Best American English to Learn

Best American English to Learn

When discussing the educational needs of American English language learners (ELLs), one of the topics frequently discussed is the kind or variety of American English such individuals need to learn to be successful in an English speaking society. This is not an issue that pertains only to students who speak a language other than Ameican English, although for them, the stakes may be somewhat higher.

It is not always the case that students of American English cources should learn the same form of English they will use with classmates or on the street. Most teachers will intuitively choose standard or "correct" language as the most appropriate to teach, although the reasons may be different from those discussed in this entry. Guadalupe Valdés, a scholar concerned with the education of linguistic minorities, mentions that the "standard English" ideology informs debates on the kind of Ameican English taught at school to the student population.

This refers to the teaching of a standard variety of American English and discouraging the use of other types of American English that may be regarded as "incorrect," "inferior," or "improper." This entry reviews some concepts in sociolinguistics and other social sciences for a better understanding of the concept of "standard" English and how and why it is often chosen for classroom instruction.

According to British sociolinguist Peter Trudgill, the term dialect usually refers to diversity in the varieties of a language in which vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation may change.