ECTS credits ECTS credits: 6
ECTS Hours Rules/Memories Student's work ECTS: 99 Hours of tutorials: 3 Expository Class: 24 Interactive Classroom: 24 Total: 150
Use languages Spanish, Galician, English
Type: Ordinary Degree Subject RD 1393/2007 - 822/2021
Departments: English and German Philology
Areas: English Philology
Center Faculty of Philology
Call: First Semester
Teaching: With teaching
Enrolment: Enrollable
The aim of this course is to introduce students to the study of the external history of the English language, from its origins with the Germanic invasions to the 21st century. We will study the most relevant socio-historical changes and we will see in which ways these changes have influenced the internal history of the language, especially as regards the vocabulary of the English language. In the course we will use original materials of the different periods in the history of English, as well as the Oxford English Dictionary.
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Why study the history of English?
1.2. External and internal history.
1.3. Periodization.
1.4. Language change.
2. THE ORIGINS OF ENGLISH
2.1. Indo-European culture and Indo-European languages.
2.2. The Germanic languages.
2.3. Britain before the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons.
2.4. The Germanic settlement of Britain.
2.5. Latin and Celtic borrowings.
3. OLD ENGLISH AND ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND
3.1. The Heptarchy and its impact on language: Old English dialects.
3.2. The advent of Christianity and its influence on language: the alphabet and further borrowing.
3.3. The Scandinavian invasions and settlements and their impact on the English language: borrowing from Old Norse.
3.4. Main features of the language in the period.
4. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD (1100-1500)
4.1. From the Norman Conquest (1066) to the loss of Normandy (1204): the socio-political situation in early medieval England and its linguistic consequences.
4.2. The re-establishment of English (1200-1500).
4.3. French and Latin influence on Middle English.
4.4. Middle English dialects and the emergence of a written standard.
4.5. Main features of the language in the period.
5. THE EARLY MODERN ENGLISH PERIOD (1500-1700)
5.1. Socio-historical scenario: cultural, political and technological influences.
5.2. Varieties, the standard and the expansion of English beyond England.
5.3. Debate over English: Vocabulary expansion and the standardization of the spelling.
5.4. Main features of the language in the period.
6. THE LATE MODERN ENGLISH PERIOD (1700-1900) AND ENGLISH IN THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES
6.1. Socio-historical introduction.
6.2. Codification and standardization: Grammars, dictionaries and the rise of RP.
6.3. Scientific writing and scientific vocabulary.
6.4. Main features of the language in the period.
There is no textbook for this subject. The materials for the lectures and the exercises and tasks for the seminars will be available to the students on the virtual learning platform.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS:
Barber, Charles L., Joan Beal & Philip Shaw. 2009. The English Language: An Historical Introduction, 2nd (revised) edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Baugh, A. C. & T. Cable. 2002. A History of the English Language. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. 5th ed. [1st ed., 1951].
Crystal, David. 2005. The Stories of English. London: Penguin.
**Gramley, Stephan. 2012. The History of the English Language. An Introduction. London: Routledge.**
OTHER BOOKS:
Blake, Norman F. 1996. A History of the English Language. London: Macmillan Press Ltd.
Bourcier, George. 1981. An Introduction to the History of the English Language. Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes Ltd.
**Brinton, Laurel J. & Lesley K. Arnovik. 2006. The English Language: A Linguistic History. Oxford: Oxford University Press.**
Culpeper, Jonathan, Francis Katamba, Paul Kerswill, Ruth Wodak & Tony McEnery. 2009. English Language. Description, Variation and Context. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Fennell, Barbara. 2001. A History of English: A Sociolinguistic Approach. Oxford: Blackwell.
Hejná, Míša & George Walkden. 2022. A History of English. Berlin: Language Science Press.
Hogg, Richard M. & David Denison (eds.). 2006. A History of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pyles, Thomas & John Algeo. 2010. The Origins and Development of the English Language. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Jovanovich Inc. 6th edn.
Strang, Barbara M.H. 1970. A History of English. London: Methuen.
Van Gelderen, Elly. 2006. History of the English Language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
For the individual periods:
Beal, Joan C. 2004. English in Modern Times. London: Arnold.
Hogg, Richard M. 2002. An Introduction to Old English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Horobin, Simon & Jeremy J. Smith. 2002. An Introduction to Middle English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Nevalainen, Terttu. 2006. An Introduction to Early Modern English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Tieken-Boon van Ostade, Ingrid. 2009. An Introduction to Late Modern English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
•To promote the use of an adequate linguistic terminology and notation.
•To encourage discussion and team-work by means of exercises during the practical sessions.
•With the assignments (i) we will favour the habits of individual study and work by means of which students will acquire a proressive autonomy in their learning process; (ii) students will learn how to manage their time and to work with deadlines.
•To promote the critical reading of historical texts.
•To learn how to work with historical dictionaries.
•To learn how to assess the importance of socio-historical events in the development of the English language.
