Attitudes to Standard English

PRESCRIPTIVISTS

From a prescriptivist view, all languages change, and nothing can be done to stop that from happening - but it should not be accepted. Prescriptivist's ideas are idealistic but many argue they are also very unrealistic and unattainable. This is because languages will always change and it is extremely hard to pin down a set of rules which can account for those changes. Prescriptivism argues that language should have rules which should be adhered to. Around the 18th century, a variety of English had evolved into ‘standard’ and the other forms were seen as not as good. A fault of prescriptivism is that it does not take into account that language is a naturally changing phenomenon and due to all the variation regarding language, there is nothing you can do to stop it other than accept it.

DESCRIPTIVISTS

On the other hand, descriptivists views contrast with the prescriptive views, as their approach to language is to understand why and how it works rather than trying to enforce rules and regulations. On the surface, many may argue that descriptivism is easier to agree with as there is no desire to regulate language use. Descriptivism is use as before we can attribute rules, we should investigate and describe its aspects first. However, similarly to prescriptivism, it has its faults. For example -  (Meyer 2010)states that “whether linguists like it or not, all language is subjected to linguistic norms”. Although descriptivism is objective, individuals still have their own subjective opinions about what makes a good or a bad language.