230323 Language and Education in Britain (BS) (WiSe 2016/2017)

This course will address a key question which concerns many pluralistic societies today: How is a pluralism of varieties (regional, social, ethnic) and even languages in a society to be dealt with in educational environments?
We will not address this question on a general / global scale but with a clear focus on Britain. Therefore, we will talk about some prominent regional / social (e.g. Cockney, Geordie, Scouse) and ethnic (e.g. London Jamaican Creole) varieties in Britain, move on to the standardisation / codification of Standard English, other standard languages (Scottish English, Irish English) and the language-identity-link, look at current standards (and curricula) of language teaching and learning, language policy as well as issues of second / third language acquisition and bi- / multilingualism.
This course particularly welcomes teachers-to-be, as they will be faced with these and similar issues maybe in British but most certainly in German schools.