Dialect, Slang, Jargon, Register: Implications for Instruction

Developing word consciousness in intermediate and secondary grades

includes learning about dialect, slang, jargon, and register. Students need to
become increasingly metacognitive with respect to these concepts. In this
post, I juxtapose the four terms, speaking broadly. For more depth, follow
the links.
Dialect: The Oxford Concise Dictionary defines dialect as, a form of a
language which is peculiar to a specific region or social group." Dialects are
noted by variations in phonology, phonetics, morphology, syntax and
vocabulary. Linguists Odell, Vacca, and Hobbs (2007, p. 939) make a vital
point:
"Everyone uses a dialect, and no dialect
is better or worse than another."
In the US, many dialects or varieties of English are heard: Southern English,
Appalachian English, African American English, New York City English,
Chicano English, California Surfer Dude and Valley Girl English, Boston
English, etc. Overseas, more varieties of English are spoken, including
Australian English, Cockney English, Jamaican English, and so forth. To hear
varieties of English from all over the world visit The International Dialects of
English Archives. Click the links in the sidebar and listen to the audio clips.
Let your students listen, too. It is fascinating -- and free. Also, scholars at
the University of Wisconsin created the Dictionary of American Regional
English (DARE). This outstanding resource defines regional words and
displays maps showing where specific words are spoken in America. Visit
the DARE website. View the educational resources. Take the synonym quiz.
(I DAREsay, "It ain't gonna be easy!")
African American English (AAE) is a dialect. However, AAE is an ethnic
dialect rather than a regional dialect. "An ethnic dialect is a speech pattern
of a special community that has preserved some of its heritage from the
past" (Odell et al., 2007, p. 939). According to Denham and Lobeck (2009),
ethnic dialects often cross regions and are/were influenced by isolation
and/or segregation. For further reading, see African American English is not
Slang, published by WORD., The Online Journal of African American English.
Also see The diversity of English in America, published by Popular
Linguistics.
To learn about Southern English and African American English, read the book
pictured above: Understanding English Language Variation in U.S. Schools.
Anne Charity Hudley and Christine Mallinson are experts in their field,
providing teaching strategies as well as suggestions for assessment and
application. In their book, they speak not of standard English but
of standardized English:

The term standardized English makes the parallel that just as

specific types of knowledge are valued on standardized tests, so,
too are specific types of language valued within the educational
system (p. 12)
Often, slang words have a short shelf life, fading away after a generation.
Some slang words have endured and entered the general lexicon,
including bogus, geek, mob, hubbub, and rowdy. Some slang words are
used across dialects. Consider the word cool. Is it heard in every dialect of
English?
Eric Partridge, a British lexicographer and researcher, described 15 reasons
people speak in slang (Slang: Today and Yesterday, 1933, ch. 2, available for
download). His research is dated, but these reasons might still hold true
today. Below, I list the first three reasons and the last reason. Notice how
nicely the first three ideas lend themselves to prompting creativity, identity,
word consciousness, and love for language.
1) "In sheer high spirits, by the young in heart as well as by the young in
years; 'just for the fun of the thing'; in playfulness or waggishness."
2) As an exercise either in wit and ingenuity or in humour. (The motive
behind this is usually self-display or snobbishness, emulation or
responsiveness, delight in virtuosity.)
3) 'To be different'; to be novel.
15) To be secret--not understood by those around one. (Children, students,
lovers, members of political secret societies, criminals in or out of prison...)
Students might enjoy rhyming slang. According to David Crystal (1995),
rhyming slang probably originated with the criminal underworld of London
Cockneys in the mid-19th-Century. A few examples are provided below.
Rhyming Slang

Meaning

apples and pears

stairs

artful dodger

lodger

Cain and Abel

table

north and south

mouth

read and write

fight

trouble and strife

wife

Jargon: Jargon is the specific terminology used to support our interests and
occupations. For the Vocabulogic readership, associated jargon
includes semantics, pragmatics, morpheme, phoneme, analogy, conceptual,
contextual, etc. The American Heritage Dictionary defines jargon as, "the
language, especially the vocabulary, peculiar to a particular trade,
profession, or group: medical jargon" and also "language that is
characterized by uncommon or pretentious vocabulary and convoluted
syntax and is often vague in meaning."
Unlike most slang, academic jargon is typically not imaginative or
picturesque. Too much of it might leave one feeling stifled, even oppressed.
This might be why the suffix -ese elicits angst in words like legalese,
acadamese, officialese, bureaucratese, etc. Like some slang, jargon might
keep outsiders out, serving to exclude. Nonetheless, jargon has its place,
enabling members of a group to communicate about their interests. (For
more on abuse of jargon, read about word clutter at SimpleWorld.CA.)
Does enjoyable jargon exist? Some non-academic jargon is delightfully
creative, as with the metaphoric trucker jargon: bear in the air, rubber duck,
roller skate, alligator, etc. Also, because rhyming slang formed the
vocabulary of a particular profession, might we also call it a form of jargon
(perhaps "robber jargon")? I am not always certain where slang ends and
jargon begins, but clearly, not all jargon consists of stuffy academic words.
Register: According to the American Heritage Dictionary, register is "a
variety of language typically used in a specific type of communicative
setting: an informal register; the register of scientific discourse." An informal
register is typically used at home and at play. A more formal register is used
in nonfiction texts, lecture halls, etc. There are also registers that fall
somewhere between formal and informal. Formal language is broadly called
academic English. (See Academic Words Every Day.)
Applications: With older students, discuss language at the metacognitive
level. Explore the linguistic, political, social and cultural aspects of
language. Esteem every language variety. Language is personal--a part of
our identity. Create an environment that treasures language and resounds
with speech. (See Treated to Language.)
Instead of teaching that communication is either formal or informal, convey

the notion of incremental shifts in formality. Use a horizontal scale, as

inserted below, to show gradations of register, from quite informal to highly
formalized and standardized. Let students converse in small groups to
classify any given sample of speech or print. Discuss the rationale: What
makes the communication more or less formal?
________________________________________________________________
less formal
REGISTER
formal

more

Teach adolescents across dialects to select a suitable register for speaking

and writing, depending on the audience and the goal. If the selected
register is more formal, teach students to use academic vocabulary and
syntax and to limit slang. This is a matter of pragmatics, of understanding
the social application and function of language.
Teach students to recognize jargon. Adolescents might sort word cards,
jargon versus slang versus general words. Also, teach students to recognize
when someone is deliberately (or perhaps unintentionally) creating a lexical
barrier with a plethora of professional jargon or an overabundance of
academic English.