Standard English has its origins in the East Midland dialect that was spoken during the Middle Ages over a large area of Southern England, including London, Oxford and Cambridge. When the printing press first started, by William Caxton in 1476, William Caxton decided to follow the spelling conventions of this dialect and to use it when he publishes English Language versions of foreign texts. During the eighteenth century there was a development of a standard variety of English, with its own principles of grammar, vocabulary and spelling. Many dictionaries and books on grammar were published at this time. One of the most important was a dictionary compiled by Dr Samuel Johnson in 1755. His dictionary promoted the standardization of word meanings and spellings, while grammarians such as Robert Lowth established grammatical “rules”.
There is a Standard English debate in schools. An argument associated with John Honey and others is that for many years teachers have neglected the teaching of Standard English. Honey argues that this is because within educational circles there is the mistaken belief that all dialects are equal and that Standard English should therefore not be given preference. Honey maintains that working class children should be taught that Standard English is a superior dialect in many situations. He says that encouraging them to use their own regional dialect will disadvantage them later in life.
Standard English exists in a variety of forms, spoken and written, informal and formal, personal and impersonal. Although most people speak either a regional variety or a mixture of that and Standard English, Standard English provides a unified means of communication and understood by people all over the country.
Standard English today is regarded as the most “correct” form of English and is the variety that children are taught to write. Linguists are careful not to describe and label particular varieties of English as “good” or “bad”, or as “better” or “worse” than other varieties. They prefer to note the differences.
Standard English is still around today and has been for many centuries and I believe it will continue to be a part of us. I also believe that Standard English is less talked about and noticed as slang words are becoming more commonly used and spread more over the country unlike the limited movement a couple of centuries ago. There is also new technology such as televisions and computers with the Internet in which you can talk to people on the other side of the country and pass on your regional dialect and slang as well as gain theirs, but also create new “dialects”. Although this is the case Standard English still remains with us and even though we may use our regional dialects everyday, when we are in formal situations such as interviews Standard English comes out and is used. Also when composing letters and other documents Standard English has its use.
