I'm going to cut right to the chase: today we're going to talk about the function of a homogenous dialect. Let's get started.
Alright, first let me explain what a homogenous dialect is. In the USA, and in most of North America for that matter, we teach the same dialect of English in every school, even those who prefer homeschooling have to learn it. In general, it can be referred to as Academic English. Since we all learn it, whether it's our primary dialect or not, we all can generally use it and understand it. It's all the same, which is what "homogenous" means. So our homogenous dialect in the USA is Academic English.
That does not mean that there are no other dialects of English present or used in the USA. There are plenty. Every urban center usually features multiple, and there are a bunch of rural dialects used throughout the USA. African American Vernacular English is a very well known and heavily studied dialect that used to be called Ebonics (there is some debate as to whether AAVE and Ebonics are the same dialect or two similar dialects). Almost everyone is aware of AAVE, though you may not know it by that name. It's the dialect most commonly used in urban areas in which African Americans are the primary residents. You may have heard it called "gangster."
That's just one example. You're probably aware of other dialects and not even know it. If, for instance, you know that in the states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan the words "ope" and "oh" are not synonymous, or if you know that the proper plural of "y'all" is "all y'all" rather than "y'alls," you're aware of different dialects of English. Yes, their usage often coincides with an accent. The difference is that dialects are what is spoken, accents are how its spoken.
Now, that's all just to help you understand what a dialect is, and how we already have a lot of them in our various cultures and subcultures. Today I want to talk to you about the function of a homogenous dialect, because it seems to be a subject a lot of people have been misinformed about. I'm not saying they just got it wrong, I'm saying they were told wrong when they were taught the dialect, and that those teaching the dialect weren't told why they were teaching it.
First and foremost, there is no such thing as "proper" English. No dialect is inherently superior to another, but some serve different functions better than others. Academic English is not a natural dialect, but rather constructed. It's built to function directly with reference materials, most notably dictionaries, thesauruses, and encyclopedias. If you run across a word you don't know in Academic English, it's deigned so that you can look it up and understand it. Academic English also happens to be the dialect that I choose to use the most, simply because it can have such clean and clear definitions. The same cannot be said of most other dialects.
Why do we have it? Because it serves a very specific function very well. The purpose of a homogenous dialect is to allow people on one side of the nation to communicate with people on the other side of the nation, or anywhere in between, and be understood. There have been attempts to create an entire language this way, but they've generally failed, but it has worked with a homogenous dialect. It is also not the only tool developed for that purpose; in the USA we have an accent that was designed to be easily understood, which I tend to refer to as the "Hollywood Neutral" accent, but it's actually a variant on a lower-Midwestern accent. In the UK, they have what's called the "BBC Accent," which was developed for the same purpose.
Why is that important? Because when we need to have information transmitted to the vast majority of our population, or even just a lot of people from across the nation, we need to be able to do so without worrying about something getting lost in translation. This is incredibly useful not only in situations where official information needs to get out, like emergencies or systems like the "Amber Alert" system, but also because it gives a vehicle for interaction for the size of organizations and super-organizations our society and economy thrive on. The business world uses Academic English almost exclusively when it comes to writing, but you'll still find other dialect used "on the ground" as it were, when interacting with customers. That way, you get a personable interface that provides meaningful interaction with people and organizations that might otherwise not understand that dialect, and we're able to do that because we teach Academic English to everyone, while still allowing them to develop their own speaking skills with their peers, family, and community.
Now, here's where I start to get offensive. Most English teachers in academia seem to have the reasoning for this wrong. They will tell their students that they teach Academic English because it's the correct way to read or write English, but as I said, that's not a real thing. All dialects are viable dialects, they just have different properties that make them more or less useful for certain purposes, and Academic English is specifically designed to be good for the purpose it serves. You learn basic Academic English in compulsory education because we need all citizens to be able to understand a certain level of official and unofficial communication. You learn more advanced Academic English, mostly focusing on writing, because having that skill is an unwritten prerequisite for promotion above a certain level in any industry. If you need to communicate regularly with people via writing, you benefit from that education. That's why many technical schools and trade schools still feature English courses. You're not being taught these things for arbitrary reasons, or because they're "right," language doesn't have an inherent moral or ethical value like that. You're being taught them because it benefits you, and it benefits your community, whether that be local, business, national, or even international. Almost anyone who speaks any dialect of English can understand Academic English, so knowing it and knowing how to use it opens up opportunities for communication and interaction.
TL;DR: We all learn the same form of English, Academic English, because it helps us and it helps our society, not because it's "right" or "good" or anything arbitrary like that. That doesn't mean your primary dialect is wrong, it just means you can benefit from the additional tool that is Academic English.
That's it for today. I fully expect for some educators to be very, very upset with me, but I meant what I said. It's up to you how honest you want to be with your students, but especially if they're adults, you probably should be willing to tell them that they're learning it because it can help them, not because some dude named Webster decided it's the right way to go.
As I've said before, if you're following along I will "see" you in the next post, and have a great day. Goodbye!
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