ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the nature of standardization, Standard English (StE), and standard language ideology and how these relate to folk and expert notions of 'English'. It then scrutinizes and (re-)evaluates the basic assumptions that are closely connected with StE and so result in particular beliefs and attitudes, practices and policies. The reasoning underlying the chapter is that an awareness of the way these common assumptions relate and operate enables us to develop a better understanding of the nature of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) communication. J. Milroy explains that an extremely important effect of standardization has been the development of consciousness among speakers of a 'correct', or canonical, form of language. The ability to produce 'correct' linguistic forms is, then, closely linked to the notion of competence, which in turn is often invoked in the expression 'native-speaker competence'.
