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

Enrolling for this course means that you simultaneously take 'English Proficiency I' or have succesfully passed 'English Proficiency I'. You can simply take this course if you are enrolled in a preparatory or bridging programme. 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)
Mariela Carla Andrade Maureira
Lisa Helene M Heyvaert

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.

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, 9781108437738

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.

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 90% van het eindcijfer

HOC Groepswerk bepaalt 10% van het eindcijfer

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

Schriftelijk examen met een wegingsfactor 90 en aldus 90% van het totale eindcijfer.

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

Groepstaak 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) Group assignment: 10% of final mark

b) Written final exam: 90% of final mark

The final written exam in first session consists of two parts: the first part covers the material from the first part of the course (the historical evolution of the English language) and is examined in the course of the month of March. The second part of the final written exams covers the material from the second part of the course (Contemporary English) and is examined during the exam session in June. Both parts of the written exam (in March and June) consist of 10 to 20 multiple choice questions. The final mark for the written exam consists of the average of the marks obtained on the March mid-term part and the June part of the exam. Students who fail to take part 1 of the written exam (in March) will receive 0/20 for the first part of the exam. Students who fail to take part 2 of the written exam (in June) will receive 0/20 for the second part of the exam. Students who receive fewer than 10/20 on the written exam (parts 1 and 2 combined) in first session will have to take the entire exam again in the resit session in August.

The written exam in August consists of multiple choice questions covering both parts 1 and 2 of the course.

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 this course, unless explicitly permitted by the instructors for specific tasks.

Toegestane onvoldoende

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

Academische context