Overview of Dialects
A dialect is a style of speaking that comes from a language, but with its own unique words, phrases, and features. There are copious amounts of dialects in the English-speaking world. Someone from Brooklyn will sound very different than someone from a small town in Mississippi.
For a while in literary history, authors did not use dialects in their writings. Only everyday speech involved dialects and accents. However, dialects are found in literature like The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Then, writers wished to capture the language of the people in their stories, so dialect began to be used more frequently. Dialect is a major technique for characterization. It can reveal the social or geographic status of a character. Books like Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, Their Eyes were Watching God and Silas Mariner are famous for their use of dialects and accents.
Struggling with Dialects
The first time reading a book that uses a dialect in its dialogue can be extremely difficult for a student. It is almost like reading another language, and the best way to help students become comfortable with dialects is through practice and experience, even reading aloud. The more one reads books with dialects, the better one becomes at reading dialects. Therefore, practice makes perfect.
Below is a worksheet to improve student ability to read dialects. The sheet says to use a certain poem, but any work that uses a dialect can replace the suggested poem. For poems, write down the first five lines in the dialect. Then, have the students translate the lines into Standard English. If using a book, simply use the first five sentences and translate.
Dialect Worksheet
Resources
Below are some resource for additional help or information about dialects and accents.
1. American Dialect Society
2. Documenting the American South
3. The Speech Accent Archive- Explore the site before using it in class. It is difficult to understand at first, but it can be a very useful tool because you can hear the accent.
4. Dialect in Literature: Brittanica Online
5. The Dialect Dictionary
6. International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA)
A dialect is a style of speaking that comes from a language, but with its own unique words, phrases, and features. There are copious amounts of dialects in the English-speaking world. Someone from Brooklyn will sound very different than someone from a small town in Mississippi.
For a while in literary history, authors did not use dialects in their writings. Only everyday speech involved dialects and accents. However, dialects are found in literature like The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Then, writers wished to capture the language of the people in their stories, so dialect began to be used more frequently. Dialect is a major technique for characterization. It can reveal the social or geographic status of a character. Books like Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, Their Eyes were Watching God and Silas Mariner are famous for their use of dialects and accents.
Struggling with Dialects
The first time reading a book that uses a dialect in its dialogue can be extremely difficult for a student. It is almost like reading another language, and the best way to help students become comfortable with dialects is through practice and experience, even reading aloud. The more one reads books with dialects, the better one becomes at reading dialects. Therefore, practice makes perfect.
Below is a worksheet to improve student ability to read dialects. The sheet says to use a certain poem, but any work that uses a dialect can replace the suggested poem. For poems, write down the first five lines in the dialect. Then, have the students translate the lines into Standard English. If using a book, simply use the first five sentences and translate.
Dialect Worksheet
Resources
Below are some resource for additional help or information about dialects and accents.
1. American Dialect Society
2. Documenting the American South
3. The Speech Accent Archive- Explore the site before using it in class. It is difficult to understand at first, but it can be a very useful tool because you can hear the accent.
4. Dialect in Literature: Brittanica Online
5. The Dialect Dictionary
6. International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA)
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