In early stages of writing, the writing process encourages "writing the way we talk," but in the end students are expected to write as academicians: a student must control his/her written level of language. For English speaking students, needing to belong to ingroups, and the casual attitude of American society both contribute to students' decisions (or inabilities) to use an appropriate level of language for writing. Students who have grown up speaking and listening to Black English Vernacular, Spanglish (a hybrid of English and Spanish), or other languages often have difficulty writing in Standard American English. Teaching students various levels of writing from casual to informal to formal, a writing teacher developed a lesson to help students determine the appropriate level to use for their audience when writing academic papers. Hearing, analyzing, and presenting a fairy tale in three different writing levels, students realize the importance of writing levels to their audience. (Contains five references.) (SC)