Glaswegian Interpreter - shocking to some?

It was interesting to see that Jonathan Downie, a graduate of Heriot Watt is now the worlds first "official Glaswegian interpreter" - see http://news.stv.tv/scotland/west-central/157749-parliamo-glasgow-meet-the-worlds-first-glaswegian-interpreter.

For some, the news that visitors to Glasgow need an interpreter is not surprising but for others it's a crying shame that "badly spoken English" is being promoted. (That's for those who see Scottish English as a variety of British English.)Interestingly, the concept of "good" or "bad" English tends to hold little ground in modern linguistics and is seen as a throwback to the complaint tradition where a prescriptive approach to language was the norm - telling people what they should and shouldn't do with language.

These days linguists tend to follow a descriptive approach - they try to describe what actually happens in real-life language rather than what "should" take place according to some textbook.

Personally it's a far more practical approach to language study, after all language is a vehicle for social identity, social change and individual expresion, and it's something that lives, grows, changes and develops.