Prestige dialects are spoken by those with the most social, political, and economic power in a language community. Examples include Modern Standard Arabic, Standard Mandarin Chinese, and Parisian French. The United States does not have a single prestige dialect. In language classrooms, instruction is generally provided in a prestige dialect.
A prestige dialect is a dialect spoken by people with the most prestige in a speech community. The term “language community” is used to classify groups of people who speak a single language and its closely related dialects. For example, the British are all part of the same linguistic community because they all speak English. Someone who speaks such a dialect is perceived as being of a higher social class than people who speak other dialects.
As a general rule, prestige dialects are associated with greater political, social, and economic power, and the people who speak them are generally well educated. While non-speakers of this type of dialect are not necessarily poorly educated, they may face difficulties in the academic community, due to prejudiced attitudes towards people who speak “regional” or “minor” dialects.
A reasonably well-known example of a prestige dialect is Modern Standard Arabic, the form of Arabic spoken and written by educated Arabic speakers. Modern Standard Arabic is also the dialect typically used by Arabic television and radio, aiming to be accessible to as many viewers and listeners as possible. However, for people who speak regional dialects of Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic can seem almost incomprehensible at times, because it is such a markedly different dialect.
Other examples of prestigious dialects include Standard Mandarin Chinese and Parisian French. Often, these types of dialects are associated with an urban area, especially a capital city. This is common in Latin America.
Linguistics researchers generally agree that the United States, rather surprisingly, does not have a single prestige dialect, although numerous dialects of English are spoken in the United States and some appear to be associated with higher social status than others. Some dialects of English come close to having prestigious status in the United States, but Americans do not universally accept a single dialect of English as particularly prestigious.
In classrooms where foreign languages are taught, teachers generally provide instruction in a prestige dialect, rather than another dialect. However, sometimes regional accents or turns of phrase creep in, or an instructor can provide information about regional dialects as a note of interest to curious students.
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