Slangs in the English Language For hundreds of years, English has been continuously changing.Words that were unacceptable 300 years ago are now commonplace. Englishhas always had a trademark of being a comfortable language, the language ofthe common people (MacNeil 143). Change in the grammar and diction of alanguage is natural, and English is always confronted with changes. Amongthem are the use of slang, clipped word endings, and new dialects. SomeConservatives do not like changes because they claim that standard Englishis a perfect language; they do not want to corrupt it. Others simply donot like change. Neither group of Conservatives has any new arguments,and nothing to fear from change. Slang worries Conservatives the most because it affects thevocabulary of English. American English, especially, is always adding newwords to its vocabulary for social, scientific, or artistic reasons. Thescientific and artistic words do not bother these people; only the social,or slang, words do. Slang is usually created by children or teens who seeksocial status (Morrow 137). Because kids are the source of new slang, someadults look down on it with the assumption that kids are unintelligent andsimply rebelling against established English grammar and diction. However,most of the adults did the same thing when they were children. Adults havebeen frowning on slang for generations (Crystal 104). Conservatives also look down upon slang because slang is not usedby people of high status. If they hear someone speaking in Jive, they willbe angry because Jive is not the way that high class people speak. Peoplewho do not like slang are usually prejudiced as well. They do not want tohear other ways of talking because it... ... middle of paper ... ...se there would never be any newwords. There would be academies for English, academies that go againstevery principle of freedom to which speakers of English are heir. Bibliography: Works CitedCrystal, David. "The Prescriptive Tradition." Language Awareness. 4th Ed. Eds. Paul Eschholt, Alfred Rosa, Virginia Clark. New York: St. Martin's,1986. 101-107.MacNeil, Robert. "English Belongs to Everybody." Language Awareness. 4thEd. Eds. Paul Eschholt, Alfred Rosa, Virginia Clark. New York: St.Martin's, 1986. 140-144.Morrow, Lance. "If Slang is Not a Sin." Language Awareness. 4th Ed.Eds. Paul Eschholt, Alfred Rosa, Virginia Clark. New York: St. Martin's,1986. 135-139.Seymour, Dorothy Z. "Black Children, Black Speech" Language Awareness.4th Ed. Eds. Paul Eschholt, Alfred Rosa, Virginia Clark. New York: St.Martin's, 1986. 122-129.
Lisa Delpit’s book, “The Skin We Speak”, talked about language and culture, and how it relates to the classroom. How we speak gives people hits as to where we are from and what culture we are a part of. Unfortunately there are also negative stereotypes that come with certain language variations. There is an “unfounded belief that the language of low income groups in rural or urban industrial areas is somehow structurally “impoverished” or “simpler” than Standard English” (Delpit 71). The United States is made of people from various cultures and speak many different variations of languages. As teachers we must be aware of some of the prejudices we may have about language and culture.
“Standard English was imposed on children of immigrant parents, then the children were separated from native English speakers, then the children were labeled “inferior” and “ignorant” (Hughes 70) because they could not speak Standard English. In addition to feeling inferior about their second language skills, these students also felt inadequate in regard to speaking their own mother tongues” (qtd in Kanae)
In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? by James Baldwin and Mother Tongue by Amy Tan both shows idea of uses of slang and language in different context. In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? Baldwin states that how language has changed and evolved overtime, Baldwin describes how black English were used as white English, in civil rights movement where blacks were treated as slaves and the used slang language to communicate so that the whites won’t understand. This slang was taken from black language and now everyone uses to make the communication short. In the essay Mother Tongue Tan explains that how language could affect people from different culture. Tan states that how Asian students in America struggle in English. Tan also states that her mother is smart but she couldn’t communicate in English. Tan thinks that’s a big disadvantage for her mother and people coming from different countries cannot show their talent because of their weakness in communication.
