FR33020 - THE INVENTION OF FRENCH

Module Identifier	FR33020
Module Title	THE INVENTION OF FRENCH
Academic Year	2001/2002
Co-ordinator	Professor David Trotter
Semester	Semester 1
Course delivery	Lecture	10 Hours
	Seminars / Tutorials	6 Hours
	Practical	4 x 1 hour or 2 x 2 hours depending on availability of Language Laboratories
Assessment	Course work	2 x 2,500 word assignments	100%
	Resit assessment	Resit will be by resubmission of assessed work

Brief description

A history of French from a variationist perspective, deliberately stressing the variety which has always existed in reality, and identifying the ways in which diversity has been stifled in the life of the language, and has been camouflaged in histories of French.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, students should be able to

understand how one dialect amongst several becomes a language
read critically conventional histories of French
see how and why ideological presuppositions have influenced those histories
understand the principal tenets of variationist linguistics

Reading Lists

Books
Cerquiglini, Bernard. (1993) La naissance du francais. Paris: PUF
Green, John and Ayres-Bennett,Wendy (eds). (1990) Variation and change in French: essays presented to R. Posner on the occasion of her 60th birthday. London: Routledge
Lodge,R A. (1993) French: From Dialect to Standard. London: Routledge
Posner, Rebecca. (1997) Linguistic Change in French. Oxford: OUP
Parry, MM, Davies, W V & Temple, RAM (eds). (1994) The changing voices of Europe. Cardiff: University of Wales Press/MHRA