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ENG305 Masteremne i engelsk lingvistikk II
Independent 300-level (Masters) courses
in English linguistics
Spring semester 2008
Contents
Page
Studying translation, Sandra Halverson
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Phonological variation in dialects of English, Kevin McCafferty
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Sociolinguistic variation and change in English, Kevin McCafferty
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Language and gender, Lise Opdahl
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Supervision
These courses are offered for independent self-study in the spring semester 2008. There are
therefore no regular lectures or seminars for these courses. However, students will be entitled
to two group supervision sessions with the teacher responsible for the topic chosen.
Supervision will be given by arrangement between teachers and students.
Deadline for choosing a topic is Friday 18 January 2008. To sign up for a topic, please
contact the individual teacher by that date. Register for the exam in ENG305 in the regular
way.
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Topic 1
Studying translation
Sandra Halverson
e-mail: sandra.halverson@if.uib.no
The objective of this course is to introduce students to basic issues and research traditions in
translation studies. Students will consider a selection of theoretical approaches to
translational phenomena, as well as exemplary empirical studies. Emphasis is placed on
contemporary translation studies in general, and on linguistically oriented approaches in
particular. Topics to be covered include the relationship of translation to other communicative
activities, the unit of translation, translation shifts, translation equivalence, translation and
discourse parameters, and translational data.
Provisional Syllabus:
Hatim, Basil and Jeremy Munday. 2004. Translation. An Advanced Resource Book. London:
Routledge.
Olahan, Maeve. 2004. Introducing Corpora in Translation Studies. London: Routledge.
Toury, Gideon. 1995. Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond. Amsterdam: John
Benjamins. (Part one, pp. 1-19, Part two, pp. 21-102, part four, pp. 259-279).
Please note: the syllabus is not complete. A finalized syllabus will be made available to
students who register for independent study in this course.
Examination
6-hour school examination.
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Topic 2
Phonological variation in dialects of English
Kevin McCafferty
e-mail: kevin.mccafferty@if.uib.no
This course surveys recent work on phonological variation and change in the English of Great
Britain and Ireland, looking at widespread trends and more localised developments. The main
textbook is:
Paul Foulkes and Gerard Docherty (eds.), Urban voices. Accent studies in the British Isles,
London, Edward Arnold, 1999. 281pp. (avaliable as print-on-demand, UK price
approx. £20)
Articles (Available electronically at UB Bergen, apart from the two titles starred. English
world-wide is available at the English Department)
Dyer, Judy 2002. ‘We all speak the same round here’: dialect levelling in a Scottish-English
community. Journal of sociolinguistics 6:99-116.
Fabricius, Anne 2002. Weak vowels in modern RP: an acoustic study of happY-tensing and
KIT/schwa shift. Language variation and change 14:211-228.
*Fabricius, Anne 2002. Ongoing change in modern RP: evidence for the disappearing stigma
of t-glottalling. English world-wide 23:115-136.
Foulkes, Paul and Gerard J. Docherty 2000. Another chapter in the story of /r/: ‘Labiodental’
variants in British English. Journal of sociolinguistics 4:30-59.
Kerswill, Paul 2000. Creating a new town koine: children and language change in Milton
Keynes. Language in society 29:65-115.
*Marshall, Jonathan 2003. The changing sociolinguistic status of the glottal stop in northeast
Scottish English. English world-wide 24:89-108.
Sangster, Catherine 2001. Lenition of alveolar stops in Liverpool English. Journal of
sociolinguistics 5:401-412.
Torgersen, Eivind and Paul Kerswill 2004. Internal and external motivation in a phonetic
change: dialect levelling outcomes for an English vowel shift. Journal of sociolinguistics
8:23-53.
Watt, Dominic 2000. Phonetic parallels between the close-mid vowels of Tyneside English:
are they internally motivated? Language variation and change 12:69-101.
Watt, Dominic 2002. ‘I don’t speak with a Geordie accent, I speak, like, the Northern accent’:
contact-induced levelling in the Tyneside vowel system. Journal of sociolinguistics 6:4463.
Recommended reading
Wells, J.C. 1982. Accents of English 1. An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Wells, J.C. 1982. Accents of English 2. The British Isles. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Examination
6-hour school examination.
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Topic 3
Sociolinguistic variation and change in English
Kevin McCafferty
e-mail: kevin.mccafferty@if.uib.no
Sociolinguistics has been characterised as ‘The study of the relationship between language
and society with the goal of understanding the structure of language’ (Ronald Wardhaugh, An
introduction to sociolinguistics, 1992, p.13). More specifically, the focus of variationist or
quantitative sociolinguistics is on the roles played by language variation, communication, and
social organisation in the emergence and spread of language change.
This kind of sociolinguistics offers tools and methods for approaching language
change as an ongoing process. We will study the methods developed by sociolinguists for
gaining access to the vernacular – speakers’ most informal speech style – in order to study
patterns of linguistic variation in communities and determine the origins and directions of
change, as well as the motivations for change. We will look at relationships between language
use and social structures in terms of correlations with age, sex/gender, class, ethnicity,
networks, etc. And we will examine processes like social and geographical mobility,
migration, etc., which play a part in promoting or inhibiting language change. On the
linguistic side, we will study developments affecting both phonological and morphosyntactic
features.
Textbooks
The main textbooks for the course are:
J.K. Chambers, Sociolinguistic theory. Linguistic variation and its social significance (Second
edition), Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 2003.
Lesley Milroy & Matthew Gordon, Sociolinguistics. Method and interpretation, Basil
Blackwell, Oxford, 2003.
Examination
6-hour school examination.
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Topic 4
Language and Gender
Lise Opdahl
e-mail: lise.opdahl@if.uib.no
This course deals with how language, and specifically the English language, may differ
according to whether it is used by men or women, and also considers the causes and
consequences of this phenomenon.
Although the reading includes surveys of pre-20th century opinions in the field, the
emphasis is on the 20th and 21st centuries, focussing especially on works published from the
1970s until the present. The main concern of the course is empirical linguistic studies, but
some psychological and philosophical aspects will also be considered. The required reading
includes variation in phonology as well as in grammar and discourse, and comprises both
synchronic and diachronic material.
Students will be expected to contribute actively to the course, e.g. by giving
presentations of readings and introductions to discussions.
READING LIST
Coates, J. 2004. Women, men and language. 3rd ed. Harlow: Pearson.
Coates, J. (ed) 1998. Language and gender: a reader. Oxford: Blackwell (the whole book
except articles 1, 7, 10, 20 and section VIII).
Johnson, S. and U.H. Meinhof. 1997. Language and masculinity. Oxford: Blackwell. Chs. 1,
4, 6, and 8.
A compendium with various articles and chapters.
The books and the compendium will be available at Studia university book shop.
Examination
6-hour school examination.