The English Writing System

Vivian Cook, ECLS, Spring Term 2013

Twice a week, from Xth February, finishing Xth March
10-1 Mondays & Wednesdays XXXX
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
The I before E rule in English Spelling
English Consonant Doubling
Common Patterns of English Spelling
Rule for spelling English Surnames

4. Linguists' accounts of English spelling: 
(i) Venezky. Venezky's English Spelling 
Exploiting the English writing system: businesses; Funny 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

Albrow, K.H. (1972), The English Writing System: notes towards a description, Longman
Baines, P. & Haslam, A. (2002), Type and Typography. London: Laurence King
Baron, N.S. (2000), Alphabet to E-mail. London: Routledge.
Carney, E. (1994), A Survey of English Spelling, London: Routledge
 Cook, V.J. (2004), Accomodating Brocolli in the Cemetary, Profile Books
Cook, V.J. (2004), The English Writing System, Edward Arnold COURSE BOOK
Cook, V.J. & Bassetti, B. ed. (2005), Second Language Writing Systems,  Multilingual Matters
Coulmas, F. (1996), The Blackwell   Encyclopaedia of Writing Systems,   Blackwell
Ryan, D. (2011) Grammaphonology: a new theory of English spelling', here
Sampson, G. (1985), Writing Systems, Hutchinson
Scragg, D.G. (1974), A History of English Spelling, Manchester U.P.
Temple, C. et al (1993), The Beginnings of Writing, Allyn & Bacon
Venezky, R.L. (1999), The American Way of Spelling, Guilford,  New York
New Journal: Writing System Research
   Reference List on Writing Systems