ABSTRACT
While the unifying and general-purpose role of the standard language is acknowledged without controversy in many countries, in some others this is very far from being the case. 1 For reasons that we glimpsed in Chapter 1, many teachers of English in British schools vigorously question the very nature of Standard English and are opposed to its being given (privileged) status in their classrooms. In a speech at Richmond College in 1994, Mr Kenneth Baker recalled his astonishment and dismay at the fury that was unleashed when as Secretary of State for education he welcomed the report produced in 1988 by Sir John Kingman and his distinguished colleagues on the teaching of the English language.
