by Sydney Hook

Through reading the articles by Stanley Fish and Vershawn Ashanti Young, it becomes obvious that there has been an argument on writing and expression of dialect in writing. Fish is on the side of standard English and that writing should be formal in all cases. Especially in the classroom, he believes that teachers should stay away from teaching other varieties of English in writing and focus on only standard English elements (Fish). In writing, he feels that students should leave out dialects and use only formal sentence structure and grammar. On the other hand, Young feels that dialect in writing is crucial and it is wrong to only teach standard English. He believes that students should be able to “understand, listen, and write in multiple dialects simultaneously” (Young). I think that these two opposite viewpoints both have valid ideas within them and there is a middle ground that fits an academic setting best. It is crucial to be able to write in standard English, but also very important to be able to recognize other dialects that may come up in understanding other’s writing and speaking.

There is definitely importance for students to learn standard English and be able to write in standard ways, but there also is importance for being able to write in your own dialect and show yourself through your writing. I think it all depends on what the piece someone is writing is. For example, a scientific paper has a specific way to be written; there is a formal way to write a scientific paper and without writing it this specific way, it loses its professionalism. While there are specific conventions and styles for a scientific paper, having the concept of standard English down would make it much easier to work with these specific conventions. Dialect wouldn’t fit into a scientific paper, so learning how to write standard English for something like this is important. However, putting your dialect into a narrative story can make it so much better than trying to stick to standard English. Dialect in a narrative can help it sound like the story is being told by the author, making it more effective for its purpose. So in this case, writing in standard English might not be necessary. It is a case by case issue, so having the knowledge of writing in standard English and knowing the grammar and sentence rules is necessary, but being able to write with dialect can also be helpful in other writing situations.

It is also important to be aware of other dialects, so in schools, showing videos and examples of other dialects being used in speech or writing can be beneficial as well. Young makes a good point as he explains that understanding and listening to many dialects is helpful, so learning this in school can be valuable. This could be as simple as having students read papers and articles that use dialect and code meshing or playing videos of speeches that allow them to hear dialect in use. Incorporating both standard English and some use of dialect in writing would be most beneficial for students, as they are able to write in whatever case comes up.

In their article “Code-Meshing and Writing Instruction in Multilingual Classrooms,” Lee and Handsfield explain “that language is socially acquired, which allowed her to see that correcting students’ language would not help them acquire DAE” (Lee and Handsfield). This goes into teacher’s grading methods and allowing students to write in their dialects, rather than correcting to Standard English. This article gives the example of a teacher who writes down her student’s exact words on a Mother’s Day card and then reads it back to them to see if they like how it sounds. The example in the article focuses on a 4-year old black student who spoke AAL and DAE. The teacher copied his exact words, although not following rules of standard English, and left the card as it is, but used the card as a lesson of grammar and the correct way to write sentences in standard English. The students enjoyed hearing the card read back exactly as they had wanted it to be written, but she took the opportunity to teach conventions and punctuation for cases when it would be necessary. This method of teaching allows teachers to, “sustain their own students’ community languages through code-meshing while also growing students’ competencies in DAE” (Lee and Handsfield). Standard English is still being taught so that students can use it in the cases which it is needed, but the use of dialect and their own community language is also incorporated in the classroom. Pointing out changes that can be made but not taking off points is a possible grading method that allows students to work and understand standard English, but not be punished for their dialects that they possibly write in.

Keeping standard English in the academic setting is important, but incorporating dialect and other language varieties can also be very beneficial to students. In his article, “Translingualism revisited: Language difference and hybridity in L2 writing,” Jeroen Gevers explains the importance of exposing students to different language varieties (Gevers). This article agrees a lot with Young’s ideas of acceptance of code meshing and steering away from standard English in schools, but it also points out that if standard English isn’t taught, then students might struggle when it comes to the case they have to write formally. A lot of this article also focuses on multilingual students and allowing them to embrace their background in their writing and class. There are cases where this can be helpful and students can express themselves in this way, but once again, there are cases where if students aren’t aware of the standard rules, they will struggle to write. The article proposes different ways to change the academic atmosphere, including a recommendation “that teachers actively try to understand and negotiate their students’ nonstandard language use, thus treating “errors” as always potentially meaningful” (Gevers). Having teachers more trained on the use of language through speaking and writing and how they can incorporate this in their classrooms can help a lot of translingual students learn. Having understanding with students of different dialects and those who speak different languages can help teachers to find a middle ground with standard English and code-meshing. This issue goes beyond classes in high school and college, but also in a professional standpoint. Writing essays in school is definitely something that standard English may be needed for, but then in future jobs, being able to write reports, emails, etc. often should be standard. Without the ability to write in standard English, being able to do these things and seem professional would be a struggle.

On a case by case basis, using code meshing and dialect in writing can be great. However, there are definitely many cases where students need to be comfortable with standard English and writing formally. Getting rid of requirements for standard English can be more hurtful towards students in their education, so adding more to the academic setting that extends dialect into standard English is the best way to go.