Chronology | Current Month | Current Thread | Current Date |
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] | [Date Index] [Thread Index] | [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] | [Date Prev] [Date Next] |
I believe
I have learned to use the standard academic English
language rather well, and largely for this reason.
I think the comments in Richard Tarara's message
provide a strong counterpoint to Brian Whatcott's
claim that American English dialects no longer place
the user in a distinct social class. Minorities would
disagree, as would my father who occasionally still
pronounces an r in the word wash (we're from Kansas).
We learn to control our linguistic register based on
the company. My father's r disappears in formal
settings. I don't swear in front of professors like I
swear in front of my friends. Many other speakers of
minority (I include minorities other than ethnic here)
dialects regularize their speech in formal settings.
This is important, as Mr. Tarara points out, for
employment and other situations.