Speakers of non-standard dialects of English should be taught in specific ways according to their individual needs. Everyone needs to have a knowledge of how to speak the standard dialect of America. There is no wrong in informally having an accent or speaking in a dialect other than the standard; however, the standard needs to be known, so a common form of communication can be spoken. If a common form of talking is developed, then people will be judged with less bias on their social status.

Hazen, Kirk. "Teaching About Dialects". http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0104dialects.html. October 2001.

This article is mainly about the misunderstanding about dialects' correctness. Hazen establishes the fact that dialects each have their own way of being right when being spoken. There is not a wrong way to speak when a person is speaking in their individual dialect. This fact gives support to my argument that the dialect and accent of a child should not be discouraged; however, there is also a need for an additional knowledge of the standard English. This standard is not necessarily the correct way to speak it is just the most commonly understood because it lacks the variables of dialects such as accent and slang. Another point of this article is the dilemma teachers experience when trying to address the dialect situation. The teachers must explain how different regions have different uses of words and variable pronunciations. The standard found in Atlanta is going to be slightly adjusted for the use of the Southern dialect, and also the standard found in Boston will be tuned more for the regional dialect spoken there. Also, the problem of discrimination of people based on the way the speak is presented in the article. A solution is to show and instruct the children towards the standard, but in a constructive way that having a dialect is not bad, but that it gives them identity.


Hamilton, Kendra. "The dialect dilemma: whether one is speaking Ebonics or Appalachian English, sociolinguists say all dialects are created equal". http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DXK/is_5_22/ai_n13819930/. April 21, 2005.

In this article, The Dialect Dilemma, a problem is presented. This problem is one that has been known and ignored since regions identified themselves with specific dialects. It has just recently been accepted that all dialects are correct, and this is a result of their being no official language to compare the dialects to. Without comparison there can be no wrong. Also, there is not a group to establish a correct and formally right way to speak; this meaning there is not any person who truly has the right to correct another for the way they are speaking. The sociolinguists addressed in this article agree that all dialects are equal in their importance and credibility. Throughout this article, the writers are mainly addressing the language of African-Americans. There is a quote from Dr. Orlando Taylor that says "We can agree that there is no single way to speak a language, but we cannot escape the fact that, even within all those variations, some forms have more prestige than others. For example, the educated form--without mastery of the educated form of a language, it's very hard to be successful in schools or in the professional marketplace" (Hazen 2). I will be able to use this article to give opinions from the African American side about their dialect, and the treatment they recieve and deserve.