Is Dialect a Language?
Many people do not view dialect as a language like standard English? Well, I believe it is a language even though it does not have a lot of rules like the standard. Now first of all, linguists are people who study language and they believe that all languages are dialects, whether they be Standard English, French or even what we call dialect or broken English. However, Hazel Simmons McDonald et al (1997) in Writing in English noted that even though the linguist considers all varieties as dialects, the standard nevertheless is “a special variety.” It is accorded special privileges and as“a result of its use as an instrument of mass education, it will have acquired a greater amount of rigidity/uniformity to ensure wider comprehension, than any other variety.” (page 61) Standard English has more priviliges because it is the language largely used in schools, at work (for example in the banks and at Courts). In this case dialect refers to 'broken English', also known as Creole or...