The debates surrounding Standard English, grammar and correctness are as intense today as ever and extend far beyond an academic context. Standard English draws together leading international scholars who confront the issues head on.

Introduction PART I Perspectives on the history and ideology of ‘Standard English’ Introduction to Part I 1The consequences of standardisation in descriptive Linguistics 2 The social construction of Standard English: Grammar writers as a ‘discourse community’ 3 Typography, lexicography and the development of the idea of ‘standard English’4 Representations of English in twentieth-century Britain: Fowler, Gowers and Partridge PART II Perspectives on the spoken language Introduction to Part II 5 Standard English: What it isn’t 6 Spoken standard English 7 Standard grammars, spoken grammars: Some educational Implications PART III Perspectives from outside the UK Introduction to Part III 18 Standard English and language ideology in Britain and the United States 9 The names of US English: Valley girl, cowboy, yankee, normal, nasal and ignorant 10 Functions and forms of English in a European EFL Country EPILOGUE 11 Curiouser and curiouser: Falling standards in the standard English debate

'Lively, vastly informative, scholarly - this is a notably accessible, seminal overview of a complex and as yet unresolved linguistic and educational puzzle.' - The Library Association Record'It highlights the problem in ascertainig exactly what constitutes SE (Standard English)' - Frances Austin, English Studies, Vol.82, Feb 2001