Degree Requirements – English

Basic concepts in the study of the English language: history, semantics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and discourse. English in its social context: regional and social varieties, language acquisition, and English as an international language.

Study of English form and use in relation to social and cultural contexts. Topics include regional and social dialectology, attitudes toward variation and change, strategies of interaction, gender and language use, and politeness, power and politics.

The evolution of English sounds, inflections, and vocabulary from earliest times to the present, with attention to historical conditions.

Introduction to the nature of grammar and approaches to the description of English grammar, emphasizing Chomsky's transformational-generative model. Focus is on grammatical structure, but scope includes phonology and social/historical factors which influence the form and use of English in various contexts. Includes practice in phonemic transcription and sentence diagramming.

History of the development of American English from the colonial period to the present. Topics include regional and social varieties, language contact, and slang. Geographic atlas, social survey, and lexicographic research methods are utilized.

Introduction to the language and literature.

Beowulf: Study of the poem in the original language.

A general overview of the profession covering prominent theories, methodologies, and procedures influencing the field.

Linguistic methods in the analysis of literature and implications of literary language for linguistic theory; detailed consideration of prosody, metaphor, narrative technique and irony.