Favorite History of English Texts

[LanDi Liu]

I wouldn't have thought of The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English
Language as a textbook, but the paperback version is not so expensive
and it would be a fantastic introduction and it does include history.
It's a wonderful overview and the kind of book that's hard to keep
your nose out of.

Randy

On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 9:23 PM, Kathryn Remlinger <remlingk at gvsu.edu> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Kathryn Remlinger <remlingk at GVSU.EDU>
> Subject:      Favorite History of English Texts
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The texts that have worked the best for my students (English majors with emphases in education or literature, and who've had at least an intro to lx course) are Crystal's The Stories of English and The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Langauge, Graddoll et al's Changing English, Trudgill & Watts' Alternative Histories of English, Melcher and Shaw's World Englishes. I've used Algeo and Pyles, but students found it a little dense, and it also doesn't have the focus on variation and World Englishes that I include in the course. I've also used Fennel  and liked it, but some students thought it was too difficult.  I also have supplemented with articles from Machen and Scott's English in its Social Contexts.
>
> Best,
> Kate
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date:    Wed, 30 Jul 2008 23:52:19 -0400
> From:    James Harbeck <jharbeck at SYMPATICO.CA>
> Subject: favourite English history/general intro texts
>
> If you were teaching a course on the history and structure of the
> English language, basically an introduction to linguistics and the
> history of English for third- and fourth-year students for whom the
> course will likely be the only linguistics course they take, what
> text would you use? (I won't be, but someone I'm related to will;
> he's been out of academe for some time and so is brushing up on
> what's currently preferred for such uses, and I said I'd ask around
> too.) The one text I can think of is Algeo and Pyles, though I'm not
> sure whether the balance of focus in it is just right for the
> specific course in question. And O'Grady doesn't really cover
> history. Plus this is a one-semester course.
>
> Thanks,
> James Harbeck.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of ADS-L Digest - 29 Jul 2008 to 30 Jul 2008 (#2008-213)
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>
> Kathryn Remlinger, Professor
> Department of English: Linguistics
> Grand Valley State University
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--
Randy Alexander
Jilin City, China
My Manchu studies blog:
http://www.bjshengr.com/manchu

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