Chapter 5: Some Basic Sociolinguistic Concepts

Michael Stubbs conducted this study in Great Britain.What he does in this chapter is to discuss the relationship between language and education.  "Many people believe that a child's language is a crucial cause of his educational success or failure" (p. 65).  He clearly states four positions on language and defines the distinctions within these positions.

The first is language and the attitudes toward language. Stubbs points out that we hear language through a strong filter of our social values and stereotypes.  Stubbs calls these "linguistic stereotypes" (p. 66). In the example given, he points out that many educated speakers will use what some would call lazy or slovenly speech in their casual conversations.  However, British people are sensitive to the social implications of accent and dialect and so are critical when there is a deviation from standard English and pronunciation. In a series of experiments, people listened to a variety of standard and regional dialects. These people perceived the speakers of standard English to be more intelligent, ambitious, and self-confident. What the listeners did not know was that it was the same speaker.

A study in Canada showed that many teachers will evaluate their students on the basis of their voices and physical appearance, even when they have academics work such as written compositions or art work on which to appraise students.  Stubbs goes on to include an exchange where teenaged students pass judgment on a speaker and a particular phrase the speaker uses--and these girls used the same phrase in their condemnation of the speaker. What Stubbs suggests teachers do is to discuss this phenomenon with students and try to bring awareness to why they feel the way they do about dialects and standard English.

Stubbs completes this section by pointing out that for many years, students were discouraged to use their home language in school and that many times they were punished for using their native tongue (p.70).  However, there have been, in recent years, changes across Great Britain and schools are now actively encouraging students to use their native languages.

Stubbs' second position is that of the primitive language myth.  He points out that linguists long ago dispelled the myth that there were primitive languages and that "all the world's languages have been shown to have vastly complex grammatical systems" (p. 71).  He goes on to state that there are languages that are functionally more highly developed than others, but only because of their wide-spread use and that they are written.
       ...English is an international language, with a highly
       standardized writing system, and is used in a wide range of
       functions from everyday casual conversation to writing
       scientific papers.  Many hundreds of  the world's languages
       have no writing systems and cannot therefore serve the same
       range of functions. (p. 71)
This issue stated, Stubbs goes on to point out that it does not affect the fact that languages and dialects are very complex structural systems.

In his third position, Stubbs discusses standard and nonstandard dialects.  The basic definition of dialect Stubbs provides is that of a regional or geographical variety or a dialect based on a social group.  He goes on to point out that in Britain, the regional and social dimensions are related.  "The higher up the social class scale one goes, the less one encounters regional variation in speech" (p. 72).  He also discusses that standard English is usually base on the written form and not the spoken form of English. Which brings him to the distinction between accent and dialect.  One can speak standard English with an accent, but a dialect will deviate more than in pronunciation alone. 

Stubbs goes on to present the idea of language varieties.  Different languages are used in different situations.  A person will speak to a teacher differently than he or she will speak to a friend or a parent.  He gives some examples of the media in Britain, teachers in a classroom, or students with their friends.

Which brings Stubbs to a sub-point of
correctness versus appropriateness.  Many of us learned that if we used grammatically correct English, our language was correct.  We were taught to avoid slang and non-standard forms of English--that it was "bad English."  Currently, the  attitude has shifted and the use of colloquialisms and non-standard English are not looked at as bad English, there is still the perspective of appropriate usage.  Stubbs gives the example of a students writing to a prospective employer.  If the writer uses non-standard English and slang, he or she may need to be cautioned about the appropriate use of the language--it may not be suited to applying for a job. The converse of this situation would be to use very formal language in a relaxed, familiar setting such as spending time with friends.  Stubbs states "that within standard English...there is a stylistic variation according to social context.  Thus standard English has formal and informal styles in both writing and speech" (p. 76).

Another sub-point Stubbs discusses is that of production and comprehension.  He points out that there maybe times when a teacher observes a child who uses language the teacher may deem inappropriate for the classroom.  However, Stubbs argues that perhaps the child does not know the forms that may be appropriate in the teacher's view or does not realize the form is inappropriate for the situation.  He goes on to discuss that perhaps the child neither knows or understands the situation; that the child does understand but never uses the item in his or her own speech; or that the child understands, but the teacher has not observed the child using the item in his or her speech (p. 77).  He also addresses the fact that many times, children will comprehend what their parents tell them long before they can produce the same forms of speech on their own.

Stubbs concludes this chapter by highlighting the implications of making such distinctions.  He encourages educators to not overgeneralize the relationship of "language" and "education."  We need to be more aware of the nuance of language and how it is produced in the classroom.  Students who use non-standard English are not disadvantaged  or deficient. What is important is that they learn the distinction between standard and non-standard English.  He includes what he calls a cartoon by Feiffer:

I used to think I was poor.  Then they told me I wasn't poor, I was needy.  Then they told me it was a self-defeating to think of myself as needy, I was deprived. Then they told me deprived was a bad image.  I was underprivileged.  Then they told me underprivileged was overused.  I was disadvantaged.  I still haven't got a dime, but I have a great vocabulary.


I appreciated this chapter because Stubbs says what I feel most teachers need to hear.  English has many forms and uses, one not being any better than the other, one dialect not more appropriate than the next.  I thought it was interesting how there is a clear distinction in Great Britain with the subtle and not so subtle differences in forms of English.  To me, this chapter, again, made a lot of sense.  I just wish readings such this and many of the others we have done in class were required of all teachers.  There would be a better understanding of our students and ourselves.