EL1102 Studying English in Context (http://go.to/el1102)
Weekly Readings
There is a range of recommended readings. The main/obligatory readings are marked with asterisks (*). All students are expected to read these. The others are still relevant, and you should try to dip into some of them. In cases where no main/obligatory readings are indicated, you can make your own selection, but you are still expected to read at least one item. Note that Dick Leith’s Social History of English has two editions – the first was published in 1983 and the second in 1997. The page references are slightly different in each.
Week 1
(Introduction; variation in phonology)
*Graddol,
D. et al., English: History, Diversity and Change, pp. 1–12, chap.
7 (be selective)
Aitchison,
J., Language Change, pp. 32–37
Andersson,
L-G and Trudgill, P., Bad Language, chap. 7
Crystal,
D., Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, pp. 2–3, 298–9,
254–5, 365
Week 2 (Variation in lexis)
(no
assigned readings)
Week 3
(Variation in grammar)
*Graddol,
D., et al., English: History, Diversity and Change, Chap. 6
Andersson,
L-G and Trudgill, P., Bad Language, Chap. 9
Crystal,
D., The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, pp. 214–216.
226–227
Leith,
D., A Social History of English, pp. 112–113 (first edition) = pp.
109–111 (second edition)
Week 4 (Reasons for language change)
*Graddol,
D., et al., English: History, Diversity and Change, pp. 138–139;
166; 202–210; 251–252; 303–305
Aitchison,
J., Language Change, pp. 49–61 (also skim through pp. 124–137)
Andersson,
L-G and Trudgill, P., Bad Language, chap. 8
Leith,
D., A Social History of English, pp. 7–16 (both editions)
Week 5 (Conversation)
*Crystal,
D. and Davy, D. (1969), Investigating English Style, pp. 95–115
Eggins,
S. and Slade, D. (1997), Analysing Casual Conversation, chap. 4 (this is
a slightly more advanced book, but you should be able to dip into it)
Week 6 (Academic writing)
*Graddol,
D., et al., English: History, Diversity and Change, pp. 136–144;
153–155; 171–179
McCrum
R. et al (1986). The Story of English. pp. 60–78. Chap. 2
(skim through)
Halliday,
M. A. K. (1988), ‘On the Language of Physical Science’, in M. Ghadessy (ed.),
Registers of Written English: Situational Factors and Linguistic Features
Week 7: Be selective!
(Part 1: Functional variation)
Fishman,
J. A. (1972), ‘The relationship between micro- and macro-sociolinguistics in
the study of who speaks what language to whom and when’, in J. B. Pride and J.
Holmes (eds.), Sociolinguistics, pp. 15–32
Halliday,
M. A. K.; McIntosh, A. and Strevens, P. (1964), The Linguistic Sciences and
Language Teaching, pp. 87–94
Hymes,
D. (1967), ‘Models of the interaction of language and social setting’, Journal
of Social Sciences, Vol. 23 No. 2, pp. 8–28
Wardhaugh,
Ronald (1986), An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, pp. 48–53; 238–242
(Part 2: Early history of English)
*Graddol,
D. et al., English: History, Diversity and Change, chap. 3
Barber,
C., The English Language: A Historical Introduction, chaps. 5 to 8 (skip
the details)
Cystal,
D. (1995), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, sections
2 to 4 (skip the details)
Crystal,
D. (1988), The English Language, chaps. 9 to 11
Hughes,
G. (1988). Words in Time: A Social History of the English Vocabulary.
pp. 1–23. Chap. 1 (just dip into it)
Leith,
D., A Social History of English, section 1 (chaps. 1 and 2)
McCrum,
R., et al. (1986), The Story of English, Chap. 2 and chap. 3
(first half)
Week 8
(Part 1: Early history of English [cont’d]: Same
as Week 7, part 2)
(Part 2: English lexical development)
Bradley,
H. (1951), The Making of English, chap. 3
Serjeantson,
M. S. (1935), A History of Foreign Words in English – skim
Barber,
C. (1993), The English Language: A Historical Introduction, pp. 127–134;
145–150; 177–183; 215–232.
Week 9 (Standardisation)
*Graddol,
D. et al., English: History, Diversity and Change, pp. 136–151;
157–163; 166; 171–174
Leith,
D., A Social History of English, pp. 31–34; 38–57 (first edition) = pp.
31–34; 39–57 (second edition)
Fairclough,
N. (1989), Language and Power, pp. 56–58
Bloom,
D. (1986), ‘The English language and Singapore: A critical survey’, in B. K.
Kapur (ed.), Singapore Studies: Critical Surveys of the Humanities and the
Social Sciences, pp. 340–344
Week 10 (American English)
*Graddol,
D. et al., English: History, Diversity and Change, pp. 180–185;
194–201; 206–211; 219–221
McCrum,
R., The Story of English, pp. 96–98; 106–109; 115–125; 156–161; 176–182;
chaps. 6 and 7
Leith,
D., A Social History of English, chap. 7
Strevens,
P. (1978), British and American English, chaps. 3 to 6
Weeks 11 and 12 (Part 1) (New Englishes and Global English):
Be selective!
Kachru,
B. (1983), The Indianisation of English, chaps. 1, 2 and 5
Kachru,
B. (1986), The Alchemy of English, chaps. 2 and 3
Kandiah,
T. (1980/81), ‘Disinherited Englishes: The case of Lankan English’
Kandiah, T., (1987/90/94), ‘New Varieties of English: The creation of the paradigm and its radicalisation’
Khoo,
R. (1993). Controlling Pandora’s Box: Standards for the
Vocabulary of Singapore English, in A. Pakir (ed.), The English
Language in Singapore. pp 67–78.
Phillipson,
R. (1992), Linguistic Imperialism (just dip into it)
Prabhu,
N. S., ‘The mathetic function of English’ (MS)
Tay,
M. (1993), The English Language in Singapore, chaps 2 and 8
Week 12 (part 2: Good and Bad English)
*Graddol,
et al., English: History, Diversity and Change, chap. 9
Andersson,
L-G and Trudgill, P., Bad Language, pp. 188–195
Cameron, D. (1994), ‘ “Words, words, words”: the power of language’, in S. Dunant (ed.), The War of the Words, chap. 2