History of the
English Language
Tentative Syllabus
ENGL 4300.01
TLC 1112
MW 2:00-3:15
Instructor: Dr Micheal Crafton
Office hours: MW 9-11
Office location:
TLC 2-225; Bonner House
Course: ENGL 4300 Studies in the English Language
Required texts and
other readings/materials:
Graddol, David, Dick
Leith and Joan Swann. English:
History, Diversity and Change.
London: Routledge, 2001.
Course description: A sustained analysis of a particular linguistic theme, an approach to, or a regional expression of the English language. Regular offerings in the history of the English language and its development from Anglo-Saxon to contemporary varieties of world English will rotate with other topics. ENGL 4300 be repeated for credit as topic varies (for example, instead of History of the English Language, one could take Grammar of Introduction to Linguistics).
Learning Outcomes:
Relationship of course goals to program goals:
|
This course fulfills one of departmental requirements for the completion of the English major. |
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This course fulfills one of the requirements for secondary education certification. |
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Students will develop the analytical, oral and written skills to pursue graduate study or careers in teaching, writing, business and a variety of other fields. |
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Students will be able to define and pursue independent research agendas. |
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Courses seek to broaden students' desire and ability to take pleasure in their encounter with literature. |
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Students will develop an appreciation for the structure and function of the English language. |
Class Policies:
Attendance: Since
this class meets only twice a week, attendance is all the more
important. Attendance should be understood
as more than
merely occupying space in a passive manner; rather, it should be
understand as
a productive act. In fact, it should be
considered a production in the way that creating a paper or report is
considered as a production. In order to get full credit, your presence
must be
known, and it must be known as that of a prepared student working to
make the
class an event of learning, of intellectual and artistic exchange.
Late
Work: Generally, my policy for unexcused late work is that it loses
a
letter grade for every day it is late. There are, of course,
extenuating
circumstances, but these need to be made and made well.
Plagiarism:
Intentional plagiarism, that is, the conscious adoption of someone
else's
writing or ideas as your own is a profanation to everything I hold
important.
If a student is clearly guilty of this, the result will be an F for the
class
and a report to the disciplinary officials of the University.
Daily Assignments:
All chapter references and page
number
references are to the text listed above.
Week 1: English and Englishes
M 19 “Introduction pp. 1-2; Overview of course; Introduction to web sites
W 21 Chapter 1, pp. 1-15 (including Reading A)
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Week 2: Whose English?
M 26 Chapter 1 (remaining pages)
W 28 Reading B and C from Chapter 1; “Fun with the IPA” Handout and p. 386
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Week 3: Writing Systems
M 2 Chapter 2; History of Writing www.ancientscripts.com and other sites.
W 4 Chapter 2
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Week 4: Phonology
M 9 Chapter 2
W 11 Chapter
2 (pages 71-80 and Readings A and B) 7 (pages 262-268)
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Week 5: Indo-European and Language Families
M 16 Handout Reading
W 18 Exam # 1
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Week 6: Story of English: Old English
M 23 Chapter 3
W 25 Chapter 3
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Week 7: Story of English: Old English
M 30 Chapter 3
W 2 Chapter 3
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Week 8: Story of English: Modernity and Standards
M 7 Chapter 4; Renaissance and National Standards
W 9 Chapter 4; Renaissance and Enrichment
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Week 9: Story of English: 18th and 19th Centuries
M 14 Chapter 4; Late Renaissance and Reform: Grammar Books
W 16 Chapter 4; Late Renaissance and Reform: Dictionaries
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Week 10: Story of English: Late 19th
and early 20th Century Developments
M 21 Chapter 4; Industrial Revolutions; Romanticism; Victorian Period and the OED
W 23 Exam # 2
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Week 11: English Moves Abroad
M 28 Chapter 5.1 – 5.3
W 30 Chapter 5.4: American English
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Week 12: American English
M 4 Chapter 5.4; Handouts
W 6 Chapter 5.5-5.6; Ebonics and Creoles
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Week 13: Variations in Grammar and Speech
M 11 Chapter 6
W 13 Chapter 7
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Week 14: Variations and Presentations
M 18 Chapter 8
W 20 Chapter
9
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Week 15: Presentations and Thanksgiving
M
25 Review
for Final and Discuss Papers and
Presentations
W 27 Thanksgiving
Holidays
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Week 15: Final Things
M
2
Student Presentations
W
4 Last
Day of Class: Student Presentations and Course Evaluation
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E 11 Exam # 3 (2-4 pm)
ASSIGNMENTS AND THEIR GRADE WEIGHTS
1. 1.Exam # 1 = 20 %
2. 2.Exam # 2 = 20 %
3. 3.Exam # 3 = 30 % (counts more because of comprehensive essay question)
4. 4.Participation = 10 %
5. 5.Project = 20 %
1. A standard research paper (10 pages long, 8 to 10 references) on a topic related to the history of the language (e.g. teaching dialects of English, theories of the Great Vowel Shift, dialectal variations in Chaucer).
For a list of useful web sites see the following:
http://ebbs.english.vt.edu/hel/hel.html
http://www.westga.edu/~mcrafton/hel-web.htm
Tests and Study Guides
http://www.westga.edu/~mcrafton/test/test1.html