Right vs Wrong; the debate about GRAMMAR

I've been waiting for years for the chance to say this on a grand scale and alas the time has come! When it comes to grammar, THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG!!!!!!!  But you cry, "how so!  Blasphemy"  "Mustn't we protect the language!" NO. You mustn't. We mustn't. There is nothing to protect. The truth is our language has always been changing and will continue to change. There are a few kinks to this way of thinking though.

Language is a social marker, just the same as your car, your shoes or your zip code.  You can put on a great pair of shoes, carry a stunning handbag and drive a fabulously expensive car, but if you open your mouth and anything but some form of what is considered "Standard English" does not emerge, you may as well be wearing no shoes and driving a wagon. This happens all the time, even though we wish it would not. It is the reason people from the south are often frowned upon because they have a southern drawl, or use the word "ya'll".  And yes, in the south it is a word. So if you want to impress that VP in that interview you won't say, "Ya'll wan' me tu cum down next week and ponder the situtation?" You also would not appreciate your surgeon saying to you, "I'm gona cutcher haid opin and look around."  So why is this?  Why is it that a standard has been set that says, "You're language is appropriate and you are not an idgit"? 

Carolyn Adger and Walt Wolfram have both been doing research about dialects for years and have written extensively on how this attitude affects students in school. During my graduate studies and later as a consultant for the state, I spent time researching how dialects in KY affect student's reading abilities. This research has been taken much further in California where the Academic English Mastery Program teaches students in Los Angeles how to code switch between their home dialect and academic English, in the hopes that reading and writing scores will increase. It is also an attempt to help children understand that no matter how their parents and families talk, whether it be African-American English, Hispanic English, or one of the myriad of other dialects found in their schools, all students need to understand the standard dialect that most newspapers, textbooks, manuals, indeed everything we read is written. So it is necessary that, although we never want students to feel inferior because they happen to grow up in a home that is rich in language, it is helpful to have an extended vocabulary that helps them communicate efficiently. And that is the real reason we must open these doors. 

Even academics constantly search for better ways of relaying their ideas. Especially when an idea is new, one must have an extensive vocabulary in order to have options when faced with the question, "how will I help people understand what I'm trying to say?" If language stayed the same, it wouldn't grow and new ideas wouldn't be able to be relayed.

I suppose I digress; what I really wanted to talk about was how the English language, (actually EVERY language) has been through changes and is continually changing, and how protecting it isn't really an option.  Hmmmm, guess that's another post.  Look forward to a lesson in historical linguistics 101.

Tina

Comments

[ms. p]

idk. i rly wish eng wldnt chng!

[Tina]

Here here! OMG! I can't believe u sed that. The other day I asked Brenna a question and she said IDK!!!! sigh...She doesn't even have a phone; she's six!

[ms. p]

Bring back the luddites!