In Lisa Delpit’s, “Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom,” she begins her conclusion of the article with, “While linguists have long proclaimed that no language variety is intrinsically “better” than another, in a stratified society such as ours, language choices are not neutral,” (68).

Sadly, but seemingly unnoticed, the English language is spoken in many varieties and people can’t help but criticize the varieties that don’t follow the rules of “Standard English.” Certainly, there are rules to the written “Standard English” language, and the language that is considered the norm, or the language that is going to help one succeed, is the one that people consider superior.

If a person speaks their “home/ local community” language regularly, rather than the “national community” language or “global community” language, they are considered to be speaking incorrectly, (68). Some would probably just assume they are using slang, which according to Merriam-Webster is, “a type of language that consists of words and phrases that are regarded as very informal, are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a particular context or group of people.” Therefore, is it impolite for people to consider one’s “home/ local community” language as such, as slang? Are people considering one language inferior to the other, or not considered as educated as another just because it isn’t the one that will get you the job?

On a different note, just like Delpit’s article talked about, if a student enters a classroom and doesn’t speak proper “Standard English” and is corrected to do so, the teacher takes the risk of shutting that student down, socially and experimentally. The student is likely to close him or herself off and be less likely to try new things that require them to speak aloud or to the teacher, or to anyone who tries to correct them. Therefore, is correcting someone who doesn’t follow the rules of “Standard English” impolite, or is it necessary?

In my opinion, I do not think people realize that correcting someone could be hurtful or embarrass one, because most think that they are doing the right thing, or being helpful. When in reality, if a person is brought up speaking their “home/ local community” language, it is possible that they assume they are speaking correctly.

So enough of my rambling and thoughts, here are a couple concluding thoughts for you to consider:

First, do you find yourself criticizing or correcting the language of others when you hear them speaking a language other than “Standard English”? Why do you think you do this, or why do you not?

Second, have you ever caught yourself speaking the language of your “home/ local community”, and if so, what sorts of language do you consider such? Is giving a language variety other than “Standard English” the title of “home/ local community” wrong, is it just slang?