Some linguists are wise to veer away from using the adjectives "standard" and "nonstandard" in classifying a language variety. There is no such thing as this: American English is standard English, and Singapore English is nonstandard English. I couldn't agree more.

Maybe back in the days, back when English was exclusively spoken by a few countries, these terms were harmless if you speak their English differently. But we all know that when non-English speaking countries gained enough knowledge of the English language, they adopted and modified it to suit their context. This modified English eventually became a variety. It became theirs.

So, how can these terms fit in with modern times? It's very simple. Pick an English variety you want to learn and abide by its standards. Anything you produce that is not on a par with the standards is nonstandard. If, for instance, you say "I'm going to school everyday" and you're learning how to speak American English, your sentence is nonstandard or wrong. (For the clueless, check the verb tense.)

Based on the argument above, we can say that when it comes to comparing English varieties, the terms "nonstandard" and "standard" do not apply. But if we don't have an English that's standard, how do we keep English, the language, intact? There are now a lot of English varieties and maybe in fifty years, the differences among these varieties will be so high comprehension is significantly affected. Something has got to keep things in order.

I wish the brightest educators, researchers, and teachers in each English variety would convene to agree upon the rules and standards of World English, an English that would unite all the differences so that when people from different parts of the globe get to a certain place, they still can understand each other. (NOTE: I read when I was young that World English exists but nobody speaks or uses it.)

Ande Geronimo, EFL Teacher Trainer: Your guide to online English teaching http://queerenglish.blogspot.com/.