Standard Language and Language Standards

• Standard language and language standards are topics of controversy within and outside linguistics.
• Standard language is considered the norm and used for educational purposes and as a yardstick for other varieties.
• Standard language is a prestige variety spoken by a minority, usually those in positions of power.
• Language varieties do not inherently have prestige; they gain prestige from their speakers' high prestige.
• Language standards are prescriptive rules that constitute the standard, taught to all members of a language community.
• Living languages are dynamic, so language standards change over time.
• Changes in language can be seen as errors by those favoring standard language ideology.
• Self-appointed guardians of 'correct' usage often criticize language changes.
• The Queen's English Society, founded in 1972, aims to improve English standards.
• Language standards are rarely contested but discriminate against those who do not conform.
• Language standardization has systematically worked against the underclass, women, and minorities.
• Parakrama argues that language standards should be more inclusive.
• One approach is broadening the standard to include the greatest variety possible, including 'uneducated' usage.
• Hudson describes standard languages as "quite abnormal" in their development.
• Standard languages result from direct and deliberate intervention by society.
• Haugen summarizes the process of intervention in four stages: selection, codification, elaboration of function, and acceptance.

Selection

• Selection is the most critical stage in the standardizing process.
• Selection is a social and political process led by those in power, promoting their interests.
• One variety becomes the standard language, usually with political or economic currency.
• Example: Mercian, the East Midlands dialect, was favored in London after the establishment of Royal Court.
• Selection involves choosing features from several varieties, even those without native speakers (e.g., Classical Hebrew).

Codification

• The chosen variety is "fixed" in grammar books and dictionaries.
• This provides access to standard forms for those who want to use the language 'correctly'.

Elaboration of function

• The standard variety must perform a wide range of institutional and literary functions.
• New lexical items are added, and new conventions are developed.

Acceptance

• The relevant population must accept the selected variety as their standard.
• Acceptance is unlikely to be an issue, as those making the selection tend to represent those with the power.
• Those lacking political and economic power will accept the standard, symbolizing their inferior status.
• The standard variety serves as a strong unifying force for the state.
• These stages of standardization do not necessarily follow one another in temporal succession.
• The standardization process has no end point due to the on-going process of codification and elaboration.

What is standard English?

• Standard English is not easily defined.
• Standard differs from languages like French and Italian, where academies prescribe usage.
• Standard English is hard to define worldwide and within Inner Circle contexts.
• Standard English is the dialect of educated people throughout the British Isles.
• It is the dialect used in writing, teaching, and on radio and television.
• Standard English is the variety normally employed in writing and spoken by 'educated' speakers
• It is also the variety taught to EFL/ESL students.
• Trudgill and Hannah say that Standard English refers to grammar and vocabulary (dialect) but not pronunciation (accent).
• Crystal says that the Standard English is a minority variety ,identified by vocabulary, grammar, and orthography, with most prestige and is widely understood.
• It is traditionally the medium of the upper and middle class.
• The phrases Queen's English, King's English, Oxford English, and BBC English refer to standard English.
• Standard English is not a language or a style, it is a dialect.
• Trudgill concludes that standard English has greater prestige and does not have an associated accent.

Non-standard Englishes

• Regional native speaker dialects of English are often grouped with all the New Englishes under the label non-standard.
• Lack of acceptance of non-standard native varieties connects to attitudes towards race in the US and class in the UK.
• The New Englishes in both standard and non-standard forms are often regarded similarly to non-standard Inner Circle varieties.
• Standard English of African-English-speaking countries is seen as inferior given that New Englishes are a result of fossilization
• In several parts of the world, including African-English-speaking countries, standardization processes are underway.
• New Englishes are the result of a process known as fossilization.
• Learning English is said to fall short of target-like competence.
• Target is assumed to be either Standard British or Standard American English.