OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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20 December 2023
What comes to your mind when you think of Standard Written English? Maybe you think of the grammar lessons that you received in grade school or of the language spoken by news anchors on television and radio. Standard Written English is thought by many people, including many teachers, as the “correct” form of English. However, defining Standard Written English, also known as Standard English, or SE, is actually not that simple.
While SE has in the past been treated as the “proper” way to communicate in “formal” settings, including in the workplace, in school, and in government, sociolinguists and language experts have long called attention to how the idea of Standard English works to strengthen the racial inequalities of our society. This is because, as sociolinguists have shown, the grammar and word preferences of Standard English are based on the style of speaking and the language habits most familiar to white, college educated, upper middle-class people. Since Standard English is preferred in schools and the workplace, students who are more comfortable with SE conventions are viewed as more academically prepared to achieve, while students who are more familiar with other varieties of English, say Black English for example, are erroneously seen as linguistically inadequate ands underprepared. These assumptions can lead to discrimination.
Linguist Rosina Lippi-Green calls such assumptions “standard language ideology,” which she describes as “a bias toward an abstracted, idealized, homogenous spoken language which is imposed and maintained by dominant bloc institutions and which names as its model the written language, but which is drawn primarily from the spoken language of the upper middle class.” Notice that Lippi-Green highlights the bias or preference toward SE that many people have. Indeed, we cannot talk about SE without also talking about how our attitudes about what language variety is standard or proper work to advantage white communities and disadvantage communities of color.
English is a language created socially by its users over many, many years. But there is no organization in charge of dictating the rules of the English language. That means that there is no officially designated standard. The preference for SE in school and work settings is just that, a preference. You may be thinking about the importance of intelligibility—the idea that we must be able to comprehend each other in order to coexist. Yes. Intelligibility is an important part of communication. However, SE is not necessarily more intelligible than other varieties of English, and it can be very confusing for people who are not familiar with it.
Let’s compare two sentences in which language scholars discuss the connection between SE and discrimination. The first sentence was written by Black studies Scholar Vershawn Ashanti Young in the book Other People’s English: Code-Meshing, Code-Switching, and African American Literacy. Listen for how Dr. Young uses traditional academic language, what most people probably think of as SE: “It is important to recognize that knowledge of SE cannot solve all the problems created by a language ideology that extends well beyond the classroom.”
The second sentence was written by April Baker-Bell in her book Linguistic Racism: Black Language, Literacy, Identity, and Pedagogy and makes a similar point, but uses conventions of SE and of Black English: “If y’all actually believe using ‘standard English’ will dismantle white supremacy, then you not paying attention.” Both sentences are equally intelligible, unless your own language history has given you more exposure to one variety of English over the other. For some people, the academic language might actually be harder to understand—that is, less intelligible. And notice how the second sentence presents an emotional dimension that the first one does not. Isn’t that cool?
Recently, more people are learning about the rhetorical richness and communicative value of other varieties of English. And public attitudes about SE are starting to change. While many people still consider SE to be the standard, people are becoming more accepting of code-meshing—the mixing of language varieties in a single text or conversation, even in formal settings like academic writing.
Want to cite this?
MLA Citation: Milena Ribero, Ana. "What Is (AND ISN’T) Standard Written English?" Oregon State Guide to English Literary Terms, 20 DEC. 2023, Oregon State University, liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/wlf/what-stream-consciousness. Accessed [insert date].
