Social and Regional Accents of English 2025

Prerequisites

Foundation course in English phonetics.

Course Objectives

The goal of the study is:

1. To provide an introduction to regional and social variations in English pronunciation;
2. To examine problems associated with the investigation and description of language variations;
3. To study in detail specific examples of English pronunciation variants from Great Britain and North America.

Course Description

As background for the course, we will look at the development of the sound system in English, and changes which have taken place in some areas, but not in others. Some relevant aspects of British and American cultural knowledge will also be examined. For the most part, however, the course will concern specific social and regional pronunciation variants in speech. All instruction and student activities will be conducted in English.

Learning Methods

Lectures and seminars up to 3 hours per week.

Assessment Methods

Evaluation during the course will count for 40% of the total grade. The final written examination will count for 60%. Both the evaluation during the course and the final examination must receive passing marks in order for the student to pass the course.

Pensum