Proseminar: World Englishes

Fridays, 9:00 – 11:00 in room U1.69, building 23.21
May 16 – July 4, 1997

Instructor

Prof. Dr. Richard F. Young
Email: rfyoung at wisc dot edu
Web: http://www.wisc.edu/english/rfyoung
Office hours: 13:00 – 15:00 Thursdays in room 01.70 building 23.21

Texts

Cheshire, J. (1991). English around the world: Sociolinguistic perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kachru, B. B. (1992). The other tongue: English across cultures. (2nd ed.). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Karshner, R., & Stern, D. A. (1990). Dialect monologues [Audio cassette]. Rancho Mirage, CA: Dramaline.

Karshner, R., & Stern, D. A. (1994). Dialect monologues. Volume 2 [Audio cassette]. Toluca Lake, CA: Dramaline.

Course description

This seminar will address theory and research on the spread of English around the world. The focus will be a critical consideration of themes such as the characteristics and use of world varieties of English, the sociology and politics of the spread of English, its impact on indigenous languages, code-switching, and processes of nativization and standardization.

Course requirements

For a kleine Schein

One group seminar presentation of one or more articles from the readings.

Regular attendance and participation in seminar discussions.

For a große Schein

The requirements for a kleine Schein plus ...

One 10 - 20 page paper that synthesizes and critically reviews literature in a relevant area of your choice.

Course outline

Friday, May 16 — Introduction: Language Variation and Language Attitudes in the U.S.

American Tongues [video]

Dialect Monologues [audio cassette] - Texas, New York City, Boston, Chicago

Cassidy, F. G. (1983). Geographical variation of English in the United States. In R. W. Bailey & M. Görlach (Eds.), English as a world language (pp. 177-209). Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.

Toon, T. E. (1983). Variation in contemporary American English. In R. W. Bailey & M. Görlach (Eds.), English as a world language (pp. 210-250). Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.

Friday, May 23 — English in the Global Context

Fishman, J. A. (1992). Sociology of English as an additional language. In B. B. Kachru (Ed.), The other tongue: English across cultures (2nd ed., pp. 19-26). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Strevens, P. (1992). English as an international language: Directions in the 1990s. In B. B. Kachru (Ed.), The other tongue: English across cultures (2nd ed., pp. 27-47). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Kachru, B. B. (1992). Models for non-native Englishes. In B. B. Kachru (Ed.), The other tongue: English across cultures (2nd ed., pp. 48-74). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Smith, L. E. (1992). Spread of English and issues of intelligibility. In B. B. Kachru (Ed.), The other tongue: English across cultures (2nd ed., pp. 75-90). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Friday, May 30 — The "Inner Circle"

Canada: Chapters by Chambers, Clarke, Esling, and Woods in English Around the World.

New Zealand: Chapters by Bell & Holmes, Bayard, Benton, and Kuiper in English Around the World.

Australia: Chapters by Guy, Bradley, Eisikovits, and Steffensen in English Around the World.

Dialect Monologues - Australian

Friday, June 6 — The "Outer Circle"

India: Chapters by Kandiah, Khan, Sahgal, and Sridhar in English Around the World.

East Africa (Tanzania and Kenya): Chapters by Abdulaziz, Kanyoro, and Schmied in English Around the World.

West Africa: Chapters by Bokamba, Faraclas, Jibril, and Singler in English Around the World.

Dialect Monologues (volume 2) - Asian Indian

Friday, June 13 — The "Expanding Circle"

China: Chapter by Cheng in The Other Tongue; Guo-zhang, X. (1987). Code and transmission in cross-cultural discourse: A study of some samples from Chinese and English. L. E. Smith (Ed.), Discourse across cultures: Strategies in world Englishes (pp. 66-72). New York: Prentice Hall.

Japan: Chapter by Stanlaw in The Other Tongue; LoCastro, V. (1987). Aizuchi: A Japanese conversational routine. In L. E. Smith (Ed.), Discourse across cultures: Strategies in world Englishes (pp. 101-113). New York: Prentice Hall.

The Pacific: Chapters by Romaine, Mühlhäusler, and Siegel in English Around the World.

Friday, June 20 — Standardization

Chapters by Kahane, Heath, and Moag in The Other Tongue.

Friday, June 27 — Postcolonial Literature in English

Chapters by Thumboo and Lowry in The Other Tongue.

Friday, July 4 — Teaching and Testing World Englishes

Chapter 19 by Kachru and Chapter 6 by Lowenberg in The Other Tongue.

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This page last updated on 04 February, 2003.