English 634-001
Seminar in English Language Studies: Varieties of English in the Americas
Instr: Amsler, Mark
Office: CRT 568; 229-5043
e-mail: mamsler@uwm.edu
Office hours:
Course Information: M&W; 2:00-3:15pm; CRT 466
Course Description
This capstone seminar focuses on varieties of English language used as a first or nation language in the western hemisphere, esp the US, Canada, and several sites in the Caribbean. The seminar is devoted to discussions of readings and key materials and to presentations of student research. We will pay attention to dialect variation, including vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciations. We will also investigate some of the ideological constructions of English in both majority and minority contexts: Can anyone 'own' English? What does it mean to say English is the official language of the U.S.? Why are some accents regarded as more intelligent than others? Is the future of English to become a set of distinct languages, as Latin became separate languages in Europe in the Middle Ages?
The materials will be primarily linguistic, drawn from dialect transcripts, audio and video recording, print (including literature), and film. We will consider English usage in everyday, performative, literary/textual, and institutional (school, government) contexts. We will examine English usages geographically, socially, and historically, especially Canadian English, Bahamian English, US (mainstream, African American, Indian, and Latino Englishes). The seminar presumes some background in linguistics (such as an introduction to linguistics of history of the English language). Feel free to contact me for more information.
