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2006/07 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

ENGL32102 English Dialects in Place

20 creditsClass Size: 20

School of English

Module manager: Professor Clive Upton
Email: c.s.upton@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2006/07

Pre-requisite qualifications

Students wishing to take this module must have passed an introduction to language study in the School of English or another department (such modules include 'Language, Text and Context', 'Foundations of Language Study', 'Language Methodologies and Research Methods', a Level 1 module in Linguistics and Phonetics, or similar modules in other departments in Modern Languages). Other students who have an A in English Language A-level and who wish to do this module should consult the co-ordinator, as should any student who is uncertain whether they meet the pre-requisite requirements.

PLEASE NOTE:- This module is NOT available to visiting exchange students.

This module is approved as an Elective

Module summary

The regional dialects of Britain grow out of a linguistic history of more than 1500 years. They have been commented on since the time of Chaucer, and have been studied formally for a century and a half. This module explores the speech of the regions in both its historical and modern contexts. Making use of such materials as those of the internationally-famous Leeds Survey of English Dialects, and of the recent BBC UK-wide 'Voices' dialect project in which the University was a central partner, this module invites the student to consider a wide range of information on dialects, and to investigate dialectal variety for themselves.

Objectives

To study a range of materials and issues concerning regional variation in the English language, to form an understanding of how those materials have been derived and those issues have been explored, and to carry out an investigation which will contribute to the discipline of Dialectology.

Skills outcomes
Skills for effective communication, oral and written.
Capacity to analyse and critically examine diverse forms of discourse.
Ability to acquire quantities of complex information of diverse kinds in a structured and systematic way.
Capacity for independent thought and judgement.
Critical reasoning.
Research skills, including information retrieval skills, the organisation of material, and the evaluation of its importance.
IT skills.
Time management and organisational skills.
Independent learning.Skills for effective communication, oral and written.
Capacity to analyse and critically examine diverse forms of discourse.
Ability to acquire quantities of complex information of diverse kinds in a structured and systematic way.
Capacity for independent thought and judgement.
Critical reasoning.
Research skills, including information retrieval skills, the organisation of material, and the evaluation of its importance.
IT skills.
Time management and organisational skills.
Independent learning.

Syllabus

The module focuses on regional varieties of English in the present and recent past, as they are described in major British and American dialect surveys and other collections of data. Students are introduced to a range of techniques for describing and analysing regional dialectal variation, and to issues of spacial separation and diffusion of language forms. Present-day trends in regional dialectology are explored, and participants plan and execute their own studies, generating new material or using existing data sets.

Teaching methods

Teaching will be through weekly seminars (10 x 1 hour) plus up to 5 additional hours (content to be determined by the module tutor).

Private study

Seminar preparation, reading, essay writing.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Contribution to seminars.
1st assessed essay (Week 7)

Methods of assessment

1 x 1700 word essay (1/3) (Week 7)
1 x 2750 word regional dialect investigation (2/3) (Week 12)

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 26/02/2007

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