Table of Contents

Preface Bad Language: Realism versus Relativism Anything Goes A Culture of Engagement Bad Writing The Craft of Writing Clear and Direct The Relativity of Style What is Good Writing? Bad Grammar Prescriptive Grammar The Emergence of Prescriptivism The Doctrines of Usage and Utility The English Language Arts and Beyond Conservatives and Progressives The Necessity for Grammar Bad Words Cursing in the Media and the Arts Offensive Language Bad Words as a Social Construction Slang as Bad Language Political Correctness Conventionalism and Comfort Levels Bad Citizens Birth of a Nation Native American Languages Manualism versus Oralism Restrictions on Foreign Languages Bilingual Education English Only One Flag, One Language Bad Accents Broken English Attitudes Toward Regional Dialects Ebonics Accomodating to the Idealized Mainstream Images and Engagement Imagining Language English Made Hard Beyond Simplistic Characterizations Notes Reference Index

Reviews

"Battistella has indeed identified issues central both to our society at large and to the American educational system. He shows us that all too often, what citizens and teachers believe about language, grammar, and so-called proper English reflects folk-beliefs from deep in centuries past. These common myths about the nature of language carry vast ripple effects in how we treat people and educate our young. In user-friendly and lively terms, linguist Ed
Battistella explores bad language--a topic both timely and crucial to our nation."--Rebecca S. Wheeler, Department of English, Christopher Newport University
"Important"--Alex Ross, The Rest Is Noise
"The beauty of this book is that it responds to widely held beliefs about the nature of language--that there exist fairly monolithic language standards that people ought to aim for. ... The author of Bad Language astutely recognizes that these beliefs provide fertile ground for introducing fundamental perspectives and findings from linguistic research to students, scholars in other fields, and the general public."--Carolyn Adger, Center for Applied
Linguistics
On Chicago Tribune's Top 10 books on language in 2005: "This book reminds us that language is the basis of the last acceptable prejudice: There is no snobbery as safe as looking down your nose at people for their grammar, vocabulary or accent. As Battistella shows, this kind of condescension often comes from misunderstandings and myths about the way language works."--Nathan Bierma, Chicago Tribune
On Chicago Tribune's Top 10 books on language in 2005: "This book reminds us that language is the basis of the last acceptable prejudice: There is no snobbery as safe as looking down your nose at people for their grammar, vocabulary or accent. As Battistella shows, this kind of condescension often comes from misunderstandings and myths about the way language works."--Nathan Bierma, Chicago Tribune
"Important"--Alex Ross, The Rest Is Noise
"Battistella has indeed identified issues central both to our society at large and to the American educational system. He shows us that all too often, what citizens and teachers believe about language, grammar, and so-called proper English reflects folk-beliefs from deep in centuries past. These common myths about the nature of language carry vast ripple effects in how we treat people and educate our young. In user-friendly and lively terms, linguist Ed
Battistella explores bad language--a topic both timely and crucial to our nation."--Rebecca S. Wheeler, Department of English, Christopher Newport University
"The beauty of this book is that it responds to widely held beliefs about the nature of language--that there exist fairly monolithic language standards that people ought to aim for. ... The author of Bad Language astutely recognizes that these beliefs provide fertile ground for introducing fundamental perspectives and findings from linguistic research to students, scholars in other fields, and the general public."--Carolyn Adger, Center for Applied
Linguistics