Studying at York
Dialect Grammar of British English - LAN00079H
Module summary
For all it is a relatively small geographical area, Britain is home to a vast range of different regional dialects. People often identify language varieties by the way they sound, but how similar or different are they in terms of their grammar? Can we identify robust dialect areas on the basis of grammatical properties, or are the boundaries less clear-cut? In this module, you will learn about grammatical variation and change in British English regional dialects. The module will introduce you to different approaches to dialect variation, as used in dialectology, sociolinguistics and syntax. You will study how dialects vary with respect to different grammatical domains. You will apply this knowledge in an independent research project where you will collect and analyse data on an aspect of grammatical variation in British English.
Related modules
Pre-requisite modules
Co-requisite modules
- None
Prohibited combinations
- None
Additional information
Prerequisites:
-
Introduction to Syntax OR Understanding English Grammar
-
Introduction to Sociolinguistics
It might be useful to have completed Intermediate Language Variation and Change but this is not a requirement.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Spring Term 2022-23 to Summer Term 2022-23 |
Module aims
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To develop your knowledge of dialect variation in Britain
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To enhance your understanding of different aspects of English grammar
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To enhance your understanding of different approaches to the analysis of grammatical variation and change
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To equip you with practical skills in hypothesis testing, research methods, and carrying out an independent research project
Module learning outcomes
On completion of this module, you should be able to:
- identify and analyse grammatical properties of British English dialects
- evaluate how these vary regionally within Britain
- understand internal and external constraints on grammatical variation
- evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different research methods for grammatical analysis
- design and successfully conduct a small research project into grammatical variation and change
Module content
Indicative topics:
- Overview of dialects of Britain
- Methods: corpus data
- Methods: acceptability judgements
- Agreement
- Negation
- Pronoun variation
- Regional dialect levelling
- Socio-syntax
- The future of dialect research
- Research project workshops
Assessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework Data Exercise |
N/A | 30 |
| Essay/coursework Research Project Write-Up |
N/A | 70 |
Special assessment rules
None
Reassessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework Data Exercise |
N/A | 30 |
| Essay/coursework Research Project Write-Up |
N/A | 70 |
Module feedback
Students will receive written feedback on their formative and summative assessments according to the University's Policy on Assessment Feedback Turnaround Time. There will also be opportunities to discuss feedback with the module convenor in office hours.
Indicative reading
Beal, J. C. 2004. English dialects in the North of England: Morphology and syntax. In B. Kortmann, K. Burridge, R. Mesthrie, E. Schneider and C. Upton (eds) A Handbook of Varieties of English, Volume 2: Morphology and Syntax. Berlin: de Gruyter. 114-141.
Britain, D. 2007. Grammatical variation in England. In D. Britain (ed.) Language in the British Isles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 75-104.
Buchstaller, I. and K. P. Corrigan. 2011. 'How to make intuitions succeed: Testing methods for analysing syntactic microvariation'. In W. Maguire and A. McMahon (eds) Analysing Variation in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 30-48.
Cornips, L. and K. P. Corrigan. 2005. Toward an integrated approach to syntactic variation: A retrospective and prospective synopsis. In L. Cornips and K. P. Corrigan (eds) Syntax and Variation: Reconciling the Biological and the Social. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 1-27.
Szmrecsanyi, B. 2013. Grammatical Variation in British English Dialects: A Study in Corpus-Based Dialectometry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.