Well,

 

Maybe the difference in perspective between the two of us is that you consider different "grammars" that govern different "varieties" of the English language, while I recognize only ONE GRAMMAR, the Standard English Grammar. Of course we all speak our own idiolects, and use various registers depending on the linguistic context, but if those idiolects and registers do not follow the rules of the Standard English Grammar I cannot call those "varieties" or "registers" good English, but to the degree to which they differ from the Standard English I call them "illiterate English." Anecdotally, someone mentioned to me that "Ebonics" as a "language variety" does not differ much from the broken English that some poor, illiterate people speak in the Appalachians. What is the common denominator between these two "varieties" of the English language? Illiteracy.

 

Eduard

---

From: "Dick Veit" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 5:18:07 PM
Subject: Re: The "Anti-Grammar Forum"

The assumption in several posts that there can only be one variety of English for every occasion flabbergasts me. Aren't we all masters of many registers? In an earlier post I wrote that one language phrase "bugs the hell out of me." I deemed that informal expression to be appropriate in this forum, just as I would consider it inappropriate in many others. I know the difference. You do too. Your language in writing journal papers is identifiably different from your language in an email to colleagues and different from your speech in conversing with friends while watching a football game or in talking on the phone with your insurance agent. You have no trouble making the adjustments. That is what being a sophisticated user of language is all about.

I taught writing for forty years, and my goal was always for students to master the principles of formal written English. There are accepted conventions that educated people need to learn. Another goal was for them to understand different registers and to know which is appropriate to use in different situations. And yes, students can master that too.

When someone in this forum observes that an informal expression is grammatical in a certain register or dialect, they are simply describing what they observe and not making a moral judgment. Such an observatrion doesn't mean that (1) they do not believe in teaching formal written English, (2) they favor teaching students to write Ebonics, or (3) the world is coming to an end.

Dick

To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/