The English language in multilingual contexts

3 ECTS credits
90 u studietijd

Aanbieding 1 met studiegidsnummer 1023802ANR voor alle studenten in het 2e semester met een inleidend bachelor niveau.

Semester

2e semester

Inschrijving onder examencontract

Niet mogelijk

Beoordelingsvoet

Beoordeling (0 tot 20)

2e zittijd mogelijk

Inschrijvingsvereisten

Dit vak opnemen, houdt in dat je gelijktijdig ‘English Proficiency I’ volgt of reeds geslaagd bent voor 'English Proficiency I’. Zit je in een verkort traject dan kan je dit vak gewoon opnemen.

Onderwijstaal

Engels

Faculteit

Faculteit Letteren en Wijsbegeerte

Verantwoordelijke vakgroep

Linguistics and Literary Studies

Onderwijsteam

Alexis Housen (titularis)
Marsha Panikaveettil Shams
Mariela Carla Andrade Maureira

Onderdelen en contacturen

24 contacturen Hoorcollege
30 contacturen Zelfwerk en -studie

Inhoud

Please note: Changes in the course contents provided below are possible depending on, amongst others, the size and composition of the class. Any changes from the course content described below will be clearly communicated at the beginning of the course.

This course explores the nature, development and role of the English language since its early origins in the 6^thcentury to the modern era characterised by increasing cultural and linguistic diversity, economic and political globalisation and massive migration flows.

The English language was born in a multilingual context and has been a contact language ever since. We start by charting how English, the language of a relatively small island off the European mainland, became the dominant global lingua franca of the 20th and 21^st centuries. We examine both how the English language was shaped and changed by the various peoples and their languages that it came into contact with in the last 1500 years, as well as the impact that the English language had on these other peoples and their societies and languages as it spread across the globe through (political, economical and cultural) colonialism and via popular (mass) media.

We further look at how the English language continues to be shaped by its global spread and the growing number of people who speak English as a native, second or foreign language in a wide range of settings and domains, from the home to education, science, work and entertainment. These factors are giving rise to the emergence of new varieties of English (including pidgins, creoles, and ‘new’ or ‘world Englishes’) and other linguistic contact phenomena such as borrowing and code-switching.

We also examine how the geographical spread and the expansion of the range of functions and domains in which English is used as a lingua franca has affected the variation in and varieties of contempary native English by discussing a number of its most important geographical and social dialects and functional registers.

Several aspects of the course will be illustrated by exploring the role and status of English in the city of Brussels, the officially bilingual but in reality hyper-diverse, multilingual capital of Belgium and the unofficial de facto capital of the European Union. Students will get to experience the multilingual reality of Brussels through an assignment about the linguistically diverse linguistic landscape of Brussels, and the place and role of English in this landscape.

The contents of this course will be illustrated by watching, reading and listening to English language samples from a wide variety of contexts, including contexts where English is used as a native, second or foreign language, alongside one or more other languages. Illustrations of English-based pidgins and creoles and New Englishes are also given.

Studiemateriaal

Handboek (Aanbevolen) : The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (3rd Edition), David Crystal, Cambridge University Press

Bijkomende info

Leerresultaten

Leerresultaten

By the end of this course, students have:

an understanding of the history and development of English;
knowledge of the impact of English on and role alongside other languages in a globalised, linguistically diverse world
Students are aware of, and understand, the diversity of English as determined by the nature of its users and the contexts in which it is used
Students have a critical appreciation of contemporary uses of English alongside other modes of communication in a range of social, cultural, political and educational contexts
Students can use appropriate scientific tools and apply conceptual frameworks for the study of linguistic contact phenomena present in the English language
Students can critically reflect on their own experiences with the English language along the other languages that they know and use
Students develop research skills through team work involving the collection, analysis, interpretation and presentation of data and information on the role, position, use and representation of languages (esp. English) in their context and environment.

Doelstellingen

The overall goal of the course is to enable students to observe and critically reflect upon how the English language functions and varies between individuals and between diverse cultural, political and national contexts, and how it both shapes and is shaped by the various languages it is in contact with.

Beoordelingsinformatie

De beoordeling bestaat uit volgende opdrachtcategorieën:
Examen Schriftelijk bepaalt 60% van het eindcijfer

HOC Groepswerk bepaalt 30% van het eindcijfer

HOC Paper bepaalt 10% van het eindcijfer

Binnen de categorie Examen Schriftelijk dient men volgende opdrachten af te werken:

Schriftelijk examen met een wegingsfactor 60 en aldus 60% van het totale eindcijfer.

Binnen de categorie HOC Groepswerk dient men volgende opdrachten af te werken:

Mondeling examen met een wegingsfactor 30 en aldus 30% van het totale eindcijfer.

Binnen de categorie HOC Paper dient men volgende opdrachten af te werken:

Minor assignments met een wegingsfactor 10 en aldus 10% van het totale eindcijfer.

Aanvullende info mbt evaluatie

Please note: The description of the assessment and evaluation procedure is subject to changes depending on the size and composition of the class. Any changes in the assessment and evaluation procedure described below will be clearly communicated to the students at the beginning of the course.

The final mark in both the first and second exam sessions will be determined by the weighted average calculated as follows:

a) Minor assignments: 10% of final mark

b) Major assignment : 30% of final mark

c) Written final exam: 60% of final mark

In the correction of the written exam (which consists of multiple choice questions), a higher pass mark (‘hogere cesuur’) will be applied.

The use of AI tools is prohibited for the assignments for this course, unless explicitly allowed for certain specific tasks.

Toegestane onvoldoende

Kijk in het aanvullend OER van je faculteit na of een toegestane onvoldoende mogelijk is voor dit opleidingsonderdeel.

Academische context