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24 - Non-standard English and education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2010

Ann Williams
Affiliation:
Department of Linguistics & English Language, University of Wales Bangor, Gwynedd, UK
David Britain
Affiliation:
University of Essex
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Summary

Introduction

The twenty years since the first edition of Language in the British Isles have seen far-reaching changes in many spheres of life in Britain. One of the most fundamental has been the introduction, for the first time in Britain, of a National Curriculum to be followed by all children in state schools. The motivation for the initiative has been attributed variously to the need to improve educational standards, to promote equality of opportunity, to impose cultural unity on an increasingly diverse nation or to attempt to return to the values and traditions of the past (see Cameron & Bourne 1988 for full discussion). The core subject of the new curriculum as conceived by the Conservative government of the time, was to be the English language, and in particular Standard English.

Standard English (SE) is a social dialect, generally defined as ‘a set of grammatical and lexical forms typically used in speech and writing by educated native speakers’ (Trudgill 1984b:32). While there are no linguistic grounds for maintaining that it is superior to other dialects of English (Trudgill passim), it is nevertheless the ‘prestige’ variety, widely used in education, in the media and in almost all forms of writing (although in recent years Scottish and Caribbean writers have started to publish works in non-standard vernaculars). In spite of its high status, research suggests that Standard English is the home dialect of approximately 15% of the population of the UK (Trudgill 1999b).

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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  • Non-standard English and education
    • By Ann Williams, Department of Linguistics & English Language, University of Wales Bangor, Gwynedd, UK
  • Edited by David Britain, University of Essex
  • Book: Language in the British Isles
  • Online publication: 16 January 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620782.026
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  • Non-standard English and education
    • By Ann Williams, Department of Linguistics & English Language, University of Wales Bangor, Gwynedd, UK
  • Edited by David Britain, University of Essex
  • Book: Language in the British Isles
  • Online publication: 16 January 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620782.026
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Non-standard English and education
    • By Ann Williams, Department of Linguistics & English Language, University of Wales Bangor, Gwynedd, UK
  • Edited by David Britain, University of Essex
  • Book: Language in the British Isles
  • Online publication: 16 January 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620782.026
Available formats
×