College Composition / Unit 1 CMP 0010 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Standard Written English and Other Varieties
The idea
English has many dialects, and the one used in most academic and professional writing is called standard English, which follows set rules of syntax, vocabulary and grammar.
In practice
Learn the distinction carefully. First, a dialect is a version of English used in a region or by a social or ethnic group, such as African American Vernacular English or Appalachian English, and each has its own grammar. Second, standard English is one of these dialects, the one expected in formal situations. Third, the grammar rules in this course describe the conventions of that written standard, because college writing and the exam use them. Fourth, writers often move between varieties depending on the setting, a practice called code-switching.
Where people slip
Other varieties are not broken English; they follow their own rules. When this course calls a sentence an error, it means an error against the conventions of standard written English, the variety the writing situation calls for.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it · Sources for College Composition