Dialects, Standards, and Vernaculars

Dialects, Standards, and
Vernaculars.
Most of us have had the experience of sitting in a public place and
eavesdropping on conversations taking place around us. Though we pretend to be
preoccupied, we listen intently. And we form impressions of who we're listening to
based not only on the topic of conversation, but on how they are discussing it. In fact,
there's a good chance that the most critical part of our impression comes from how
the people are talking rather than what they are discussing. We make judgments
about regional background, social status, ethnicity, and a host of other social and
personal traits based simply on the kind of language people are using.
Language differences are unavoidable in a society composed of a variety of
social groups. They are a fact of life. And, like other "facts of life" in our society, they
have been passed on to us with a peculiar mixture of fact and fantasy.
Defining dialects
We use the term DIALECT as a neutral label to refer to any variety of a
language that is shared by a group of speakers. Languages are invariably manifested
through their dialects, and to speak a language is to speak some dialect of that
language. In this technical usage, there are no particular social or evaluative
connotations to the term - that is, there are no inherently "good" or "bad" dialects;
dialect is simply how we refer to any language variety that typifies a group of
speakers within a language. The particular social factors that correlate with dialect
diversity may range from geography to the complex notion of cultural identity.
Furthermore, it is important to understand that socially favored, or "standard,"
varieties constitute dialects every bit as much as those varieties spoken by socially
disfavored groups whose language differences are socially stigmatized.
Standards Dialects
"Standard dialect" is an important one, but it is not always easy to define in a
precise way, especially for English. In some countries, such as France and Spain,
language academies have been established and these institutions are responsible for
determining what forms are considered acceptable for the normative "standard."
They determine, for example, what new words are allowed to be included in official
dictionaries and what grammatical forms and pronunciations are included as
standard. Labels such as Standard English and popular terms such as "correct
English" or "proper English" are commonly used but not without some ambiguity. At
best, we can discuss how the notion of Standard English is used and then offer a
reasonable definition of the term based on how it seems to operate in our society.
Vernacular Dialects
Varieties that seem to be typified by the use of nonstandard forms are often
referred to as Vernacular Dialects The term vernacular is used here simply to refer
to varieties of a language that are not classified as standard dialects. It is used in
much the same way that the term vernacular languages used to refer to local or
native languages of common communication which contrast with the official language
of a multilingual country. Other researchers may refer to these vernacular varieties as
nonstandard DIALEC or non main stream dialect.
Why Study Dialects?

 There are a number of reasons why the study of dialects is an attractive field
of inquiry. First, our natural curiosity is piqued when we hear speakers of
different dialects.
 As a manifestation of human behavioral differences, dialects may be studied
because they provide the opportunity to extend social science inquiry into
language) a q.rit" natural application for fields such as history, anthropology,-
sociology, psychology, and geography.
 Motivation for studying dialects may naturally go beyond "objective" social
science inquiry and the description of different social and ethnic heritages. In
some cases, dialect differences may be studied as a part of growing self- or
group awareness. Thus, members of a particular social group may seize upon
language differences as a part of their identity and sense of place.
 the study of dialect differences might be justified on a linguistic theoretical
basis. Scholars may examine language
 variation in an effort to understand the basic nature of language as a cognitive
and human phenomenon. This theoretical concern may range from the
investigation of how language changes over time and space to how language
reflects and affects the cognitive capabilities of a speaker of a language
 there is a practical, applied motivation for studying dialects. Many students in
education and the health professions have become interested in dialects
because of the "usefulness" of the information as it relates to another primary
activity such as teaching or service delivery.
After this you might wonder if there is any justifiable reason for not studying
dialects. The glib answer to this question is, "Probably not!" However, when we
consider the full range of reasons for studying dialects, as well as the fact that there
is a rich historical tradition underlying each motivation, it is easy to see why there are
scholars who feel that knowledge about dialects should be a central component of
our educational process, as fundamental as any other traditional topic covered in our
education.

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