Purdue University College of Liberal Arts

Information for

Department of English

English as a Second Language

Course syllabi for English 631

Seminar in World Englishes

General information

Instructor:  Margie Berns
Office:  Heavilon 207A
Class time: W 6:30 - 9:20 pm
Office hours: MWF 3:00 - 4:00 pm and by appointment
Class place: HEAV  122
Phone:  494-3769
Email:  berns@purdue.edu

Course goal
Familiarity with the central issues and concerns - linguistic, social, cultural, political, and literary - associated with the global spread of English and its presence, role, and status in a range of contexts around the world.

Required texts (* = on reserve)
*Cenoz, Jasone & Jessner, Ulrike, eds. 2000. English in Europe: The Acquisition of a Third Language. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
 
*Melchers, Gunnel & Shaw, Philip. 2003. World Englishes. London: Arnold.

*Smith, Larry E. and Forman, Michael L. Ed.  1997.  World Englishes 2000 (Literary Studies  East and West, Vol 14).  University of Hawaii Press.

World Englishes, Vol. 21/1/March 2002. English in South Africa (Special issue, S. Mufwene, ed.) Oxford/Boston: Blackwell.

World Englishes, Vol. 21/2/July 2002. English in China: Interdisciplinary Perspectives.  (Special issue, K. Bolton, ed.) Oxford/Boston: Blackwell.

World Englishes, Vol. 22/2/May 2003. English in South America: a Different Kind of Difference. (Special issue, M. Berns & P. Friedrich, eds.) Oxford/Boston: Blackwell.

Recommended texts (on reserve)
Brutt-Griffler, Janina. 2002.  World English: a study of its development. Clevedon, UK ; Buffalo [N.Y.] : Multilingual Matters.

Jenkins, Jennifer. 2003. World Englishes: a resource book for students. London ; New York: Routledge.

Trudgill, Peter & Hannah, Jean. 2002. International English: A Guide to the Varieties of Standard English. London: Arnold.

Assignments and grading
Five two-page reaction papers:  100 points
Oral presentation on research paper:  100 points
Research paper:     300 points

 A = 450 - 500; B = 400 - 450; C = 350 - 400; D = 300 - 350; F = < 300

Research paper
Particularly encouraged are descriptions of the use and users of English in Central and South American contexts and in Central, Northern, and Western European countries not yet profiled in the literature. 

For course participants specializing in other languages of wider communication (Spanish, Russian, French, for example), descriptions of the global spread of these languages and their linguistic, social, cultural, political, and literary impact are also encouraged. 

NB: Due dates for all assignments are firm; late papers are not normally accepted.

Specifications for written assignments
Reaction papers and research papers/reports are to meet basic professional standards for text preparation and layout. Maximum length is 25 pages (inclusive of reference list). Use APA, LSA, or MLA style guidelines, which are available at these locations:

The LSA [Linguistic Society of America] Style Sheet
Available online at http://www.lsadc.org/info/pubs-lang-style.cfm

MLA [Modern Language Association] Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
(Joseph Gibaldi, New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2003
HSSE (Reference Desk
808.02 M72mo 2003
Undergraduate (Reference
808.02 M72mo 2003

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA)
(Washington, DC:  American Psychological Association, 2001), 5th edition
HSSE: 808.02 Am354p 1994 c. 7
HSSE (Reference Desk)/ 808.02 Am354p 1994, c. 10
HSSE (Reference Desk)/ 808.02 Am354p 1994, c. 11
Management & Economics (Reference)/ 808.02 Am354p 1994, c. 12
Psychological Sciences (Reference)/ 808.02 Am354p 1994, c. 2
Psychological Sciences (Reference)/ 808.02 Am354p 1994, c. 3
Undergraduate/ 808.02 Am354p 1994, c. 9
Undergraduate (Reference)/ 808.02 Am354p 1994, c. 6
Undergraduate (Reference)/ 808.02 Am354p 1994, c. 8


Resource list
Periodicals publishing papers on world Englishes (selected)

English Language Teaching Journal
HSSE 420.5 En36

English Today
HSSE 420.5 En365

English Worldwide
(see website for Tables of Contents)

International Journal of Applied  Linguistics (available as e-journal)

TESOL Quarterly
HSSE 420.7 T22

World Englishes
HSSE 420.5 W893

 
Encyclopedia and dictionaries (incomplete list) 
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics / P.H. Matthews.  Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.  HSSE:  410.3 M432c 1997

A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics / David Crystal.  Oxford, UK; Cambridge, MA:  Blackwell, 1997.  HSSE:  (Reference)/ 410.3 C899f 2003

A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics / David Crystal.  Oxford; New York: B. Blackwell in association with A. Deutsch, 1985.  HSSE:  410.3 C889f 1985

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language / David Crystal.  Cambridge [England]; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997.  HSSE (Reference):  403 C889c 1997; Undergraduate (Reference):  403 C889c 1997

The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociolinguistics / Raj Mesthrie (ed). Amsterdam/New York:  Elsevier, 2001.  306.4403 C748 2001

Routledge encyclopedia of language teaching and learning  / edited by Michael Byram.  London ; New York : Routledge, 2000.  HSSE (Reference)  418.0071 R765 2000