Text:
Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge University Press, 1997 (paperback). (All readings listed below are from this text.)
Study guides containing detailed information about daily readings and topics will be provided for each segment of the course. It may be necessary to make some changes in the syllabus; these will be announced in class.

Introduction

Week 1: Tuesday, Sept. 3, and Thursday, Sept. 5
Introduction to the course. What does it mean to study a language? What are the characteristics of different languages, and of the English language in particular? The difference between studying the structure of a language (its grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary) and the cultural aspects of language use (social and regional variation, and the "artful" uses of language, including rhetoric and poetry). A brief overview of the history and present situation of English. Readings for Sept. 4: Chapter 1, "Modelling English."

The Words of English

Weeks 2 - 3: Tuesday, Sept. 10, through Thursday, Sept. 19
In this section we examine what is perhaps the most obvious feature of language from a non-specialist's perspective: the words. We consider the concept of the word (are "realize" and "realized" two different words or just two forms of the same word? what about "realization"?), examine how word meanings are assigned, and look at relations between words. We'll learn about how dictionaries are constructed and look at the origins and histories of some English words. We'll also discuss jargon, slang, idioms, borrowings, and so on.
Readings: Chapters 8-12, "The Nature of the Lexicon," "The Sources of the Lexicon," "Etymology," "The Structure of the Lexicon," "Lexical Dimensions."

From Semantics to Pragmatics

Week 4: Tuesday, Sept. 24, through Thursday, Sept. 26
The study of word meaning leads naturally into the study of how language is used, an area that includes both pragmatics and sociolinguistics for our purposes. We will talk later in the semester about both of these in more detail. For this week, however, we will consider matters of register, rapport and specialized language.
Readings: selections from Chapters 6, "Modern English," and 9, "Varieties of Discourse."

The Grammar of English

Weeks 5-7: Tuesday, Oct. 1, through Thursday, October 17
This section begins with a discussion of notions of correctness ("verbal hygiene," in Deborah Cameron's excellent phrase) throughout the history of English and then goes on to examine the structure of the language, from the classes of English words through the ways in which sentences and clauses are constructed and the ordering of information at the level of the sentence.
Readings: Chapters 13-16, "Grammatical Mythology," "The Structure of Words," "Word Classes," and "The Structure of Sentences."

Midterm Exam: Tuesday, October 22

The Sounds and Writing System(s) of English

Weeks 8b - 9: Thursday, Oct. 24, through Thursday, Oct. 31
We will examine the inventory of sounds used in English, observe some differences between regional and social dialects, and learn how a system for representing sounds with some degree of accuracy. The leads inevitably into the question of how previous speakers of English chose to try to represent the sounds of their language, and how their efforts can help us see how the language has changed over time.
Readings: Chapters 17 and 18, "The Sound System" and "The Writing System."

The History of English

Weeks 10-13: Tuesday, Nov. 5, through Tuesday, Nov. 26
We are now ready to examine in detail the history of the language, from Old English through contemporary Modern English. We will spend approximately a week each on Old English (Anglo-Saxon), Middle English (the English of Chaucer's time), and Early Modern English (the language of Shakespeare). Discussions of literary patterns and texts will be included.
Readings: Chapters 2 through 7, "The Origins of English," "Old English," "Middle English," "Early Modern English," "Modern English," and "World Englishes."

Thanksgiving Break: Thursday, Nov. 28

The Varieties of English

Weeks 14-15a: Tuesday, Dec. 3, through Tuesday, Dec. 10
In our discussion of words, we observed that some words were typical of some dialects but not of others, that we might use a particular word in some contexts, but not in others. We made the same observation about certain grammatical structures and about pronunciation (often the most easily observed type of variation). We examined variation in more detail during week 12 when we considered the varieties of English spoken and written around the world. Now, in this section of the course, we study variation in greater depth and, to some extent, as a phenomenon in itself. We examine regional, social, and personal variation, types of language typical of different activities, the artful use of rhetorical devices, and the influence of the mass media on language use. We will also consider how children acquire language, and specifically how they acquire English, touching briefly on the stages of cognitive development, and their effect on language acquisition.
Readings: Chapters 19-22, "Varieties of Discourse," "Regional Variation," "Social Variation," and "Personal Variation"; for "English as a Mother Tongue," the reading is Chapter 23, "Learning English as a Mother Tongue."

Review, wrap-up and course evaluation: Thursday, Dec. 12

Final Exam: Tuesday, December 17, 8:00 - 10:00 a.m.

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