WRITTEN ENGLISHES
Diversity and Inclusivity
in the Writing Classroom
The State of West Virginia characterizes its distinct English usages as "archaic," describing it as a holdover from Elizabethan English.
Appalachian English
Historical
Literary
Ferrum College has a site revolving around Appalachian Literature, or what they call "AppLit." It provides "Resources for Readers and Teachers of Appalachian Literature for Children and Young Adults" and features articles, folktales, fiction and poems, lesson plans, links, study guides, bibliographies, various indexes, and a detailed analysis of features of Appalachian dialects.
The Comparative Morpho-Syntax of Appalachian English Project considers Appalachian English to be "a full-fledged language with rules of discourse, pragmatics, phonology, and syntax" and intends to discover and document these distinctive features. It is an in-progress project, but it does have an excellent page of links to other research projects and even dictionaries of Appalachian English.
Linguistic
Social
As a journalist for The Washington Times describes, much of Appalachian English's history and linguistic features are very social usages, allowing the dialect to carry on alongside mainstream American English cultures.
Discover examples of Appalachian English language patterns and vocabulary in this clip from the documentary Mountain Talk. The full video is featured on our Videos page.
Researched
The University of South Carolina boasts an extensive website on Appalachian English, replete with a dictionary, bibliography, articles, and links.
University of Tennessee Press has published the Encyclopedia of Appalachia, which has some entries available online, discussing history, vocabulary, and other features of Appalachian English and how it is similar to and overlaps with other dialects such as Ozark English.
Appalachian English is a variety of English spoken throughout communities of the Appalachian Mountain Range and influencing surrounding areas as well. The rugged terrain and its resulting seclusion allowed a distinctive language variety to develop and has also ensured its survival.
Continue exploring common language varieties
For an example of how to apply this information in the classroom, the University of North Carolina School of Education provides a sample lesson plan for teaching 8th grade students the value and integrity of Appalachian English speech patterns.
Read more here.
In this short video, speakers of Appalachian English consider the history of their language variety as well as the stereotypes often associated with its use
© 2013 by the students of IUPUI's ENG-W600 - Written Englishes: Living Cultural Realities, Dr. Kim Brian Lovejoy, professor.