Undergraduate Course: Global Englishes (LASC10056)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course provides a description of varieties of English which emerge from situations of language contact. We examine sociolinguistic variation in these settings, and also the attitudes of speakers towards their own "non-native" variety, in contrast to "native" varieties of English. Our findings are considered in relation to the global role of English. |
| Course description |
In language contact settings English has become a second or additional language, either through histories of colonisation, or slavery/indentured labour. We look at how processes of mass acquisition can produce identifiable non-native or "World" Englishes such as East African English, Indian English, and Singaporean English in the territories of the former British empire, and pidgin and creole Englishes in the former plantation economies or slave-trading bases of the Caribbean or Pacific. In addition to modelling the evolution of these varieties, we learn to describe their phonology and syntax, and explore the social and cultural role that English plays in the respective countries today. We also explore contexts in which English is learnt as a "foreign" language, such as China, Japan, Russia. Traditionally these countries have oriented to L1 Englishes such as British English or American English, but these preferences are increasingly being challenged by the "English as lingua franca" movement, which questions whether learners of English world-wide should imitate a native-speaker norm. Our inquiry is not restricted to the form of English in informal and formal conversations, but also its presentation in media such as film and global hip-hop.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have completed at least 3 Linguistics/Language Sciences courses at grade B or above . We will only consider University/College level courses. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
After successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Describe the histories and social contexts that have given rise to World Englishes
- Describe and analyse the linguistic features of World Englishes
- Identify key debates in the emergence of extraterritorial Englishes
- Discriminate between and define key terms in the field The skills acquired will include:
- Ability to analyse texts and recordings of different varieties of English
- Ability to organise data using appropriate methods
- Ability to apply data to questions surrounding the emergence and structure of varieties of English
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Reading List
The following textbooks are recommended, in addition to key journal articles which are assigned to each topic:
Seargeant, Philip (2012). Exploring World Englishes: Language in a Global Context. Routledge Introductions to Applied Linguistics. Abingdon: Routledge.
Mesthrie, Rajend and Rakesh M. Bhatt (2008) World Englishes: The Study of New Linguistic Varieties. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Teaching Contact Time: 9 weeks out of 11 at 3 hours/week = 27 hours |
| Keywords | world Englishes,multilingualism,pidgins,creoles,contact linguistics |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Claire Cowie
Tel: (0131 6)50 8392
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Lynne Robertson
Tel: (0131 6)50 9870
Email: |
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