This course has two interrelated aims:
2) to investigate the ways in which writers represent these varieties in literature, especially in fiction and drama.
Our study of dialects will include a brief look at the earlier history of English, but it will focus on how the English language has played a major role in the shaping of the modern world. There will be considerable attention given to several regions inlcuding Britain,
the United States, the South Pacific, India, and Nigeria, as well as
countries never part of the British Empire (e.g., Japan).
Some of the writers whose work will be examined include Thomas Hardy, Mark Twain, and Chinua Achebe. The course does not presuppose great familiarity with linguistics, although previous coursework (e.g., English 271 or 572) will be helpful.
There will be one paper, quizzes, a midterm, and a final exam.
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1) to look closely at the varieties (or, dialects) of English found throughout the English-speaking world;
Our primary text will be David Crystal's English as a Global Language, but there will also be several examples drawn from
fiction and drama written in English by authors from around the world.
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