In this essay, I have analyzed an example of a language conflict. The conflict was on the topic of if slang should be banned in school. This example is deeply analyzed and observed. Then, I give my input and beliefs with backup to support my claim.
Phase Three Essay
Every day, the way students talk on social media and text, get raved in the classroom and hallways. Some terms even end up on students’ assignments. Tweeting, texting, and Facebook have made students less aware that they speak colloquially. Students expect it now since it’s excessively common. Should students be mindful/observant of how they speak in a school setting or should teachers adapt to students’ languages? Many people say that some languages such as slang have no grammar or aren’t proper, but I believe that to be false. Grammar implies that there are set rules which the speakers of the language follow when they speak, so doesn’t slang have a set rule in which students speak? Numerous students, youth and adults, find slang to be fun and creative like poetry. Teachers can promote slang with textbooks and students will excel in class with the information. However, without slang, how will students communicate with native speakers, pop culture and tv shows? Slang is needed and used in everyday life.
Students have been banned from using slang in some classrooms. They are even asked to reflect on them. A school located in London banned certain words and phrases. In the article “Pupils banned from using slang words at school” by BBC News, elaborates on the poster at a school which has many people talking. The school has a bright red poster with the school logo on it and the word “Banned” in yellow with a list of slang words. A word such as “coz,” “innit,” and “ain’t” are on the poster. The poster always says not to begin sentences with “basically” or end sentences with “yeah.” This is visual evidence of how some teachers think of standard English ideology. People should speak how they want. Teachers have said students don’t speak the same English as their teachers which are a generation or two older, however, the slang English shouldn’t be viewed as improper. Slang has vocabulary and structure. Students have to be checking out the poster in the hallways and classrooms. Most of the talking with students outside the lunchroom happens in the halls or in the classroom, so the poster does seem to make conversations awkward at school. The school administration has gone through an extra length of banning those words, which make communication towards students very fiddly.
Some languages have no grammar. Is this correct or incorrect? Wilfred Bauer talks about this in “Language Myths.” One thing he says is “the ‘grammar’ of a language is the set rules which the speakers of the language follow when they speak.” Considering this logic, slang has grammar. There are certain ways to speak slang and the speakers of slang know that. There are rules on pieces of words that can be put together. Rules and meanings of slang are encoded by users. Students use slang all the time. Every language has grammar, or else communication wouldn’t work. It’s also too complex to say one language has more grammar then another. There are rules for slang, even if it isn’t as complex as, for example, Latin. Those who use slang daily know the rules and don’t need a grammar book, they have their “internal grammar book.”
Students should be allowed to speak the way they want and in their own language. Slang is not proper to some teachers, however it isn’t a wrong sense of communication. Slang has grammar and isn’t improper. In the article “Accent and Discriminatory Pretext in the Courts” by Rosina Lippi-Green, she talks about the educational system and standard language ideology. Lippi-Green says “…Americans have been instilled with a rockville conviction that certain linguistic forms are correct, while others are wrong.” Non-standard grammar and English should be acceptable. Many of the ways that American teachers teach students about language is incorrect. While conversing with people, any way to speak a sentence is acceptable. But informal speaking and writing, nonstandard English isn’t widely accepted. We get taught in school how to write in complete grammatical sentences but no one minds when we speak in a non formal way.
To wrap up, there are many ways of saying something to someone, depending on who you are talking to and how you feel. A main factor in speaking a certain language is the degree of formality. Slang has words and phrases that aren’t in the dictionary, however it is a language. Slang is an important element of culture and can be used in everyday life. The students that use slang in classroom are expressing their ideas and culture in their modern way. The slang language is unstable and rapidly changes over time, which is a reason it isn’t taught at school. Nevertheless, it shouldn’t be banned or disregarded.
Bibliography
Lippi-Green, Rosina. “Accent, Standard Language Ideology, and Discriminatory Pretext in the Courts.” Language in Society, vol. 23, no. 2, 1994, pp. 163–198. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4168513.
Johnson, David. “Defining Dialect.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 59, no. 3, 2008, pp. 548–556. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20457021.
