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Module

SEL2212 : Early English: Texts, Patterns and Varieties

  • Offered for Year: 2020/21
  • Module Leader(s): Dr Adam Mearns
  • Lecturer: Professor Karen Corrigan, Dr William van der Wurff
  • Owning School: English Lit, Language & Linguistics
  • Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Semester 2 Credit Value: 20
ECTS Credits: 10.0

Aims

• To develop students' competence in reading texts from a variety of periods in the history of English;
• To develop students’ ability to analyse linguistic features of texts;
• To build on the knowledge and skills relating to language change gained in SEL1032 (Language Variation and Change);
• To enhance students’ knowledge of the processes by which the English language has evolved into its present-day state;
• To develop competence in using dictionaries, historical corpora and other electronic resources.

Outline Of Syllabus

The module is taught in two lectures and one seminar per week. The lectures provide a chronological survey of English, examining the major features of Old English, Middle English, and Early and Late Modern English. They also explore special topics such as standard languages, variation and language contact, with examples drawn from Scots, Irish and American as well as English varieties. The seminars examine the language in action by focusing on reading and analysis of texts which range across the centuries and across genre, from chronicle to letters and recipes to poetry. Two seminars take the form of visits (one to historic sites in Northumbria, the other to examine manuscripts and early printed books) which focus on language in particular historic and cultural contexts.

Teaching Methods

Module leaders are revising this content in light of the Covid 19 restrictions.
Revised and approved detail information will be available by 17 August.

Assessment Methods

Module leaders are revising this content in light of the Covid 19 restrictions.
Revised and approved detail information will be available by 17 August.

Reading Lists

Timetable