the personal journal of Brent Stewart
This book was an interesting departure for me. Making Sense of “Bad English”: An Introduction to Language Attitudes and Ideologies by Elizabeth Peterson was something I discovered as a free book on Amazon. I read it, enjoyed it, and it expanded my views.
When I was a boy, pre-Internet, we had a set of Encyclopedias. Books, I gather from my father, that were purchased at great expense. However pecuniarily fixated he was, my father loved me, encouraged me, and in this was an example of how he provided for me and encouraged me. I would sit and just read through these books alphabetically, or pick a page. As I got older, I had homework that required researching a topic but I would get engrossed with the page before or after and lose all track of time. So I have a long history of letting random curiousity get the best of me.
Peterson, a sociolinguist at the University of Helsinki, uses examples from all over the world of English speakers. She uses a model of three circles of English speakers - the inner circle who live in a place where English is the primary language (such as the UK), the outer circle who live in a place where English is a second language (like India), and the expanding circle who live in a place where English is not commonly spoken (such as China).
Peterson considers some very pertinent questions, such as “who decides what ‘Bad English’ is?”. Her book considers how people in each circle acquire English, how it grows and changes, and the characteristics of patois that develop. I remember in the 80s there was a kerfuffle around “Ebonics” - a term used to describe a patois of English spoken by black Americans - being taught as a course in Oakland. I was young, but I remember the general tone of coverage as being outrage. I found Peterson’s explanation of the particular gramatical rules of Black English, as well as some thoughts about origin and similarity to other isolated English versions, to be really enlightening.
Yes. I’m not sure why I picked it - random curiosity - and I remember thinking that I would probably read the intro and put it down - I’m glad I didn’t. The book is technical around language, it’s development, and it’s usage within groups. That said, I found it approachable and it expanded my appreciation of a topic that I didn’t really know about.
Eh. I think there’s a group of people who would really enjoy this book. I could see folks who are interested in psychology or sociology finding it a fun read. It’s probably not a book for everyone though and, although not heavy or intimidating, it does require a little commitment.