This week in one of my classes, I’m discussing the three main levels of diction with my student. Basically, there’s informal, Standard American English, and formal. For the sake of this freshman composition course, we don’t delve into the many variations of informal English diction, but I do plan to touch on those dialects here. Obviously Standard American English (known as SAE from here on out) is what you hear on TV news reports or read in articles. Formal diction is the elevated language used in the academic setting or in specialized fields, such as law and medicine.
The purpose of freshman composition — the way I see it — is to teach students to translate their own informal diction into SAE for the academic setting. Students don’t necessarily need to write formal diction at this point in their college career, but they do need to have a good grasp of the standard diction used in most classrooms. Why do I consider this a form of translation? Students come from diverse backgrounds and learn different idioms and mannerisms. A student from New York City will not have the same dialect as a student from rural Northwest Georgia. In fact, the two students might not understand each other — even though they’re both speaking English!
The choice of diction in speaking and writing ensures your audience understands you. Elevating your diction from your own informal dialect to SAE isn’t meant to ignore your background — it’s meant to teach you a “new” language and reach a wider audience.
