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On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
Recognise and describe some of the methods and achievements of historical linguistics.
Outline the history and development of language in Britain up to 1500.
Read and comment on extracts from Old and Middle English texts.
Comment on examples of modern English usage in terms of the history of English as shown in particular words and syntactic structures.
Identify and use appropriate sources for research into the history of English.
The module will begin with the framing question: how do we know about the origins and development of English and other Indo-European languages? An outline of the history of language in Britain will then be traced, from the displacement of Celtic by Germanic languages through the influence of Norse and Old French, to the emergence of Middle English. Appropriate resources for research and discovery will be accessed throughout the module and, for the negotiated assessment, students will present their own research into the origins of place names around their home. For the final essay, students will outline the history and representative linguistic features of a selection of words and phrases from Old English, Middle English and Present Day English.
The main form of teaching session will be the seminar, where concepts and skills will be introduced by the lecturer and learned through practical application - specific tasks, problem-solving, discussion and collaborative close reading of texts, with regular provision of formative feedback on those activities (including through Directed Activities - see below). There will be two two-hour seminars each week. Additional resources and support for guided independent study will be provided via Moodle and through availability of weekly staff drop-in times for advice, clarification, discussion of assignment plans, etc.
Seminars
Hours: 40
Intended Group Size: 15
Guided independent study
Hours: 160
Further details relating to assessment
Directed activities: these consist of weekly tasks that must be completed and submitted for inspection at timetabled sessions each week. The assessment will be assessed on a pass/fail basis with a pass requiring at least 75% of all weekly tasks to be completed successfully. A pass will lead to the full award of 10% towards the final module mark. A fail in directed activities will contribute 0% to the final mark.
Formative assessment is built into the multiple-attempt format of the quizzes. For the essay, Directed Task and seminar exercises will be used to help students prepare for and practise fulfilling the requirements of the task.
001 Directed activities; throughout semester 2 10%
002 Negotiated (e.g poster, digital artefact, table); 1,000 words; mid-semester 2 40%
003 Essay; 2,500 words; end of semester 2 50%
Module Coordinator - Richard Storer
Level - 4
Credit Value - 20
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered - 4S2
