“People can be bi-dialectal, as well as bilingual” says Professor Alison Henry, this year's Henrietta Harvey Lecturer (Nov. 23)

Local dialects, says Professor Alison Henry, get a bad rap as inferior to the standard – or ‘correct’ – form of a language. “There’s a general perception that there’s only one correct form of a language, and that the others are wrong.”

Professor Henry, a distinguished linguist in the School of Communication at University of Ulster at Jordanstown, will be at Memorial’s St. John’s campus to give the Henrietta Harvey Lecture on Thursday, Nov. 23. She will also talk to classes, share ideas with faculty and try to take in some local dialects during her first-ever visit to Newfoundland and Labrador.

The message she hopes to impart: local dialects are valuable both from a scientific and a cultural perspective. She notes that while there’s been a global movement to support minority languages as an important resource, respect for local dialects is lagging behind.

“There are often features of a language that are highly stigmatized, so when you use these, people will perceive you as inferior.” This can result in fewer opportunities for employment or social advancement. However, she asserts, it’s all grounded in nothing more than preference and power. “What passes as the standard form of language is purely accidental, and dependent on where the power base is located within a region.”

And it’s a two-edged sword. Sometimes moving to a more standard dialect – and developing what, in some places, is dismissed as a “too posh accent” or “putting on airs” – can lead to ostracism within one’s own community.

However, Professor Henry does believe that a standardized version of the English language is also important to facilitate communication across regions, but says one form doesn’t have to displace another.

“People can be bi-dialectal, as well as bilingual,” she says, noting she believes this message is critical for educators. “Teachers fear that if they acknowledge local dialects as valuable, they will lessen students’ ability to pick up standard English. But actually, the opposite is true. Students can more easily acquire standard English if they are taught how it differs from their own dialect.”

Professor Henry believes there are signs that dialects are gaining respect, but adds: “I wish we were making more headway.”

Dr. Henry’s Nov. 23 lecture, Local Dialects and the Myth of Inferiority takes place at 8 p.m. in the Science Building, Room SN-2105. Dr. Henry will be in St. John’s from Monday, Nov. 20 – Friday, Nov. 24.
Parking available in Lot 15.

*************************

If you're on facebook and interested in English as spoken in Newfoundland check out the Rattling Books facebook group REDEFiNE iT: using the Dictionary of Newfoundland English.