History of the English Language
Code: 106296Credits: 6
| Degree programme | Type | Course |
|---|---|---|
| English Studies | OB | 3 |
Contact lecturer
- Name :
- Elisabet Pladevall Ballester
- Email :
- elisabet.pladevall@uab.cat
Teaching staff
- Susagna Tubau Muntaña
Group languages
You can consult this information at the end of the document.
Prerequisites
The course requires an initial level of English of C2 (Proficiency) (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment). With C2 students can understand almost everything they read or hear without effort; they can summarise information from different oral and written sources, reconstruct facts and arguments and present them in a coherent way; they can express themselves spontaneously, with fluency and precision, distinguishing subtle nuances of meaning even in the most complex situations.
Students are advised to have passed the courses on English Linguistics from first and second years.
Objectives
The course introduces diachronic linguistics, applied to the English language. The course heavily draws on the 1st and 2nd year-courses in English linguistics, whose skills and competences should have been acquired by students.
Upon completing the course, students will be able:
- to recognize and analyse linguistic features which differ from contemporary English
- to analyse and describe the phonological, morphological, lexical and syntactic characteristics of every stage of the English language.
- to understand the relationship between external history and the most relevant linguistic characteristics of English in every stage of the English language.
- to understand and describe how linguistic features are maintained or change over time and apply this knowledge to text analysis using etymological dictionaries and glossaries.
Learning outcomes
- Plan work effectively, individually or in groups, in order to fulfil the planned objectives.
- Locate specialised and academic information and select this according to its relevance.
- Incorporate ideas and concepts from published sources into work, citing and referencing appropriately.
- Gather and interpret relevant data to make critical judgements on aspects of English linguistics and its practical applications.
- Express oneself in English in writing and orally in an effective and correct manner, in an academic register and using appropriate terminology in relation to the study of phonetics and phonology, syntax, semantics and the history of the English language.
- Understand specialised academic texts on research in English linguistics at C2 level.
- Produce written and oral academic texts at higher-proficient-user level (C2) on the concepts and skills relevant to the study of English linguistics.
- Describe and identify the linguistic characteristics of the distinct historical periods of the English language and their social and cultural context.
- Identify and understand different models for the linguistic analysis of English at phonetic-phonological, syntactic, semantic and historical levels.
- Apply the concepts and skills acquired to the analysis of texts from distinct historical periods of the English language.
- Make use of the knowledge acquired while respecting diversity of opinion and varieties of a language.
Contents
- UNIT 1. Introduction to historical linguistics and the origins of the English language (from Indo-European to Old English)
- UNIT 2. Old English (spelling, phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon) and the influence of external history in its evolution
- UNIT 3. Medieval English (spelling, phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon) and the influence of external history in its evolution
- UNIT 4. Modern English languages (spelling, phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon) and the influence of external history in their evolution
Learning activities and methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures | 50 | 2 | 6, 7, 8, 10 |
| Personal study and practice | 60 | 2.4 | 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 |
| Tutorials | 15 | 0.6 | 1, 5, 6, 7, 8 |
Directed activities:
- Lectures.
- Group discussions.
- Flipped classroom.
Supervised activities:
- In-class exercises (including text analysis).
- Tutorials.
Autonomous activities:
- Reading of texts.
- Visualization of videos.
- Elaboration of study diagrams and summaries of texts.
- Practical exercises (individual and in group).
- Use of the Virtual Campus (Moodle).
Note: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continuous assessment activities
| Title | Weight | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exam 1 | 35% | 8 | 0.32 | 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 |
| Exam 2 | 35% | 8 | 0.32 | 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 |
| Assignment 2 | 10% | 4 | 0.16 | 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10 |
| In-class participation and exercises | 10% | 1 | 0.04 | 1, 4, 5, 7, 10 |
| Assignment 1 | 10% | 4 | 0.16 | 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10 |
Assessment:
- All exams and assignments are obligatory.
