Authority in Language

Preface. Preface to the second edition. Key to symbols and abbreviations used in the text. 1. Prescription and standardisation 1.1 Language prescription and its consequences 1.2 Lingusitics and prescription 1.3 Attitudes to language 1.4 Languages standardisation 2. Standard English and the complaint tradition 2.1 The history of Standard English 2.2 The function of language complaints in maintaining the standard 2.3 Correctness and semantic shift 2.4 George Orwell and the moralistic tradition 2.5 Standardisation and the teaching of literacy 2.6 Conclusions 3. Spoken and written norms 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Language change and language maintenance 3.3 Spoken English and the effects of literacy 3.4 The spoken and written channels 3.5 Conclusions 4. Grammar and speech 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Prescription and spoken language 4.3 Prescription and contextual variability in speech 4.4 The grammar of Non-Standard English 4.5 Conclusion 5. Linguistic prescription and the speech community 5.1 Introduction 5.2 The social distribution of linguistic variants 5.3 Some common prescriptions: a critique 5.4 A wider perspective on prescriptivism 5.5 Group identity and language variation 5.6 Conclusion 6. Linguistic repertoires and communicative competence 6.1 Introductory 6.2 Communicative competence 6.3 Types of linguistic repertoire 6.4 Some practical considerations 6.5 Observing and analysing linguistic repertoires 6.6 Conclusion 7. 'Planned' and 'unplanned' speech events 7.1 Spoken and written language 7.2 Planned and unplanned discourse 7.3 The discourse of structure of interviews 7.4 Applying sociolinguistic principles to test situations: an example 7.5 Some wider implications 7.6 Conclusion 8. Some practical implications of prescriptivism: the linguistic adequacy of language assessment procedures 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Linguistic critiques of language tests: the question of linguistic realism 8.3 Linguistic critiques of language tests: the question of cultural linguistic bias 8.4 Concluding remarks Coda. Bibliography. Index