History of the English LanguageModule Details

Background and Rationale

The aim of the course is to equip students with the skills, insights and appropriate theoretical attitudes necessary to analyse and describe changes in the structure of the English language from the earliest written records to the present day. This course seeks to foster a rigorous approach to historical linguistics analysis which recognizes the relationship between the formulation and testing of hypotheses and the collection and analysis of historical linguistic data. Students will also be encouraged to explore historical linguistics within a framework of cultural analysis which will allow them to relate changes in the structure of English to the sociocultural contexts in which those changes occur.

Learning Outcomes    

At the end of the course students will be expected to:

1)    Outline the diachronic changes in English from Old English to present day English, and situate these in their socio-political contexts.
2)    Critically evaluate different and conflicting approaches to the study of the English Language and how it has been developed.
3)    Conduct close analysis of individual words and other texts based on the linguistic skills acquired.