czwartek, 24 października 2013

Class notes for October 24, 2013 - Pidgins


First, a quick look at where some (not all) pidgins are or were spoken.



Not everybody likes pidgins...


But people keep using them.





If you have trouble downloading them, another copy can be found below the jump (click where it says 'czytaj więcej').



poniedziałek, 14 października 2013

Notes from/for class October 10, 17 2013

Here is a link to the first notes.

They are on historical aspects of international communication as well as some of the more important international languages in the past and present.



Enjoy.

czwartek, 10 października 2013

Course Topics and bibliography 2013-14



This list of topics is intended as a general guide and it should be understood that for scheduling reasons some topics may appear earlier or later than originally planned.

International communication – international languages


            Topics – Winter semester

1          International communication: its historical and areal aspects
2          Ethnic international languages: from ancient times to the present day
3          Pidgins and Creole languages: creation, structures, functions
4          What is interlinguistics? (in both broad and narrow senses)
5          Planned international languages (throughout history)
6          Constructed languages (newer planned languages)
7          Language policy in the multi-lingual and multi-national European Union
8          Modern use of English as a lingua franca  (history and problems)
9          Linguistic and cultural aspects of international communication
10        Psychological and sociological aspects of international communication
11        Esperanto as an international language
12        Structure and vocabulary of Esperanto – language economy
13        Acquisition of Esperanto vs that of ethnic languages
14        International English and Esperanto in intercultural communication
15                Review and evaluation

Topics – Summer semester

1               Review (and further discussion) of major first semester topics (esp 1, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 11)

2               Individual projects by students, depending on class choice and other factors these may include:

a.    Individual or pair presentations on topics related to lecture topics, such as: detailed descriptions of the cultural, social and political functioning of particular ethnic international languages; detailed description of the structure, history and functioning of a particular constructed language; the functioning of language policy in multi-lingual countries or other political organizations; current cultural or social aspects of Esperanto.
b.    Applied interlinguistics – individual or small group projects related to the practical problems of language construction.
c.    Applied language policy – individual or small group projects related to formulating fair and practical language policy for multi-lingual entities.
3               Review
Requirements:
1st semester: Knowledge of basic literature (selected from the reading list), and final test
2nd semester: student presentations and contributions to the practical work
ETCS credits: 4 / 4



The bibliography appears after the jump (click where it says 'czytaj więcej')