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History of English I - LAN00002C

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• Department: Language and Linguistic Science
• Module co-ordinator: Dr. Eleanor Rye
• Credit value: 20 credits
• Credit level: C
• Academic year of delivery: 2021-22
  • See module specification for other years: 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21

Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching cycle
A	Autumn Term 2021-22 to Summer Term 2021-22

Module aims

In this module you will:

• Be introduced to major historical developments in the history of English and to some major Ideas about language change

Module learning outcomes

Knowledge outcomes

By the end of this module, students are expected to:

• be acquainted with the major historical developments in the history of English
• have some knowledge of important aspects of the older stages of the language, Old, Middle, Early Modern English
• understand the nature of our evidence for the history of English
• have explored in detail the historical sources of some features of the modern language

Practical skills

By the end of this module, students are expected to:

• have developed abilities in the linguistic analysis of historical developments
• have improved their ability to use evidence to support arguments
• be able to use various tools to aid their study of older stages of the language

Assessment

Task	Length	% of module mark
Essay/coursework Essay (500 words)	N/A	15
Essay/coursework Essay (750 words)	N/A	25
Online Exam History of English I	N/A	60

Special assessment rules

None

Reassessment

Task	Length	% of module mark
Online Exam Reassessment: History of English I	N/A	100

Module feedback

Feedback according to the University mandated schedule.

Indicative reading

Culpeper, Jonathan. (2005). History of English, 2nd edition. Routledge.

You may also want a general History of English textbook for further (structured) reading. There are many, many books of this sort in the library, or either of the following (not too expensive) books would be suitable.

Barber, Joan C. Beal, & Philip A. Shaw. (2009). The English Language: A Historical Introduction 2nd edition (Cambridge Approaches to Linguistics). Cambridge: CUP.

Crystal, David. (2003). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge: CUP. -- This book also covers much of the grammar of Modern English, so if you aren't taking Understanding English Grammar, it may provide some useful background in this area as well.