Recent studies have been conducted to bring AAVE in schools which will result in higher test scores, however people are disagreeing with the idea because they don't want their children to learn “slags”, but AAVE is not a slang, just like standard English. “African American vernacular English, also known as “black speech” was created in 1973 by a group of black scholars who dislike the negative connotation of terms like “ nonstandard negro english” that has been cast in the late 1960s when the first modern large scale linguistic studies of African American speech communities begin”(John R. Rickford,2000). For many years, linguistics have treated AAVE as slang because they didn't want to give African American slaves the right to their own language. This all changed December 1996 when the “Oakland school board recognized AAVE as the primary language of its African American students, and took it into consideration to teach them standard English”(Monaghan 1997).
America’s educational system is home to an increasing number of English language learners. Some research indicates that by the year 2030, over 40% of elementary and secondary students served by schools in the United States will come from homes where a language other than English is spoken (Thomas & Collier, 2001). In an effort to accommodate these students, the United States has adopted policies at both the federal and state levels. Generally, the direction taken to meet the needs of English language learners has depended on the climate of the nation. During times of peace and prosperity, policies reflect the nation’s tolerance of other languages and cultures. However, during times of war or conflict, policies have reflected intolerance or fear of anything deemed “un-American.”
Daniels, Harvey A., and Urbana, IL. National Council of Teachers of English. Not Only English: Affirming America's Multilingual Heritage. 1990. ERIC. Web. 28 Nov. 2014.
The constant changing of technology and social norms makes difficult for different generations to understand one another and fully relate to each other. Diction and slang change as years pass and what is socially acceptable may have been prohibited in the previous generations.
Also known as Black English, Black dialect, like many other dialects is drastically identified as a complete, “rule-governed”, form of language. To those who use black dialect, there is a less sufficient understanding of the actual meaning. The black community may protest Black English because of the controversy it causes. Because of these effects, some concluded that black people suffered from “self hatred” due to dominatio...
African American Slang has had many other names: Ebonics, Jive, Black English, and more. The Oxford English Dictionary defines slang (in reference to language) in three different ways: 1) the special vocabulary used by any set of persons of a low or disreputable character; language of a low and vulgar type 2) the special vocabulary or phraseology of a particular calling or profession; the cant or jargon of a certain class or period 3) language of a highly colloquial type, considered as below the level of standard educated speech, and consisting either of new words or of current words employed in some special sense. Whatever one’s perspective on slang, it is a natural and inevitable part of language. In this paper I will discuss examples of current slang being used that some people may not understand.
...nglish.” (Rickford, 1999) The ultimate goal is to produce readers and writers of standard English, as the conventional education system is not doing its job teaching many AAVE speaking children. To address the legitimacy of the language, linguists argue that it is impossible to call Ebonics slang. Although there is controversy over it being a language or a dialect, linguists whole-heartedly disagree with the notion that it is not a “full-fledged linguistic system.” (Rubba, 1997)
Lytle, Ryan. "How Slang Affects Students in the Classroom." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 13 June 2011. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.
In our society, there are many cultures with language and dialect variations, but Standard English is the language of the dominant culture. Therefore, it is necessary for all students to learn to write and speak Standard English effectively. However, for many students of Urban school districts, especially African Americans, writing and speaking effective Standard English can occasionally pose a problem. Many African American students speak a variation of Standard English (Black Vernacular Speech) whose linguistic patterns sometimes conflict with those of Standard English. It is true that African American speech is an essential aspect of their African American culture, so the educational system would be doing African American students a disservice by insisting that they learn Standard English as a primary discourse. It is also a fact however, that in order to be viewed as a successful, functional member of society, Standard English, if learned as a secondary discourse, should be written and spoken as fluently as the primary discourse.
6th ed. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Harper Collins, 1995. 118-29.
Thus, both Black English and Standard English are used in various social contexts where each one has its own status,
Kachru, B. B. (1992). Teaching world Englishes. The other tongue: English across cultures, 2, 355-366.