|
The English Writing System |
|
|
Vivian Cook, ECLS, Spring Term 2013 |
|
|
Twice
a week,
from Xth February, finishing Xth March |
|
| Note: This is a course about the Writing System, not the writing skill or writing in a general sense - like a course about Phonology rather than Speaking | |
| Taught by Vivian Cook (Vivian.Cook@ncl.ac.uk) | |
|
Aim: |
to introduce students to the main features of the English writing system |
|
Objective: |
to enable them to analyse the properties of English texts in terms of current orthographical theories and descriptive techniques |
| Website: |
all the information for the course is online here (i.e. not on Blackboard), which also has a large collection of writing system materials, data, reading lists etc, and is vital to the course |
|
Syllabus: (more or less in teaching order but not week by week). |
The links in blue are to relevant parts of the web-site Writing System Topics http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/wstopics.htm 1. Different types of writing system for language (the two routes); writing direction Direction; signs Signs and Writing; alphabets Different Scripts for Writing; Definitions 2. Spoken and Written English; Quotations on Speech and Writing; Speech and Writing in Linguistics Rough Notes
3. Rules of English spelling; adult English
spelling; spelling mistakes in the street
4. Linguists' accounts of English spelling: 5. Linguists' accounts of English spelling: (ii) Albrow. Albrow's English spelling systems. Punctuation and graphic devices (the GreenGrocer's Apostrophe). English Punctuation. Print: typefaces and conventions. Hyphens Punctuation Web 6 Linguists' accounts of English spelling: (iii) Chomsky. Chomsky's Near-Optimal Spelling 7. Broadening the theory: grammaphonology 8. Acquisition of English spelling by children. Children learning English spelling L2 learning of the English writing system. L2 learning of English; L2 Spelling; Summaries of L2 articles etc 9. Evolution of the English writing system (letters, sample texts) History of English letters Historical Samples of English Spelling 10. Teaching the writing system in L1 and L2 Spell it Right
|
| Assessment: |
a 3,500 word descriptive project, such as i) the problems with English writing encountered by students from particular countries ii) the historical evolution of English or another spelling system, based on specific texts iii) the writing system of computer mediated communication such as texts, blogs, Facebook, etc in English or in another language To be handed in by 1 pm XXX; electronic submission via Blackboard. NB be careful if you use non-Roman fonts, even IPA! Some examples of past assignments can be found on EWS past assignments |
| Main References |
|
| Reference List on Writing Systems | |