Sorry, I thought that I could devote more time to this today. But I'll be sending some pms out tomorrow instead of finishing them up today.

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Greg, you wrote "I am not saying that treatments should necssarily be uniform across all ethnic groups, far from it; but you need to have some sort of attitude to the use of dialects, whether in a derisive or positive way,right across the spectrum. For a start, what you call "standard English.."

I don't agree that I need or anyone else needs "to have some sort of attitude toward the use of dialects...right across the spectrum." Far be it for me to tell someone else what they need to have.

Also, the term "Standard English" is used in the USA, and yes, I know it's not the same as British English. See this excerpt from
a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_English">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_English

"Standard English (often shortened to S.E. within linguistic circles) is a term generally applied to a form of the English language that is thought to be[citation needed] normative for educated native speakers. It encompasses grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and to some degree pronunciation...

here are no official rules for "Standard English" because, unlike some other languages, English does not have a linguistic governance body such as the Académie française or Dansk Sprognævn to establish usage.
The English language, although originating in England, is now spoken as a first language in many countries of the world, each of which has developed one or more "national standards" of pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and spelling.

As the result of historical migrations of English-speaking populations and colonization, the predominant use of English as the international language of trade and commerce (lingua franca), English has also become the most widely used second language,[1] and is therefore subject to alteration by non-native speakers. Numerous "non-native dialects" are developing their own standards – those, for example, of English language publications published in countries where English is generally learned as a foreign language.[citation needed] In countries where English is either not a native language or is not widely spoken, another country's variant might be considered "standard", often that of England or the United States.

The effects of local native languages on the creation of creoles or pidgins have contributed the evolution of the many local and regional varieties of English. "