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English
3520: History of
the English Language Tanya
Pollard |
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2150 Boylan Tuesday 6:30-9:15 E-mail:
Tpollard@brooklyn.cuny.edu
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Office:
3108 Boylan Phone: 718-951-5000 x 6216 Hours:
T 12:15-1 & 5:45-6:30, Th 10:30-11, and by appointment |
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The English language,
like the United States, and like Brooklyn in particular, is a crazy quilt of
countless languages and cultures.
This course will explore the development of English from its earliest
forms to the present day, with an emphasis on the cultural encounters that
have kept it in a constant state of mobility and expansion. We will examine the languageŐs
Anglo-Saxon beginnings and its early evolution in response to encounters with
French, Latin, and Greek; we will then go on to explore some of the far-flung
shores where EnglandŐs colonial and imperial ventures brought the language,
and look at what they brought to it in return. We will consider the distinctive
status of American English, the question of when and how neologisms and slang
terms become official components of the language, and the status of English
as a global phenomenon, alongside the phenomenon of mixed linguistic forms
such as Spanglish, Franglais, Danglish, Singlish, Hinglish, Tanglish, and
Globish. StudentsŐ experiences
with, and perspectives on, alternate forms of English will be welcomed into
discussions. |
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Week |
Date |
Assignment |
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1 |
9-3 |
Introduction |
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2 |
9-10 |
Origins: Crystal 15-33, 57-85; Bryson, 46-53; Bragg, 6-7
(Blackboard) (1) |
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3 |
9-17 |
Middle English: Crystal 105-107, 121-139, 145-162, 222-253;
Bryson, 53-63 Bragg, 32-39 (Blackboard) (2) |
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4 |
9-24 |
Renaissance: Crystal 254-333, 339-341; Bragg, 109-120
(Blackboard) (3) |
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5 |
10-1 |
Standardization: Crystal 365-414; Bryson 147-160 (4) |
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6 |
10-8 |
Exam |
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7 |
10-15 |
No class:
classes follow Monday schedule |
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8 |
10-22 |
America and elsewhere: Crystal 419-452; Bryson 161-178 (1) |
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9 |
10-29 |
English expands: Crystal 453-479; Bragg, 236-260 (Blackboard) (2) |
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10 |
11-5 |
Fusion Englishes: Crystal, 502-509; Abley, 54-100 (Blackboard); Chotiner, ŇGlobish for BeginnersÓ (3)
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11 |
11-12 |
The Future of English: Crystal 514-534; Bryson 179-195, 239-245; Learn English online; The Internet and language Change; How the internet is changing language; Oh Twitter, what will become of our language?; Experts divided over internet changes to language (4) ** submit proposal for final project,
including bibliography
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12 |
11-19 |
Exam |
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13 |
11-26 |
research presentations and responses (1 & 2) |
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14 |
12-3 |
research presentations and responses (3 & 4) |
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16 |
12-10 |
Research paper due; peer-editing workshop |
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17 |
12-17 |
Revised research paper due |
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Course Requirements
and Expectations: |
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Attendance Because
your contributions to class discussion are a central part of your work for
this course, attendance is crucial.
If you miss more than two classes, your overall grade will drop; at
four absences, you may fail the class. Arriving late to class will count as
one-third of an absence. |
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Texts I
have ordered two texts for this course: David Crystal, The Stories of
English, and Bill Bryson, Mother Tongue. Both are available at Shakespeare
& Co.; you may purchase them elsewhere if you prefer. Excerpts from other texts will be
provided online, through the course website or Blackboard. It is essential to bring all required
texts with you to each class session. |
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Participation Learning
is a collaborative process, which works best when each of you engages fully
with the texts and with each other.
To this end, I will expect you to participate actively in class
discussions, and you will be required to present ideas for class discussion
on a rotating basis. Your
contributions will determine a significant portion of the semesterŐs grade.
In order to build a classroom atmosphere of courtesy and concentration,
please avoid behavior that is disrespectful and interferes with othersŐ
learning, including rudeness, talking while others are speaking, and ringing
from cell-phones, pagers, watches, etc. |
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Writing Over
the course of the semester you will write two short (2 page) papers
accompanying in-class presentations, as well as one longer (8-10 page)
research paper. All written work
should have a central claim that is well argued, clearly written, and
directly supported by close readings of textual passages; the research paper
will also incorporate, and respond to, at least three secondary sources. All papers should be typed,
double-spaced, in a 12-point font, with one-inch margins on all sides. Written work is due at the start of
class, and lateness will result in lowering of the grade by one-third of a
grade per day. Any use of othersŐ
ideas must be fully acknowledged in footnotes; speak to me if you are unsure
about what this means. Plagiarism
is a serious offense, and will result in failing the class and being reported
to the DeanŐs Office. |
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Coursework
and grading: Brief weekly quizzes Short (2 page) essays, 5%
each Presentations and
participation Midterm exam Final exam Final research project (5%
presentation, 5% draft, 10% final) |
20% 10% 20% 15% 15% 20% |
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Selected Recommended
Additional Readings (some excerpts
available on Blackboard):
Mark Abley, The Prodigal
Tongue: Dispatches from the Future of English (Houghton Mifflin, 2008)
Melvyn Bragg, The
Adventure of English (Arcade, 2003)
David Crystal ed., The
Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (Cambridge, 1995); more at
http://www.davidcrystal.com/David_Crystal/english.htm
Philip Durkin, The Oxford Guide to Etymology (Oxford,
2009)
Dennis Freeborn, From Old
English to Standard English: A Coursebook in Language Variation Across Time
(Ottawa, 1998)
Henry Hitchings, The Language Wars: A History of Proper
English (FSG, 2011)
Seth Lerer, Inventing
English: A Portable History of the Language (Columbia, 2007)
Tom McArthur, The Oxford
Companion to the English Language (Oxford, 1992).
Robert McCrum, Globish: How the English Language Became the
WorldŐs Language (Norton, 2010)
Robert McCrum, William Cran
and Robert MacNeil, The Story of English (Faber & Faber, 1986)
Celia Millward, A
Biography of the English Language (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1996)
Haruko Momma and Michael Matto, ed, A Companion to the History of the English Language (Blackwell, 2008)