AJL22066 English World-wide

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Dr. phil. Jakob Heinrich Horsch, B.A., M.A. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Dr. phil. Jakob Heinrich Horsch, B.A., M.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites
Familiarity with fundamental terms in phonetics/phonology as taught in the first year of BA studies and with the world's geography.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/25, only registered: 0/25, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/25
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 16 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
This seminar is designed for students who would like to become more familiar with the differences in accents, standard, regional, social and non-native. The instruction is done via listening, imitation, phonetic/phonological commentary and the participation of guests. The aim is to make the students more aware of the variations found in spoken English and help them to improve their own comprehension skills and pronunciation.
Learning outcomes
On completion of the course a student is able to discern between standard, regional, social and non-native accents of English, understand the historical/political reasons of these differences, express the acquired knowledge in linguistic and phonetic terms as well as understand substandard utterances and refine his/her own pronunciation of English.
Syllabus
  • Introduction - revision of general phonetics, phonology and sociolinguistics. Historical development of English and its spread around the world. Sociophonology according to Wells and honey. Classification of accents according to Trudgill. EE accents in England. EE accents overseas - Aus., NZ, South African Republic. East Africa, India. Celtic accents - Welsh, Scottish, Irish. 2nd language varieties in Europe.
Literature
    required literature
  • COLLINS, Beverley and Inger MEES. Practical phonetics and phonology : a resource book for students. Third edition. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2013, xxi, 329. ISBN 9780415506502. info
    recommended literature
  • J.C.Wells - Accents of English
  • MEIER, Paul. Accents and dialects for stage and screen : an instruction manual for 24 accents and dialects commonly used by English-speaking actors. Lawrence, Kan.: Paul Meier Dialect Services, 2010, 354 s. ISBN 9780578004525. info
  • TRUDGILL, Peter and Jean HANNAH. International English : a guide to varieties of standard English. 2nd ed. London: Edward Arnold, 1985, xiii, 130. ISBN 0713164417. info
Teaching methods
In-class lectures by the facilitator and presentation by students. Listening to rare audio materials, recommendations of more accessible online recordings and websites. Discussion with invitees.
Assessment methods
Assessment: attendance (3pts a session), theoretical and practical test max. 50pts, each presentation/contribution up to 10pts. 60 points are necessary for successful completion of the course.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2019, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/AJL22066