Teaching and learning methods
Teaching methods include
- Interactive Lectures;
- Seminar group presentations;
- Group discussion in seminars.
Learning activities include
- Organisation of material and own ideas for oral presentation;
- Developing own interpretation of theoretical texts and concepts;
- Debating ideas in class
- Independent study.
Innovative or special features of this module: you will be asked to join a topic group to discuss and present individual research and you will need to provide a group introduction to the topic under discussion. Guidance will be provided by the teachers.
The lectures will serve to introduce, analyse and investigate key aspects of language change with respect to English. The weekly seminar will be mostly student-led and will offer an opportunity to discuss key themes through discussion of various activities prepared individually and in groups.
Collaborative research on chosen topics to lead to production of a study-notes style document which will be peer-reviewed and tutor-reviewed (using the discussion board on Blackboard). See further details below.
Study time
Type |
Hours |
Preparation for scheduled sessions |
70 |
Revision |
20 |
Seminar |
12 |
Wider reading or practice |
10 |
Lecture |
12 |
Completion of assessment task |
26 |
Total study time |
150 |
Resources & Reading list
Textbooks
Aitchison, J. (2013). Language change: progress or decay?. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Smith, J. (2007). Sound Change and the History of English. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Burnley, D (1992). The History of the English Language: A Source Book. London: Longman.
Milroy, J. and Milroy, L. (1993). Real English: The Grammar of English Dialects in the British Isles. London: Longman.
M Bragg (2003). The Adventure of English. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Hughes, A., Trudgill, P., & Watt, D. (2013). English accents and dialects: an introduction to social and regional varieties of English in the British Isles. Routledge.
Culpeper, J. (2005). History of English. London: Routledge.
Horobin, S. (2010). Studying the History of Early English. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Fennell, B. A (2008). A History of English: a Sociolinguistic Approach. Oxford: Blackwell.
McMahon, A (1994). Understanding Language Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Beal, J. C. (2010). An introduction to regional Englishes: dialect variation in England. Edinburgh University Press.
Jeffries, L. (2006). Discovering Language. The Structure of Modern English. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.