There are a number of certain reasons why some people want to learn the Standard English referred in the video "American Tongues”. (1) They don’t want people make fun of them because of their non-standard English. (2) They may have certain limitations in terms of job markets. (3) People may look down their ability to do things. (4) There is feeling that people speaking the Standard English sound smart. However, there is no such the Standard English in the world. English has many varieties of standard worldwide, such as British English, American English, Australian English, Canadian English, and so on. But none of them is being called the Standard.
Then the question "what is a standard variety?" arose on my head. According to Finegan, a standard variety is normally used in the media and taught in schools. In the video, it says that there is no such thing as one Standard English accent that is better than all others. But there is a type of English favored by actors and radio and TV announcements. It may lack something in personality, but everybody can understand it. Hence, I personally think that clear pronunciation lends accuracy to the message conveyed, and being understood is more important during conversation.
Then the question "what is a standard variety?" arose on my head. According to Finegan, a standard variety is normally used in the media and taught in schools. In the video, it says that there is no such thing as one Standard English accent that is better than all others. But there is a type of English favored by actors and radio and TV announcements. It may lack something in personality, but everybody can understand it. Hence, I personally think that clear pronunciation lends accuracy to the message conveyed, and being understood is more important during conversation.
American Tongues Link
Hi Lilian, the topic of standard English is very intersting to me and actually related to my thesis topic which discusses about NNESTs' language proficiency. During my research process, I notice that many scholars do not like the labels of native or non native speakers becasue they believe that there is no such a standard Englshi in the world. Isn't that interesting? ;)
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