English and drama

History of English

Module code: Q1077B
Level 6
15 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Lecture, Seminar
Assessment modes: Coursework, Take away paper

This module provides the basis for understanding the shape and status of the English language.

You’ll study how the English language has changed, particularly since the Early Modern English period. This includes examining the social and cultural contexts that drove those changes. We give special attention to:

• the emergence of key dialects
• the relations between English and other languages in the British Isles.

You’ll also gain experience of a range of different varieties of English, including new Englishes.

Module learning outcomes

• Deploy principles of descriptive and historical linguistics.
• Read and translate texts in several varieties of English.
• Demonstrate factual knowledge about the changing English language and demonstrate linguistic understanding of those changes.
• Critically discuss factual knowledge of key incidents in history that have influenced the changing English language, and knowledge of the changing cultural contexts in which English has been spoken.