Can Schools Dispense with Standard Language? Some Unintended Consequences of Introducing Scots in a Scottish Primary School

What is it about?

This article analyses a primary school classroom session in Scotland during which a teacher seeks to make the pupils aware that they are speakers of Scots, an indigenous language of Scotland. The absence of a standard makes it nevertheless difficult, and generates a number of unintended consequences.

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Why is it important?

Scots is still widely spoken in Scotland, particularly among school children. The consideration of non-standard forms and the way they are approached is central to the understanding of inequality in Scotland, in particular concerning the access to literacy. Analyzing the use of non-standard forms in education is also useful to understand how standard languages function.