World Englishes

Course goals

After successful completion of the course students will be able to (1) demonstrate a solid understanding  of the spread of English worldwide, the concept of World Englishes, and some of their chief linguistic features (2) join scholarly conversations about language and power, language teaching, multilingualism and cultural representation (3) critically reflect and report on these issues in convincing, academic English.

 

Content

The course examines how English has spread across all continents over the centuries, shaped by colonialism, economic expansion, political dominance, and globalisation. We will explore  the historical, social and ideological forces that have contributed to the emergence of distinct forms of English, and why English sounds so different in places like the US, Jamaica, or Ireland, compared to India, South Africa, Singapore, or even the Netherlands, China, and Japan. By examining language change, contact, and attitudes among both ‘native’ and ‘non-native’ speakers, we will uncover how these differences manifest themselves in language use -- from Pidgin and ‘Butler English’ to ‘Dunglish’ and K-pop. We will also try to discover what, if anything, all these different Englishes around the world have in common. Is there a kind of global lingua franca emerging, and if so, what does it look like? And what does this mean for the ‘ownership’ of English?  

This course will appeal to anyone with an interest in the social life of English, whether from a historical, political, geographical or cultural studies perspective. It will also be attractive to students of sociolinguistics, multilingualism and language teaching.  

Additional information

Please note: the time slot shown here is not yet final and may still be modified until the 3rd Wednesday in September. 

This course is part of the 'Social Life of English' specialisation and the fourth course in the minor English Language and Culture..

This course is equivalent to the following course:
EN3V18007 English in Europe and Asia: Learners’ and Users’ Attitudes and Practices

If you have already completed this course, you may not take World Englishes due to too much overlap in content.


All students with prior studies in language related disciplines are welcome to join this course.


LAS and TCS students who follow this course as part of the core curriculum of their major need to complete a compulsory preparation course/assignment. See for more information: https://tcs.sites.uu.nl/