AnnoBib -- “Background Statement” to Student's Rights Resolution

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Committee on CCCC Language. “Background Statement.” College Composition and Communication 25.3 (Autumn 1974): 1-18. Print.
Written during the nation's reevaluation of self and identity, the Student's Rights Resolution (1973) declares that each speaker, and certainly each student, has an inalienable right to his own dialect. The background essay discusses the myth of a standard American English as well as the differences between spoken and written language. The larger question posed is whether an accepted dialect is in fact an attempt at creating and maintaining power over another – power because of race, class or economics, for example. The essay provides background on definitions and academic use of “dialect”; how regionalism, education, and class affect dialect; how children acquire dialect; and why some dialects are seemingly more prestigious than others. Variance in dialect, however, does not necessarily lead to difficulties in reading, because of natural mental decoding processes, but may inhibit writing to form because of surface requirements. The authors recommend that “clear and vigorous” writing be encouraged regardless of dialect, over sloppy writing that meets some school standard. The essay concludes with a useful collection of necessary concepts that teachers should understand about language. Primarily, the essay demonstrates to me that I can comfortably accept differences in dialect in my students as we focus on clear communication for their academic and professional success and less on often cosmetic issues that sometimes inhibit the writer's confidence and eagerness in communicating.

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