The English Writing System

Vivian Cook, ECLS, Spring Term 2008

Mondays 10-1, from 21st January

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

Teaching schedule:

starting Monday 10-1, 21st January weekly except 3rd March when I am away; it should finish before Easter but will continue in the summer term if necessary

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).

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 Placenames

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

6. Linguists' accounts of English spelling: (iii) Chomsky. Chomsky's Near-Optimal Spelling

7. 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

8. Evolution of the English writing system (letters, sample texts) History of English letters Historical Samples of English Spelling 

9. Teaching the writing system in L1 and L2

Assessment:

a descriptive project, such as the problems with English writing encountered by students from particular countries, the evolution of English spelling, etc, to be handed in by 1 pm Monday 28th April in two hardcopies and electronic submission via Blackboard.

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), 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
Nunberg, G. (1990), Linguistics of Punctuation, CSLI, Stanford
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

I will also be making informal use of:
Cook, V.J. (2004), Accomodating Brocolli in the Cemetary, Profile 
  Books

   References on Writing Systems