Course Description
The history, present status, and future prospects of American English, including standards and internal variation.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will be responsible for a more extensive syllabus, for secondary reading, and for more ambitious, sophisticated writing.
Athena Title
AMERICAN ENGLISH
Undergraduate Prerequisite
ENGL(LING) 3030 or ENGL(LING) 4005/6005 or LING 2100
Graduate Prerequisite
Permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered every even-numbered year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course is about the facts of American English, both historical and current. Topics include the circumstances of colonial settlement as they relate to the English language, how American English has become and remained a regionally and socially pluralistic variety of English, and American English as it exists today: is American English still changing? how is American English related to other varieties of English? what are the cultural and social implications of our standards and varieties?
Topical Outline
Topics will include time periods in the development of American English, regional and social variation in American English, the issue of language standards, and implications of each of these topics for public policy. Specific topics vary by instructor and at different times. Periodically during the semester, students will perform a number of graded tasks, including some combination of tests and out-of-class papers. In-class exams and the final exam will require essays as well as objective questions and problems. Substantial out-of-class writing will be required, including at least one short paper (c. 5 pages), and a prospectus (c. 3-5 pages) that proposes an idea for a major paper due at the end of the term (c. 20 pages). A possible series of topics and assignments might resemble this: • colonial settlement and language (with c. 5-page paper) • language in the period of westward expansion • contemporary structure of American English (with c. 5-page paper) • language standards and sociolinguistics of American English, including African American English • language and educational, social policies (final paper of c. 20 pages)