230577 Global English (S) (SoSe 2010)

This class has two goals. The first is to gain an overview of the ways in which English may be understood as global. The second will be to look at the linguistic features of Global English. The two objectives of the seminar will be pursued parallel. We will begin by considering Kachru’s circle model for its strengths and weaknesses. In particular it is proposed that we look at the expansion of English thru-out the world as
• a first,
• a second, and
• a foreign language including
• lingua franca English, English as a library language, a language of wider communication, the perhaps most prominent language of international publishing and the Internet as well as
• pidgin and creole varieties
In doing this we will try to characterize and illustrate the types of change which this expansion has stimulated. This means that we will turn our attention to changes in the vocabulary of the language, to shifts in the grammatical structure of English, to the emergence new national norms of pronunciation – covert and overt, regional and national – , and to some cases of the adoption of pragmatic differences in these varieties (e.g. modes of address, greeting and departure formulas, and ways of expressing thanks, of making complaints, or of rendering apologies).

In order to get full credit (3 points), the following is expected of participants:

1. Regular attendance.
2. An oral presentation to be expanded into (3):
3. A written treatment of one of the topics suggested.
4. Alternative to (3): a final exam.

A literature / reading list will be provided.

Bibliography

See list to be posted on Homepage: http://wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/sgramley/

External comments page

http://wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/sgramley/