- The dates are specified in the course program posted on Moodle. Any changes (for example due to unexpected cancelling of lectures) will be duly announced.
- Students will obtain a Not assessed/Not submitted course grade unless they have submitted more than 30% of the assessment items.
- The level of English will be taken into account in the correction of written work and in the final evaluation.
- In continuous assessment, if a student gets 4,9, it will be rounded up to 5.
- In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.
- Irregularities refer, for instance, to copying in an exam, copying from sources without indiacting authorship, or a misuse of AI such as presenting work as original that has been generated by an AI tool or programme.
- Partial or total PLAGIARISM will immediately result in a FAIL (0) for the plagiarised exercise and if plagiarism is repeated it will result in a FAIL of the whole subject. Plagiarism consists of copying text from unacknowledged sources –whether this is part of a sentence or a whole text– with the intention of passing it off as the student’s own production. It includes cutting and pasting from internet sources, presented unmodified in the student’s own text. Plagiarism is a serious offence. Students must respect authors’ intellectual property, always identifying the sources they may use; they must also be responsible for the originality and authenticity of their own texts.
- In case of absence on a date of assessment (for example due to illness), students must provide a justification to gain the right to re-assessment.
Review:
- On carrying out each assessment activity, lecturers will inform students (on Moodle) of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.
- Feedback on assessment activities and their mark will be communicated within three weeks.
Re-assessment:
- Reassessment will consist of an exam and will only be possible for those students who have obtained at least an average mark of 3.5 and have completed at least 2/3 of assessment items.
- The final average course grade will be communicated at least 72 hours before the reassessment test.
- Exams and assignments can be reassessed. In-class participation and exercises cannot be reassessed.
Single assessment:
Students opting for single assessment will have to carry out the following activities on the same day:
- Exam: 70%
- Text analysis: 15%
- Practical exercise: 15%
The same reassessment method as continuous assessment will be used.
Students opting for single assessment must have completed all of the scheduled assessment activities in order to be eligible for re-assessment.
IMPORTANT! Exchange students that ask for a change of date of an exam must give their professor a written document from their university of origin that justifies their request.
This subject entirely prohibits the use of AI technologies in all of its activities. Any submitted work that contains content generated using AI will be considered academic dishonesty; the corresponding grade will be awarded a zero, without the possibility of reassessment. In cases of greater infringement, more serious action may be taken.
Bibliography
Algeo, John. (2010) The Origins and development of the English Language. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. ISBN: 978-1-4282-3148-1
Akmajian, Adrian, Demers, Richard A., Ann K. Farmer i Robert M. Harnish. (2001). Linguistics: An Introduction to Language and Communication. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press [capítol 8]
Baker, Peter S. (2012). Introduction to Old English. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons Inc. [disponible enlínia a https://bibcercador.uab.cat/permalink/34CSUC_UAB/1c3utr0/cdi_proquest_miscellaneous_2131098757]
Baldi, Philip. (1983). An Introduction to the Indo-European languages. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
Barber, Charles. (1976) Early Modern English. London: Deutsch.
Baugh, Albert & Thomas Cable. (1993). A history of the English language. London: Routledge.
Comrie, Bernard, Stephen Matthews & Maria Polinsky (eds). 1996. The Atlas of Languages. The Origin and Development of Languages throughout the World. London: Quarto Publishing.
Freeborn, Dennis. (1992). From Old English to Standard English: A Coursebook in Language Variation across Time. Houndmills: Macmillan Press.
Hogg, Richard. (2002). An Introduction to Old English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Shay, Scott. (2008). The History of English. A Linguistic Introduction. San Francisco: Wardja Press.
Various authors / various years, The Cambridge History of the English Language. Cambridge: CUP.
Software
No specific softeware will be used.
Course groups and languages
The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE
| Type of teaching | Group | Language | Semester | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TE) Theory | 1 | English | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 1 | English | first semester | morning-mixed |