Standard American English

Armed with the knowledge that language has evolved to its present state and continues to evolve based on language speaking preferences, it is still difficult to accept the many different changes that people make in the English language. Lindemann refers to being corrected following a speaking engagement in which she dropped the -g from the ends of her words as a situation that she brushed off due to the linguistic acceptance that language always changes (p. 63). I believe that along with being an English teacher is an unspoken duty to model and teach students Standard American English (SAE). While it is acceptable to allow students to speak using their dialects, it is important to teach students the importance of code switching and using SAE when appropriate and non-standard English in the same manner. Educational institutions should teach students according to a standard which should be representative of the standard dialect which is used in the professional world. By modeling non-standard language we could be setting students up for failure when they attempt to use non-standard dialects on their jobs or when delivering speeches. Although dialects often tend to have cultural significance they are not always appropriate for every situation. Lindemann’s explanation of grammar usage supports this by explaining that different grammatical forms should be used in different situations (p. 66-67). The ability to compose formal standard English begins with the ability to speak SAE. It is important for students to feel confident with their writing and that begins with knowing SAE. An understanding of SAE leads to confidence in speaking and trickles down into student writing.