I have a couple of responses for consideration:
In (a) I would prefer not using the term "nonstandard" at all. What
about just ending the sentence after "important resources?"

And in (b) the part about examining authors that the students admire
might need a little re-thinking for phrasing. Students can certainly
find fiction that would not conform to Standard English at all. 

Thanks for the good work on this. Can we get NCTE to endorse it?

Edith Wollin 

-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Craig Hancock
Sent: Tuesday, September 05, 2006 6:56 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: position on Standard English

   This is a draft position on Standard English as worked out through
much discussion by the New Public Grammar group and presented to the
ATEG conference this past July.
   This fits in well with our recent discussion on "code-switching" as
an approach to non-standard dialects. I think we are looking for a more
comprehensive exploration of language for all students, but
"code-switching" would fit as a step toward accomplishing the goals set
out below for a particularly at-risk community. Rebecca's program both
affirms the value (and rule-driven) nature of community languages and
helps make Standard English more explicit.
   Here's the draft position. Comments, of course, are welcome.

ATEG Scope and Sequence Project     July, 2006

Position on Standard English

1)  Each student has a right to the tools necessary to a confident and
competent public voice, including an understanding of Standard English.
   a)  We define Standard English as the language of mainstream American
public life.  It is not inherently better or more "correct" than
minority or regional dialects, but valuable in being the shared language
of public life.  Community languages that differ from it should be
thought of as valuable community languages and important resources, as
nonstandard, but not incorrect or wrong.
    b)  Standard English is better described by the corpus grammars than
by the prescriptive handbooks, which are often at odds with current
practice and generations behind.  It is a living, viable, changing
language, not a rigid and set one, and it gets much of its vitality from
the contributions of a diverse people. Students should have a deep
enough understanding of language to weigh prescriptive advice.
Students should be encouraged to look closely at the work of writers
they admire. They should understand that Standard English includes many
levels of formality and that language conventions differ widely in
different public domains.
    c)  Written languages require somewhat arbitrary conventions for the
representation of language in a written form, and students should have
the tools necessary for mastery of these.  This includes standardized
spelling, including spelling that shades into syntax. It also includes a
deep enough understanding of syntax to fully understand the syntax based
conventions for punctuation.  We do not believe most people can master
punctuation on the basis of intuition or "feel", especially if those are
meant to lead toward conventional  choices defined in more analytic
ways. This also includes attribution conventions, which are important
tools in ensuring honesty and integrity in the language of academic and
public life.

Craig

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