ENG4163 ¨C World Englishes

Course content

This course aims to provide an overview of English as a global language. The most important differences between American and British English will serve as a starting point, but a great deal of attention will be given to other major national varieties. The focus will be on how they vary in terms of syntax, morphology, vocabulary, and (to a lesser degree) phonology. The status of English as a global language will also be considered, as well as the position of English in Norway.

Learning outcome

After completing this course you will:

• know about the differences and similarities between varieties of English around the world;
• be able to extract the relevant linguistic data from the International Corpus of English;
• be able to describe and analyse those data from a contrastive perspective.
• be able to reflect on the phenomena connected with the status of English as a global language.

Admission to the course

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

Recommended previous knowledge

The course assumes a good grasp of grammatical terminology.

Overlapping courses

• 10 credits overlap with ENG2163 ¨C World Englishes.

Teaching

The course is taught as a seminar, meeting two hours per week for 14 weeks, totaling 28 hours.

Obligatory activities:

• During the semester, students are required to hand in two written assignments. Both have to be submitted by appointed deadlines and approved by the teacher in order to be allowed to hand in the final paper. Read more about guidelines for compulsory activities and about rules concerning valid excuses and how to apply for postponements.
• It is obligatory to show up for a minimum of 60% of the teaching. In this course, you have to attend 8 of 14 seminars. The requirement is absolute.

  The allowed absence limit will cover all absences, including illness. You will not be granted valid absences with documentation, even when the absence is due to something beyond your control.

  If the course has in-person teaching, and you are signed up for an in-person seminar group, you are to attend the teaching in the location found in the schedule.

  If the course has digital teaching, and you are signed up for a digital seminar group, you must attend via Zoom with your camera on.

  In certain circumstances, i.e. serious or chronic illness, you could apply for special needs accomodations.

  Fulfilled course requirements are only valid the semester you attend the course.

Examination

The exam consists of a term paper. You are required to write ca. 10-12 standard pages (a standard page consists of 2,300 characters). This does not include references and bibliography. In the evaluation, both content and language are taken into account.

Language of examination

The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.

Resit an examination

A term paper or equivalent that is passed may not be resubmitted in revised form.

If you?withdraw from the exam?after the deadline, this will be counted as an examination attempt.

More about examinations at UiO

• Use of sources and citations
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.