English Language and Literature

Course summary

If you could go back in time and eavesdrop on a conversation in the England of Chaucer’s time, it might be hard to follow what is being said and if someone told a funny story, you might not get it. Perhaps the same will be true for any visitors to our present time from 700 years in the future. The English language, like fashions in clothes, undergoes continuous modification. Just think about text-speak or street slang, the flood of new words associated with technology, or from immigrant communities. Our course explores these linguistic changes in detail and the reasons for them. Many of us share a fascination with the way toddlers speak. One feature of language acquisition is that children master English by making mistakes until they fully acquire all the skills. You will learn how a “wug” is used to research this, what a “virtuous error” is and you will be amazed at how we achieve fluency in such a brief time span. When it comes to literacy, you will study how we learn to read and write, realising what complex skills these are. We begin the course by introducing you to the terminology used by linguists and you will learn about aspects such as phonetics, lexis and morphology. You will consider the diversity of English found in different regions and social groups: if you went to an interview in the USA wearing a vest and pants it would be perfectly acceptable, and if you wanted to buy thongs in Australia you would go to a shoe shop!