Josiane Boutonnet, senior lecturer in English Language at the University of Wolverhampton, said attempts by heads and teachers to enforce the speaking of “standard” English could backfire and deny children the right to a voice in school.
Her comments came after a school in the West Midlands made headlines for its attempt to ban the use of the Black Country dialect. It is reportedly part of a strategy to boost literacy rates.
Parents of pupils at Colley Lane School in Halesowen rebelled after the school sent out a list of words and phrases that were banned.
John White, the headteacher, argued that children’s future prospects would increase if their spoken English improved and they avoided the use of certain grammatical constructions and pronunciations. Earlier this year, a school in Middlesbrough also asked parents to correct their children’s local accents and grammar.
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