PLINX202 English Accents 2005-2006

Prof. J.C.Wells

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General. This half-c.u. course within the BA Linguistics surveys varieties of English pronunciation and furnishes phonetic and phonological frameworks for the comparison of different accents. In the course of the year we shall

Most people attending this course are not only native speakers of English but also natives of England or the UK, and as such already have an extensive tacit knowledge of the subject. For them, it is important to be able to formalize this knowledge and express it in phonetic terms. Some, though, are of non-English mother tongue or from outside the UK: they will also have to take care to acquire the basic facts about accent variation in British English. It is assumed that all participants are familiar with the elements of phonetic theory, terminology and notation.

Workload. We meet for one hour a week (Mondays at 4; first term, Medawar Bldg, Watson LT; second term, Foster Court 114) during the first two terms. In addition to this you are expected to read on and around the subject and to complete the assignments set.

Lectures start 3 October 2005.

To view the handouts you may need to install the FREE Acrobat Reader, which you can download from here

Key reading. For a short list of recommended reading, see the handout for the first lecture.

Assessment. (BA/BSc) You are assessed on the basis of two pieces of coursework (1000 words each, one in November, one in February) and one longer essay on a subject of your choice (approx. 1500 words, by 1 May). All submissions must have a signed cover sheet attached.

Contact. You can email Prof. Wells. Emails are read daily (except when I'm away).

The course is also taken by certain MA students.

Course evaluation form

J.C.Wells home page.

UCL Phonetics and Linguistics home page.

University College London home page.

last modified 2006 Feb 06