Selected Topics in Language, Writing and Rhetoric: Students' Right to Their Own Language

In 1974, the now-renowned resolution on “Students’ Right to Their Own Language” was adopted by leaders of the largest national organization on college writing (the Executive Committee of the Conference on College Composition and Communication). This resolution not only affirms the validity of all students’ dialects; it further asserts that “The claim that any one dialect is unacceptable amounts to an attempt of one social group to exert its dominance over another” and calls for teachers to gain “experiences and training that will enable them to respect diversity and uphold the right of students to their own language.” More than forty years later, the resolution remains far from common knowledge and practice. This class examines the research undergirding the SRTOL resolution and explores the (often controversial) efforts in the field of composition and rhetoric to reignite its mission.