Competences: CB1, CB2, CB3, CB4, CB5, CG3, CG6, CG7, CG8, CG9, CE2, CE3.
Lectures and seminars are taught in English.
In the seminars we will do exercises and textual analyses on aspects dealt with in the lectures.
Written assignments will be handed in via the teaching platform. Students will have to complete an online test for each of the units.
Students are strongly recommended to come to the instructor's visiting hours at least once during the term.
This course requires active participation and continuous work. Both in the ordinary (December/January) and in the extraordinary (June/July) exam period, the degree of achievement of the course objectives by the students will be assessed as follows:
FIRST OPPORTUNITY (December/January):
The distribution of the different percentages in this first opportunity is the following:
1) CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT (50%):
- Attendance to and participation in the lectures and seminars (10%);
- Exercises and tasks to be submitted via the learning platform (20%);
- End-of-unit tests (20%)
2) FINAL EXAM (50%): the final exam of the subject will take place on the official date and time set by the Faculty.
SECOND OPPORTUNITY (June/July):
1) CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT (50%):
- Attendance to and participation in the lectures and seminars (10%);
- Exercises and tasks to be submitted via the learning platform (20%);
- End-of-unit tests (20%)
2) FINAL EXAM (50%): the final exam of the subject will take place on the official date and time set by the Faculty.
IMPORTANT OBSERVATIONS:
1) In order to pass the subject, the sum of the different gradable components must be 5 out of 10. In addition, students must obtain a minimum of 4 out of 10 in the final exam of the subject.
2) Those students who do not attend the final exam will obtain the mark ‘NP’ (absent), even if they have completed all the continuous assessment activities.
3) The students who do not submit the continuous assessment activities will lose the corresponding percentage in the final mark of the subject. All the continuous assessment marks will be kept for the second opportunity, i.e., the marks corresponding to attendance and participation (10%), the exercises and tasks submitted via the learning platform (20%) and the end-of-unit tests (20%). Therefore, it will not be possible to resubmit any of these tasks or resit the tests.
4) The students who fail to attend more than 5 sessions (lectures and/or seminars) without due cause over the semester will lose the percentage corresponding to attendance and participation (10%).
5) Students officially exempt from class attendance and/or those students who are resitting the subject and cannot attend class for a justified reason may opt to take just the final exam (100% of their mark). In case of choosing this assessment option, they must contact the lecturers indicating their choice in the first two weeks of class. Failure to do so will result in the application of the default assessment system (continuous assessment).
6) All the exercises and tests will be done in English. Overall correctness in language and in the use of formal conventions is indispensable. Grammatical mistakes will be penalised.
6 hours/week
None
Academic misconduct (including cheating, plagiarism, etc.) will not be tolerated and will be penalized according to art. 16 in the "Normativa de avaliación do rendemento académico dos estudantes e de revisión de cualificacións".
“A realización fraudulenta dalgún exercicio ou proba esixida na avaliación dunha materia implicará a cualificación de suspenso na convocatoria correspondente, con independencia do proceso disciplinario que se poida seguir contra o/a alumno/a infractor. Considerarase fraudulenta, entre outras, a realización de traballos plaxiados ou obtidos de fontes accesibles ao público sen reelaboración ou reinterpretación e sen citas aos autores e das fontes”.
Susana Maria Doval Suarez
- Department
- English and German Philology
- Area
- English Philology
- Phone
- 881811855
- susanamaria.doval [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: University Lecturer
Tamara Bouso Rivas
Coordinador/a- Department
- English and German Philology
- Area
- English Philology
- tamara.bouso.rivas [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: LOU (Organic Law for Universities) PhD Assistant Professor
Samuel Egea Castañeda
- Department
- English and German Philology
- Area
- English Philology
- samuel.egea.castaneda [at] usc.es
- Category
- Ministry Pre-doctoral Contract
| Monday | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 13:00-14:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | English | C11 |
| 14:00-15:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | English | C11 |
| Thursday | |||
| 09:00-10:00 | Grupo /CLIS_02 (G-O) | English | C01 |
| 10:00-11:00 | Grupo /CLIS_03 (P-Z) | English | C01 |
| 11:00-12:00 | Grupo /CLIS_01 (A-F) | English | C01 |
| 01.17.2025 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLE_01 | C11 |
| 01.17.2025 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_01 (A-F) | C11 |
| 01.17.2025 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_02 (G-O) | C11 |
| 01.17.2025 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_03 (P-Z) | C11 |
| 01.17.2025 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLE_01 | C12 |
| 01.17.2025 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_01 (A-F) | C12 |
| 01.17.2025 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_02 (G-O) | C12 |
| 01.17.2025 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_03 (P-Z) | C12 |
| 06.17.2025 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_01 (A-F) | C11 |
| 06.17.2025 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_02 (G-O) | C11 |
| 06.17.2025 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_03 (P-Z) | C11 |
| 06.17.2025 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLE_01 | C11 |