Course Catalogue

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Is it 'you', 'youse', or 'y'all' - and whatever happened to 'thou'? Whichever you want to utter, how do you transform breath into meaningful sound? How did medieval writers seize the opportunities of their changing language to create powerful literature? In this course, you will explore the key issues of difference and similarity in how people produce and use language, with special emphasis on English and Scots across time and place.

Our three strands in this course focus on the production of sounds and how we use language to construct social identities; the forms and functions of Scots and its relationship to English today and in the past; and the language of literary works and other forms of writing which permeated daily life before the age of Shakespeare.

Lectures: three times weekly over 10 weeks, as scheduled on MyCampus.

Weekly one hour seminar (choice of times) over 10 weeks as scheduled on MyCampus.

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Recommended: English Language & Linguistics 1A: Language, Meaning & Power [ENGLANG1001]

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The standard assessments for this course are:

■ Essay - 25%

■ Portfolio of online assignments - 25%

■ Examination (1-hr duration) - 50%

If required, for instance where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, the following alternatives are available:

■ There is no alternative to the essay, but a flexible deadline can be offered as reasonable adjustments (students should follow the usual process for extensions)

■ There is no alternative to the portfolio, but a flexible deadline can be offered as reasonable adjustments (students should follow the usual process for extensions)

■ There is no alternative to the examination, but extra time can be offered as reasonable adjustments (students should follow the usual process for extensions)

Further reasonable adjustments may be provided where necessary. Students are encouraged to consult with the course convenor.

It is the default expectation that all courses will offer opportunities for reassessment or deferred assessment. Where it is not possible to offer this in some assessment components, the grade achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade, and any exceptions for this course are described below.

[No exceptions]

This course aims to:

■ enable students to gain an understanding of how language works, with particular reference to the contexts and structures of English and Scots

■ develop skills in the use of basic tools describing and discussing language

■ enable students to gain knowledge of the structure and development of English and Scots sounds, words and grammar

■ enable students to gain knowledge of the history of the English and Scots languages in their literary and social contexts

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ show knowledge of the pronunciation and sounds of English

■ analyse various kinds of linguistic data

■ relate various kinds of linguistic data to their historical, literary and social contexts

■ discuss particular varieties of English and Scots (modern and historical) using precise terminology.