The English Language: Its first Millenium - LING2590


	Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
	School: Linguistics
	Course Outline: See below
	Campus: Kensington Campus
	Career: Undergraduate
	Units of Credit: 6
	EFTSL: 0.125 (more info)
	Contact Hours per Week: 3
	Enrolment Requirements:
	Prerequisite: LING1000 or LING1500
	Fee Band: 1 (more info)
	Further Information: See Class Timetable

Description

Examines early English from the first written texts to the development of Standard English. Studies a variety of texts from the Old English & Middle English periods and considers how these differ from Modern English in sounds, sentence formation and vocabulary. Particular attention will be paid to exploring the reasons for the seeming illogicality of Modern English spelling.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, students should be able to:

Develop an accurate perspective on the history of the English language and on the issues of importance to the people who used it through a review of thirteen centuries of the English Language
Engage in some close study of the grammatical forms encountered and learn to sound out the words in Old and Middle English
Begin to analyse and explain the spelling conventions of Modern English.

Assessment

Assignments 1 and 2 (Translation and detailed work) - 60%
Essay (2000 words) - 40%