John R. Rickford and Social Justice for Speakers of Vernacular English

Abstract

<p>John R. Rickford is one of the few linguists who has diligently combined descriptive and theoretical linguistic research with applied work. More specifically, he has been a tireless advocate for marginalised vernacular varieties of language and social justice for their speakers. Here I focus on two of the areas discussed in John's seminal article 20 years ago: An Unequal Partnership (Rickford 1997a), rally cry for sociolinguists to give back more to the communities they study. These concern the formal education system and the legal system.</p>