are perfectly capable of code-switching.” Any essay assignments within the class could be written in the student’s choice of dialect, so long as it abides by the formal rules of the dialect. Teachers could go to professional development to better understand the general rules of the dialects; therefore, both students and teachers would be gaining linguistic skills from other dialects. All teachers, regardless of their own race, can attend the professional development to further enhance their teaching methods and understanding of a variety of dialects. Once dialects become widely accepted and understood, then the attitudes Vershawn Young talks about in his article, “Should Writers use They Own Language,” will change. Young claims that negative views toward people who speak in their natural dialects and languages, not the language they are speaking, creates oppression (Young 110). However, if the attitudes toward others begin to shift, then the vulnerability to prejudice that Young speaks of will begin to shift as well.

The controversial topic of the presence of dialects in formal and academic pieces of writing depends on context. Writing is not a subject considered to be “black or white,” but rather a gray area that is up to interpretation from both writer and reader. Because of its gray nature, the presence of dialects requires writers to create a non-traditional solution with compromise from all sides. Writing is the physical form of personal expression. Though there are certain circumstances that require the absence of dialects, discrimination against dialects without purpose creates a negative atmosphere for writers around the world. So, I guess from here I’d say to watch the context, read the room, and write in a way that shows appreciation for all people.

Works Cited

Fish, Stanley. “What Should Colleges Teach? Part 3.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Sept. 2009, opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/what-should-colleges-teach-part-3/. Accessed 27 October 2021.

Shafiq, Qamar. “Why I insist on standard English in my classroom.” tes, 13 September 2020, www.tes.com/news/why-i-insist-standard-english-my-classroom. Accessed 1 November 2021.

Verblio. “Do You Write the Way You Speak? Here’s Why Most Good Writers Don’t.” Do Write The Way You Speak? Here’s Why Most Good Writers Don’t, Medium, 22 Jan. 2016, medium.com/@blogmutt/do-you-write-the-way-you-speak-here-s-why-most-good-writers-don-t-547a53548e26. Accessed 27 October 2021.

Young, Vershawn Ashanti. “Should Writers Use They Own English.” Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies, Volume 12, Issue 1, 2010, pp 110-118.