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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2019/2020

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences : Language Sciences

Undergraduate Course: Global Englishes (LASC10056)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis 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.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: LEL2C: English in Time and Space (LASC08019) OR LEL2B: Phonetic Analysis and Empirical Methods (LASC08018)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesVisiting 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
Academic year 2019/20, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  0
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 27, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 169 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 40% proposal for attitudes survey (1500 words plus questionnaire); 30% quantitative study (data analysis plus 1000 word write-up); and 30% qualitative study (1500 words)
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
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
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.
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
Keywordsworld Englishes,multilingualism,pidgins,creoles,contact linguistics
Contacts
Course organiserDr Claire Cowie
Tel: (0131 6)50 8392
Email: claire.cowie@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Lynne Robertson
Tel: (0131 6)50 9870
Email: Lynne.Robertson@ed.ac.uk
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