INTRODUCTION
Languages generally have more than one variety due to the fact that speakers have different social experiences. The fact that language is used to express the culture of the speakers further buttresses this idea of varieties of language. However, among the varieties of a particular language, one variety is given prominence and prestige by the speakers. This variety is the one all the speakers strive to attain if they were to reach a wider group of speakers. Other varieties are seen as below this variety, which is generally referred to as the standard variety.
In this unit, we shall be examining the idea of standard in language. We shall be answering such questions as: Why are some varieties considered as more standard than the others? Who determines the degree to which a language is standard? What are the roles of a standard variety as opposed to the non-standard ones in the society?
In addition to this, we shall also be looking at native and non-native varieties. Every language has a group of speakers who are the original speakers. However, in the course of the spread of such a language, it may acquire a group of speakers who are learners of the language. Such a group of speakers would make every effort to use the language to construct their experience, which is considerably different from that of the native speakers. We will also examine what a vernacular language is and its major characteristics.
3.1 Standard and Non-standard Varieties
A particular variety of a language is given prominence when it is given legal status in the sense that more roles are assigned to it than other varieties. It is usually, but not always, based on the tongue of a major city, where the most educated speakers of the language dwell. It is the variety of a language that is typically taught to learners of the language as a foreign language and most texts written in that language follow the spelling and grammar rules. The standard language is also used for official and business purposes. It is the variety that unites the speakers of the different varieties. The Wikipedia Dictionary identifies ten features that identify a standard language. The features are given below:
(a) a recognised dictionary or group of dictionaries which embody a standardised spelling and vocabulary
(b) a recognised grammar which records the forms, rules and structures of the language, and which commends some forms and castigates others
(c) a standard system of pronunciation, which is considered "educated" or "proper" speech by the speakers, and which is considered free from regional marking
(d) an institution promoting the use of the language and given some authority in defining the norms of its use, such as the Académie française or the Royal Spanish Academy
(e) status or constitutions giving that language an official legal status in a country's system of law
(f) the use of the language in public life, such as in the work of courts and legislatures
(g) a canon of literature
(h) translations of important sacred texts such as the Bible into that
language, which are considered to be authoritative by their believers
(i) the teaching of the language's standards of grammar and spelling in schools
(j) the selection of this particular dialect of a language as being
especially appropriate to be taught to learners of foreign languages.
It is however important to know that other varieties that depart slightly from the standard variety are called non-standard varieties. In non- standard varieties, the rules of Standard English are not taken as a fixed point of reference. Even so, written standard languages continue to enjoy considerable prestige, and written Standard English is clearly useful as a global lingua franca. In comparison, non-standard language has historically been stigmatised, and a debate continues about the extent to which non-standard usages should be encouraged, and even simply tolerated, in education. For instance, in Nigeria, speakers generally aim at the Educated Nigerian English, which is considerably different from the standard British English.
A non-standard form may also be seen as a form used by people who are not educated well enough to use the standard form. Such people use the ‘debased form’ (Pidgin) of the language, which is sometimes stigmatised in the society.
3.2 Native and Non-native Varieties
A native variety is the variety that is used by the original speakers of the language. It is usually the primary and first language of those speakers and also the predominant language in the community in which they live. It is the first language a child is exposed to in the language community. It is also called the child’s mother tongue. Usually, children learn the basics of the native variety from their families. Speakers of the native variety are called native speakers. For instance, the native speakers of English are the people of England, Australia, Canada and South Africa.
Non-native varieties are the varieties used by speakers who are far away from the home of the language. Non-native varieties are learnt by these speakers usually as a second language. This means that the speakers had their first language (their mother tongue), which they had acquired earlier in life before this variety. A very good example of a non-native variety is English in North, Sub-Saharan, and some other parts of Africa and Asia. The varieties of English used in Asian and African Countries is described as institutionalised, because English came into those countries as a result of colonialism but it later became the language of unity among the linguistically heterogeneous groups that make up these countries. English now has the status of a second language in these countries being the second language that is learnt by every educated person. It is also the only language that guarantees the speaker social mobility.
One major feature of non-native varieties is that they are domesticated or indigenised by the users. English language as is spoken in the United Kingdom lacks the necessary resources to express their unique social experience. According to Adegbija (2004: 20), non –native users of English in Nigeria have adapted the language for home use and made it applicable to their numerous conveniences, experiences, nuances and sensibilities”. In the Nigerian non-native environment, English is no longer considered as a foreign language because its use is reinforced by the Nigerian social context. It is also the case, that even in situations where English does not have the required expression for an idea, because it is uniquely Nigerian, the compelling urge to communicate often results in peculiar expressions that are most apt for the Nigerian context. Examples of expressions that are typically Nigerian in the use of English are given below:
Chewing stick (a stick used to clean one’s teeth, usually in the morning) Okada (motorcycles used for commercial purposes)
Go-slow (traffic jam)
419 (a swindler or the act of swindling)
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
Identify some non-native English in Africa, and spell out their distinctive characteristics
3.3 Vernacular
Vernacular refers to the native language of a country or locality. In general linguistics, it is used to describe local languages as opposed to linguae francae, official standards or global languages. It is sometimes applied to nonstandard dialects of a global language. In sociolinguistics, the term “vernacular” is sometimes used to refer to casual varieties which are used spontaneously rather than self-consciously. It could also be described as informal talk used in intimate situations. Linguists consider the vernacular to be the first form of speech acquired by a person. Most linguists also believe that the medium of instruction for a child in his/her first few years of education should be the vernacular or the mother tongue of the child.
4.0 CONCLUSION
A language is not used the same way by its speakers – speakers use language in different ways, depending on their world view. Some speakers of a language speak what linguists describe as the standard form because they were the original speakers of the language or they are considered as the most privileged members of the society by virtue of their educational attainment. Speakers of other forms are therefore said to be using the non-standard form. The idea of standardness is a relative one. For instance, what is Standard English in Nigeria is not standard in England or America. One could see a kind of correlation between the standard, the vernacular and the native tongue and the non-standard and the non-native tongue.
5.0 SUMMARY
In this Unit, we have examined the concepts of standardness and nativeness in language. We looked at those features that characterise standard and non-standard languages, likewise those which characterise native and non-native languages. Our attention is particularly focused on English. We also emphasised the relativeness of the term standard, as it differs from one place to another even within the same language. The term vernacular was also examined.
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1. Differentiate between standard and non-standard language.
2. Differentiate between native and non-native language.
3. Using some specimen of language, identify some features of non- native English variety, using Nigeria as an example.
7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Adegbija, E. (2004). “The Domestication of English in Nigeria.” In: S. Awonusi & E.A. Babalola. (Eds). The Domestication of English in Nigeria. Lagos: University of Lagos Press.
Awonusi, S. & Babalola, E.A. (Eds). The Domestication of English in Nigeria. Lagos: University of Lagos Press.
Nayar, P. B. (1194). “ Whose English is it?” TESL-EJ, Vol 1, No. 1.
Norrish, John. (1997). english or English? Attitudes, Local Varieties and English Language Teaching. TESL-EJ, Vol. 3, No 1.
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