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<article class="gmail-clearfix gmail-content-item__container--article"><span class="gmail-content-item__tone"><a href="https://www.chronicle.com/section/Advice/66">Advice</a></span><br><span class="gmail-content-item__tone"></span>
<header><h1 class="gmail-content-item__title">We Must Help Students Master Standard English</h1>
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By Rob Jenkins </span>
<span class="gmail-content-item__date">
April 10, 2018 </span>
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<p><span class="gmail-dropcap">F</span>or years, many
academics have questioned the importance — even the justice — of
requiring college students to master standard English. The discussion 20
or 30 years ago was about a student’s right to his or her own language —
the implication being that the rest of us have no right to impose "our"
language on those who are not native or proficient speakers. More
recently we’ve heard claims that the English language is itself
discriminatory, even racist.</p>
<p>I understand the reasoning and sympathize to a degree — but
ultimately reject those arguments. My experience as a college writing
instructor for 32 years, and as a writer, editor, and consultant for
nearly 20 years, suggests that one of the best things we can do for
students is to help them master standard English.</p>
<p>Before I defend that assertion, let me explain what I mean by
"standard English," just as I explain it to my students at the beginning
of every semester. Actually, I should have added the word "American" to
that phrase — "standard American English," or SAE, because, of course,
British English is a little different, and I’ve taught many students
from places like Jamaica and South Africa, where the queen’s English
dominates.</p>
<p>
</p><div class="gmail-content-item__pull-quote gmail-media-pull-right gmail-media-width-half">
The only purpose of language is to communicate, and if the
language or dialect you use in a particular situation allows you to do
so, then it is effective. </div>
The word "standard" here is not prescriptive. It does not refer to a
flag we must all salute. Rather, it simply describes accepted norms — in
this case, accepted in the workplace by college-educated professionals.
Language is constantly evolving, and today’s norms are not the norms of
1850, or even 1950. Nevertheless, norms do exist, and educated people
must generally abide by them if they are to communicate effectively.<p></p>
<p>That’s why we have a standardized language in the first place. People
grow up in different parts of the country, in different families and
communities, speaking different versions or dialects of English — or not
speaking English at all. The only purpose of language is to
communicate, and if the language or dialect you use in a particular
situation allows you to do so, then it is effective.</p>
<p>As I tell my students, English teachers are fond of using words like
"wrong" and "error," but those words have meaning only in a classroom
context. In students’ personal lives — as they converse, text, or email
with friends and family — there is no "wrong" language.</p>
<p>The problem is that, in their work lives, they will be sharing
documents or exchanging emails with people from other families, other
parts of the country, and other walks of life. Assuming that everyone
will understand your dialect only leads to confusion, misunderstanding,
and false impressions — all of which are bad for business. Standard
American English is no better or worse than any other language or
dialect, but it is the one by which educated Americans (and,
increasingly, people in other parts of the world) communicate in the
workplace.</p>
<p>Like any other language, English can be used to express bigotry or
hatred, and certain words may have offensive roots or connotations (like
"uppity" and "hysteria"). But no language is inherently discriminatory.
Language itself is merely a tool — one that students must learn to use
well if they are to be successful in their chosen professions. (To the
extent that there are discriminatory words and phrases in English, the
solution is to teach students more about the language, not less.)</p>
<p>Students, then, have a vested interest in mastering SAE: It literally
pays off for them, as those who are more proficient tend to be more
easily hired and more successful on the job. Think of the retired
professional athletes who go into television: Many of them were
indifferent students and perhaps left college early. Now they sound as
if they’d earned master’s degrees. Clearly, they have figured this out.</p>
<p> </p><div class="gmail-content-item__side-bar gmail-media-width-half gmail-media-pull-left">
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So, I’ve observed, have many of my students, especially those who are
not native speakers. For several years I taught on the Clarkston campus
of Georgia State University’s Perimeter College, located in one of the
most ethnically diverse ZIP codes in the nation. In one class, my 24
students spoke 17 languages. I can tell you from experience that those
students were eager to master standard American English — once I
explained to them what it is (and isn’t) and how it could benefit them.
They saw it as a key that could unlock the world of higher-paying
employment.<p></p>
<p>And so it is — not just for immigrants, but also for native speakers
who grew up using various local or regional dialects. Their ability to
master our standard dialect — which may differ greatly or only slightly
from their own — will largely determine their level of achievement in
college and beyond.</p>
<p>To be clear, mastery of standard American English alone does not
guarantee professional success. But lack of proficiency can turn into a
major obstacle. It’s not just a matter of facilitating commerce via a
shared dialect. In American professional life, people tend to judge us
based on how well we use standard English.</p>
<p>In the workplace, we’re communicating with people we don’t know
personally or even have never met. All they know about us is what they
can infer from reading an email or a report we wrote. And on that basis,
they will make inferences — about our competence, our intelligence, our
level of education. Such judgments might not be fair or accurate, but
they are a fact of life.</p>
<p> </p><div class="gmail-content-item__related gmail-media-width-half gmail-media-pull-left">
<h5 class="gmail-content-item__related--header">Related Content</h5>
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<li>
<a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/The-Case-for-Inclusive/242636?cid=rclink">The Case for Inclusive Teaching</a> </li>
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<a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/Could-Better-Teaching-Have/241936?cid=rclink">Could Better Teaching Have Helped?</a> </li>
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<a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/Yes-We-Should-Teach-Character/242093?cid=rclink">Yes, We Should Teach Character</a> </li>
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<a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/We-Know-What-Works-in-Teaching/238792?cid=rclink">We Know What Works in Teaching Composition</a> </li>
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</div>
A good friend of mine grew up in a very small town in the Deep South.
