The module covers the histories and descriptions of the dialects of English spoken in North America (USA and Canada), the Southern Hemisphere (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa; the Falkland Islands, Tristan da Cunha) and the Caribbean. It provides a coverage of the external histories of these dialects (migration, socio-political developments, social and regional variation) and the internal histories of their developments (including outcomes of contact and creolisation). The dialects are demonstrated through recordings of natural speech, which are played and analysed in class.
Aims:
* To familiarise students with the salient features of the major dialects of English outside the British Isles, and the ways in which these varieties have evolved.
* To bring together different approaches to the study of language: synchronic, diachronic and sociolinguistic
Learning Outcomes:
1. Ability to identify dialects of English in North America, the Southern Hemisphere and the Caribbean, and to describe the differences within each group.
2. Ability to read research papers on variation in English in these dialects and understand them within a broader perspective
3. Ability to assess theories of dialect contact, dialect transplantation and the formation of new dialects
4. Ability to conduct original research on variation in the dialects covered in the module (and similar dialects)
- Module Supervisor: Enam Al-Wer