Aims of STELLA
Aims of STELLA
Subject Base
English Studies encompasses a wide range of types of subjects. The interests of teaching staff involved in the project range from language teaching and linguistics to the formal and conceptual properties of texts in English and Scots. Hard choices have had to be made between packages which can be produced relatively quickly and transferred to different datasets, and more pioneering work in uncharted areas. For the first few years we have concentrated on the former, while at the same time bringing into use in teaching already existing research databases such as the Historical Thesaurus of English.
The aim of the STELLA project is to develop teaching software which can be incorporated into courses and enhance learning in tutorial and self-access modes. In most cases, the material is introduced to students at timetabled sessions, but they are also encouraged to return and use the materials during free access sessions either as part of their course or later as revision.
The course topics using STELLA computerised materials include include Modern English Grammar, Semantics, Metrics, History of the Language (Old English, Old Icelandic, Older Scots), Scottish Literature, Renaissance literature, Literature 1360-1540, and Meaning, Form and Style.
A logical outcome of the interest in Computer Assisted Learning has been the development of a course on the applications of computing techniques to literary and linguistic analysis. Literary and Linguistic Computing for English is a full honours course.