Now prejudice police say we can’t even tell a child to talk proper
CORRECTING children who mispronounce words is a form of prejudice, according to academic experts.
Specialists from the University of Essex say there is no such thing as ‘correct’ language or terminology and that there is nothing wrong, for example, with articulating the verb ‘ask’ as ‘aks’.
In a blog, they also insist that using ‘ain’t’ instead of ‘is not’ or ‘am not’ is simply an example of ‘multicultural London English’ developed through contact between different dialects and immigrant tongues, including Jamaican Patois.
They argue that viewing their usage as lazy or ignorant is ‘accent prejudice’ towards poorer socioeconomic groups who simply speak differently. They also defend the dropping of the letter ‘g’ at the end of words, as in saying ‘runnin’’ instead of ‘running’.
The blog, written by Professor Peter Patrick, Dr Ella Jeffries and Dr Amanda Cole from the Department of Language and Linguistics and posted on the university’s website, says the dropped ‘g’ was previously associated with the upper classes – as in the phrase huntin’, fishin’ and shootin’ – and only became stigmatised when it was deemed to be working-class.
They add that ‘aks’ has its origins in Old English and German and was the typical pronunciation in the South of England and the Midlands, while ‘ask’ was more prevalent in the North and eventually became the standard usage.
‘Decades of research shows that the idea that any variation from standard English is incorrect – or, worse, unprofessional or uneducated – is a smokescreen for prejudice,’ says the blog. ‘Linguicism [discrimination based on dialect] can have serious consequences by worsening existing socio-economic and racial inequalities.’
But critics said schools had a duty to teach children the difference between formal and informal language and to pull up pupils on their use of slang terms. The failure to do so, they added, meant children who pepper their speech with ‘street’ language – many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds – would continue to lose out to their more articulate peers.
Professor Alan Smithers, director of Buckingham University’s Centre for Education and Employment Research, said: ‘It is sad to see academics attempting to take us even further from reality by inventing another “ism”. A shared language is key to the success of a country and teaching it must be a priority for its schools. There is always room for dialects and changes in meaning, but this has to be on the basis of a taught common core.’
The debate comes after a number of schools banned certain words and phrases in an effort to improve pupils’ ability to express themselves clearly and accurately. They include Ark All Saints Academy in Camberwell, South London, where students are corrected for saying ‘basically’ at the beginning of sentences, using words such as ‘cuss’ – an Americanism for swearing – and phrases including ‘oh my days’ and ‘oh my God’.
Copthorne Primary School in Bradford, West Yorkshire, is encouraging pupils to avoid saying ‘like’ repeatedly in conversation.
Former students at the University of Essex include Home Secretary Priti Patel – who has herself been criticised for failing to pronounce the last letter in words that end with ‘ing’ – and former Commons Speaker John Bercow.