Christensen Chapter 4

Standard English is a complete myth. Granted, there are some good qualities in characterizing a language as something concrete when helping students learn how to use it. But, for the most part, telling someone they are defaulting on standard English can be another way of saying: "Your culture, family, friends, past, and accomplishments have no place in the English." Having different dialects and voice should not be something that is saved only for creative writing projects like poetry or short stories, rather, we as teachers should really re-evaluate what 'formal' English does and should mean because even within those more constraining limitations in formal writing, we encourage our students to have a 'voice' and 'style' yet, can that be obtained when that is not polished into 'standard English'? English as we know it is a complete mess next to that of the motherland for our national language, grand ole England, and for that reason, we have to distinguish it as American English. Yet, for all the 'melting pot' and 'salad bowl' theories we hear, there is still an effort to tell students they must conform to the dominant Caucasian Midwestern dialect and usage. I believe there are a number of people, who when confronted with the question: "What is an American?" would go for the diversity answer, and yet, that could easily be translated to: "What is American writing?" we just have to make that step for formal writing as well as creative. I feel like only allowing students to write differently on those special occasions still makes them feel like they're only outlet in English is the sub-genre rather than the entire subject.