He’s a sharp guy — smart, well-educated, accomplished — with an
impressive résumé. Unfortunately for him, he used to have a thick
Southern drawl. All too often, other educated professionals assumed that
he must be a stupid redneck, simply because he sounded like their idea
of a stupid redneck. His accent became such a professional handicap that
he actually went back to college and took elocution classes in the
drama department to mitigate it (which helped, by the way).<p></p>
<p>The people who judged him harshly because of the way he spoke were wrong. But that didn’t stop them from doing it.</p>
<p>The same thing happens in the workplace when people write or speak
using a nonstandard dialect. That term doesn’t apply just to the
dialects of rural America or large cities. Teenagers communicate on
social media via their own dialect — one that is often inappropriate on
the job.</p>
<p>
</p><div class="gmail-content-item__pull-quote gmail-media-pull-right gmail-media-width-half">
The responsibility for helping students learn to use standard
American English effectively, and insisting that they do so, cannot fall
solely on the English department. </div>
A prime example: Several years ago, as interest rates fell, I began
thinking about refinancing my home. So I went to a popular website that
shares information with lenders, entered my data, and waited for banks
to contact me. By the following day, I’d heard from four, offering
different rates and terms. I picked the one that looked best and asked
for more information. Later that day I received a reply from a young
bank employee offering further details. Actually, I have no idea if she
was young — I just assumed she was because her long e-mail was full of
emoticons and text-messaging abbreviations — including, I kid you not,
"LOL."<p></p>
<p>You can probably imagine what I was thinking at that point: "Why did I
get the 14-year-old loan officer? Can I have one of the 35-year-olds,
please?"</p>
<p>I confess that I judged her rather harshly because of the way she
communicated — her use of language. That might not have been fair or
accurate. For all I know, she might have been 42 years old. Or she might
have just graduated summa cum laude from Stanford. But I couldn’t help
being put off. (I didn’t do business with that bank.)</p>
<p>Experiences like that are why it’s folly for colleges and
universities not to require students to master SAE as a minimum
requirement for earning a degree. Allowing students to substitute "their
own language" — or worse, teaching them that our common language is
somehow evil — merely sets them up for failure.</p>
<p>What’s more, we further erode public confidence in our ability to
produce job-ready graduates. (In manysurveys over the past 10 years,
employers consistently identify poor communication skills as one of
their chief complaints about new hires.)</p>
<p> </p><div class="gmail-content-item__side-bar gmail-media-width-half gmail-media-pull-left">
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<div>
<div class="gmail-content-card__side-bar--image"><img alt="" src="https://www.chronicle.com//img/photos/biz/photo_79884_portrait_325x488.jpg"></div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-content-item__side-bar--title">
<h4>The Chronicle’s Best Ideas for Teaching</h4>
</div>
<p>The 10 articles in this <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/resource/the-chronicle-s-best-ideas-for/6171/">collection</a>
describe innovative teaching strategies — not just high-tech ones, like
webcast introductory courses, but low-tech ones, like peer instruction,
learning communities, and reconsiderations of the canon.</p> <div class="gmail-content-card__side-bar--image-credit"></div>
</div>
</div>
The responsibility for helping students learn to use standard American
English effectively, and insisting that they do so, cannot fall solely
on the English department. The purpose of first-year composition courses
should be to introduce students to the basics of good professional
communication — grammar, sentence structure, organization, paragraph
development. If subsequent courses do not build upon and reinforce those
fundamentals, then students will conclude that such skills must be not
all that important. That appears to be the case, if those employer
surveys are any indication.<p></p>
<p>As academics, we rose to positions of privilege and authority based
in large part on our ability to "speak the language." It seems to me the
height of arrogance and hypocrisy, if not outright discrimination, to
deny students access to those same opportunities, whether we do so
intentionally or simply through neglect. Our objective as educators
ought to be to help them attain what we have attained, if not more — and
language proficiency is a necessary prerequisite.</p>
<p>In short, standard American English is not inherently racist. It is
not merely a "tool of the patriarchy." It is a tool for anyone who
wishes to use it, and who is willing to put the time and effort into
mastering it, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, cultural
background, or socioeconomic status.</p>
<p>Nor will students — once they leave our cushy campuses and enter the
professional world — be able to talk and write any way they choose, any
more than they will be able to dress or behave any way they want.
Preparing them adequately for life beyond college is arguably our
greatest responsibility — and up to this point, perhaps our biggest
failure.</p>
<p><em>Rob Jenkins is an associate professor of English at Georgia State University’s Perimeter College. He writes monthly for </em>The Chronicle’<em>s
community-college column. The opinions expressed here are his own and
not necessarily those of his employer. You can follow Rob on Twitter
@HigherEdSpeak.</em></p>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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