Standard American English; Should It Be Taught In Public Schools?

I absolutely support the teaching of Standard American English in public schools.  Many students, especially in this area, have never heard the term “Standard English”.  They simply don’t know what that means.  As a teacher, I think that it is very important to make your students feel important and to value their ideas and comments.  And I also think that it is important for teachers to value “their language”.  As I have learned in the past, there is a time and place for everything, this includes language.  While most students do not speak Standard English at home, neither do most adults. If a child is not taught Standard English at school where will the child learn it?  When students eventually move out into the adult world and they are looking for jobs, they must be able to use Standard American English. Employers will be looking for employees who can speak intelligently and effectively.  And Standard American English is the “Standard”.

 While Standard English is important, I don’t think that it should be the most important aspect of a Language Arts or English classroom. I think that the best way to teach Standard American English, especially in Middle School, is to incorporate it into other areas.  For example, in writing, does usage mistakes and grammatical error make a piece of writing “bad”?  I don’t think so.  But I do think that a teacher could use that as an opportunity to talk about Standard American English and tell why it is important.