Overview

The debates surrounding 'Standard English', grammar and correctness are as intense today as ever and extend far beyond an academic context. Standard English: the Widening Debate draws together leading international scholars who confront the issues head on. Current debates about the teaching of English in the school curriculum and more general concerns about declining standards of English are placed in a historical, social and international context. Standard English: * traces the notion of 'Standard English' from its roots in the practices of late 17th century grammarians, through succeeding centuries to the present day * explores the definitions of 'Standard English', with particular attention paid to distinctions between spoken and written English * demonstrate that 'Standard English' is viewed very differently in the US and reveals how it is used as a marker for different forms of social discrimination, and draws on similar issues such as the English Only movement and Ebonics. Standard English: the Widening Debate is an accessible, seminal work which clarifies an increasingly confused topic. It is therefore essential reading for students of English, and English in Education, and will also appeal to anyone with an active interest in the English Language. Tony Bex, University of Kent at Canterbury Ronald Carter, University of Nottingham Jenny Cheshire, Queen Mary & Westfield College Tony Crowley, University of Manchester

Full Product Details

Author:   Tony Bex ,  Richard J. Watts
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.635kg
ISBN:  

9780415191623

ISBN 10:   0415191629
Pages:   324
Publication Date:   25 February 1999
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Introduction PART I Perspectives on the history and ideology of ‘Standard English’ Introduction to Part I 1The consequences of standardisation in descriptive Linguistics 2 The social construction of Standard English: Grammar writers as a ‘discourse community’ 3 Typography, lexicography and the development of the idea of ‘standard English’4 Representations of English in twentieth-century Britain: Fowler, Gowers and Partridge PART II Perspectives on the spoken language Introduction to Part II 5 Standard English: What it isn’t 6 Spoken standard English 7 Standard grammars, spoken grammars: Some educational Implications PART III Perspectives from outside the UK Introduction to Part III 18 Standard English and language ideology in Britain and the United States 9 The names of US English: Valley girl, cowboy, yankee, normal, nasal and ignorant 10 Functions and forms of English in a European EFL Country EPILOGUE 11 Curiouser and curiouser: Falling standards in the standard English debate

Reviews

'Lively, vastly informative, scholarly - this is a notably accessible, seminal overview of a complex and as yet unresolved linguistic and educational puzzle.' - The Library Association Record 'It highlights the problem in ascertainig exactly what constitutes SE (Standard English)' - Frances Austin, English Studies, Vol.82, Feb 2001

Author Information

Tony Bex is at the University of Kent. His previous publications includes Variety of Written English (1996). Richard J. Watts is at the University of Bern.

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