University
of Rome III_
_School
of Arts and Letters
Linguistica Inglese / The Linguistics
of English
Program
for the academic year 2000-2001
Patrick Boylan, Department of Linguistics
"Englishes
of the world:
Do
similar formal attributes mean similar cultural mind sets?"
Knowing
English today means, among other things, being able to use the language
"for intercultural communication at the micro or local level in which individuals
from different [and not necessarily British or American] backgrounds interact",
as well as being able to "appreciate English as a World Language at the
macro-level of cultural politics" (White 1998). In pursuing
this two-part inquiry, students will be encouraged to question the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis linking cultural mind sets to formal linguistic attributes.
They will also be given the chance to acquire ethnographic tools so that,
in their future jobs or travels, they can more easily learn the English
of the English-speaking communities with which they may come into contact.
Finally the course will address the question of norms for English in a
world where, increasingly, "...the Empire writes back to the Centre..."
(Salman Rushdie).
Teaching
goals and methods:
Through
readings, class discussion, and empirical (field) research, students will
learn to define norms for the Englishes they encounter and to map the mind
set of their native or non-native English-speaking interlocutors.
Attendance,
Self-Study, Marks:
Students
who attend 3/4 of the lessons will be dispensed from reading three of the
five works making up the course syllabus. In addition, these students
may elect to do study tasks during the semester. The tasks involve
reading two works from the syllabus and, through empirical research,
verifying some of the authors' assertions. Students completing a
sufficient number of tasks well will not have to take the final exam.
Non
attenders must work out a self-study program with the teacher by December
21, 2000. For office hours and phone/fax/email, see http://host.uniroma3.it/docenti/boylan
Bibliography
(Do NOT purchase these books yet!):
D.
Crystal.1997. English as a Global
Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
D.
Freeborn. 1993. Varieties of English.
An Introduction to the Study of Language. London: The
Macmillan Press.
R.
Quirk & H. G. Widdowson, eds. 1985. English
in the World: Teaching and learning the language and literatures.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
V.
Vogel Zanger. 1985. Face
to Face in English. A Cross-Cultural Workbook. Rowley
(Mass.): Newbury House Publishers.
R.
White. 1998. "Going round in circles: English as an International Language
and Cross-Cultural Capability". In: D. Killick & M. Parry (eds.). Languages
for Cross-Cultural Capability. Leeds: University of Leeds Press.
Available on the Internet at: http://host.uniroma3.it/docenti/boylan/text/white01.htm<--
click to read