What Are The Positive And Negative Attitudes Towards Non-standard English?

Question

What Are The Positive And Negative Attitudes Towards Non-standard English?

2 Answers

Answer Question

Answer 1

Using the example of Creole, a language resulting from a nontrivial mixture of two or more languages, speaking in a non-standard English form may be a "bad influence" on the person who speaks it, it is argued. When Creole is spoken amongst a group of friends, it might lead to an individual getting into bad company. Some think that speaking with friends is much different to speaking to family. Creole and other form of non-standard English can be linked with behaviour. It could lead to problems with education, such as falling behind with schoolwork. However, some speakers are careful in their use of a non-standard form of English.

On the positive side of things, there is the notion that non-standard forms give a sense of identity, belonging and informs others of their cultural background. It also gives the speaker a sense of proudness, awareness and happiness when using Creole or another non-standard form.

Answer 2

Creole is the broad term given to languages of the colonial tropics and subtropics of the Americas, Africa, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. Creole languages are a mixture of two cultural groups' languages, and are initially called "pidgin." But when it becomes the accepted language of a community, it is called creole. Most creole tongues started as a trade jargon, and then expanded to pidgin. Often, they began when a common language was needed among slaves of many cultures who lived in the same area. Creoles based on English, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese occur in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. English-based creoles include West African dialects; Caribbean tongues, including that of the Bay Islands of Honduras; Afro-Seminole, Amerindian Pidgin, and Gullah; Hawaiian English Creole; and British Black English, which is spoken by Caribbean immigrants in the U.K.. Creoles and pidgins were long neglected by academia because they were not regarded as "real" languages. But with the rise of Third World political, national, economic, and cultural power, creole languages have been given their due.