Hauptseminar Standards of English

The English language has developed in many different locations throughout the world. This is due to the transportation of the language, mainly during the colonial period when different forms of English were taken overseas and developed there. But also in Britain and Ireland varieties developed which were later regarded as standards (at least in England, Scotland and Ireland) and supraregional varieties arose in regions of Britain and Ireland. The present seminar will take a close look at just what a standard form of a language is supposed to be, its role in society and its transmission in education. By considering a range of Englishes it is hope that a greater understanding of what standards are and how they relate to non-standard forms of language can be reached. Literature Bauer, Laurie. 1994. Watching English change. An introduction to the study of linguistic change in standard Englishes in the twentieth century. London: Longman. Bauer, Laurie and Peter Trudgill (eds) 1998. Language Myths. New York: Penguin. Bex, Tony and Richard J. Watts (eds) 1999. Standard English. The widening debate. London: Routledge. Crowley, Tony 1991. Proper English? Readings in language, history and cultural identity. London: Routledge. Crowley, Tony 2003. Standard English and the Politics of Language. Second edition. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Lippi-Green, Rosina 1997. English with an Accent. Language, Ideology and Discrimination in the United States. London: Routledge. McColl Millar, Robert 2005. Language, Nation and Power. An Introduction. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Milroy, James and Lesley Milroy 1998. Authority in language. Investigating language prescription and standardisation. 3rd edition. London: Blackwell. Mugglestone, Lynda 2003. ‘Talking Proper’. The Rise of Accent as Social Symbol. 2nd edition. Oxford: University Press. Anglistik Universität Duisburg-Essen SS 2009 Mag, Magisterstudiengang Professor Hickey Raymond