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Instructors: PD Dr. habil. Martina Lampert
Event type:
Proseminar
Displayed in timetable as:
05.008.160
Hours per week:
2
Language of instruction:
Englisch
Min. | Max. participants:
- | 45
Registration group: ELing 160
Priority scheme: Senatsrichtlinie
Requirements / organisational issues:
Participants should have attended the Introduction to English Linguistics and (ideally) Spoken English; to obtain credit, first, a reading report of a textbook chapter will have to be done and, second, a summary of a research article expanding on an aspect that is related to the textbook chapter topic will have to be handed in.
Contents:
This proseminar will provide a solid survey of the stage in the historical evolution of English that is of immediate relevance for what might be called Modern Standard English and also of what is labeled the lingua franca of the modern age, which is a result of its global spread.
While focusing on the pertinent and prominent issues of public discourse during the period under scrutiny, i.e., standardization and codification of English in the domains of pronunciation, grammar, and the lexicon, the class will not lose sight of another defining characteristic: Despite its immediate association as a holistic and unified entity, the English language has never been a linguistic monolith but a collection of texts that unmistakably document variation – regional and social, in registers and in styles, all affected by various sociocultural forces.
In this class, special attention will be on the changing (or not so changing) attitudes of contemporary language experts toward what has been considered the ‘correct’ use of language – all the more so since many of these views (or rather ideologies) have remained issues of debate in contemporary university courses (like essay classes) and, maybe even more pronounced, in the foreign language classroom, which is, first and foremost, a sensible topic and of consequential relevance for future teachers.
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