1. To familiarise students with varieties of Northern English in relation to Modern Standard English and other non-standard varieties.
2. To raise student critical awareness of language variation.
3. To equip students with the theoretical and technological tools that will enable them to conduct their own case study and present, analyse, and discuss original data they collect themselves.

(LO1) Demonstrate a critical understanding of varieties of Northern English in relation to Standard English and other non-standard varieties of English.

(LO2) Detect and identify the distinctive features of the varieties of Northern English.

(LO3) Construct a corpus of Northern dialect language data and conduct both quantitative and qualitative analyses of corpus data.

(LO4) Demonstrate a critical understanding of the historical, geographical, social and theoretical factors surrounding varieties of Northern English.

(LO5) Acquire and demonstrate skills using specialist software used in the field.

(S1) Time and project management - Personal action planning

(S2) Communication (oral, written and visual) - Report writing

(S3) Improving own learning/performance - Reflective practice

(S4) Information skills - Critical reading

(S5) Critical thinking and problem solving - Creative thinking

(S6) Communication (oral, written and visual) - Listening skills

Module topics will typically include:

• Discussion of the so-called “North-South Divide” in England and how this relates to language, cultural perceptions, and social values
• Northern English grammar and vocabulary – as well as the methods by which this may be investigated, particularly via the use of corpora and specialist analytical software.
• Northern English phonology – in particular the features that distinguish Northern areas from each other and from the rest of England (and Englishes elsewhere). This will also involve the use of specialist software to analyse things like vowel formant frequency (through the use of spectrographic analysis in Praat) as well as quantitative analysis techniques using additional specialist software.
Furthermore, basic statistical analysis techniques and data manipulation and presentation methods using industry standard software like R will be discussed and demonstrat ed, allowing students to gain experience with these analytical tools
• The origins of modern perceptions of Northern English – particularly in relation to the Industrial Revolution as well as the development of Standard English
• Theoretical frameworks like those of indexicality and enregisterment – paying particular attention to how these concepts relate to Northern varieties of English.

New topics will be introduced in lectures. These topics will have accompanying exercises that will be worked though and discussed in seminars. Some seminars may typically include practical sessions where students are shown how to use specialist resources (i.e. online corpora) and/or software (possibilities include Praat, R, NVivo etc.). Weekly readings will also accompany the topics introduced on this module and will complement and expand on material discussed in lectures and seminars.

Lecture and seminar content will all be made available electr onically through VITAL. Weekly readings will (where possible) be made available from library e-books. Otherwise, all readings will be available as physical texts in the library. Wherever possible and appropriate, chapters, readings, etc. will be digitised via the library’s digitisation services.

Students are expected to do all assigned weekly readings. Additional texts on the reading list will be optional and predominantly used by students when doing their assessed work. However, students will also be encouraged to find their own supplementary resources in addition to that provided on the reading list.

Students may also be asked to complete readings in preparation for seminars. Students will typically be given a worksheet to complete in advance of seminars.

Students will also be expected to download lecture slides and seminar material to supplement their learning and note taking. Lecture recordings (or equivalent) will be made available to students via the Stre am Capture system after the lecture. It is expected that they will review these resources over the course of the semester and in preparation for their assessed work.

Teaching Method 1 - Lecture
Description: Large group session used for the transmission of information, facts, and concepts central to studying Northern English. Topics discussed in lectures will be followed up on in seminars.
Attendance Recorded: Yes

Teaching Method 2 - Seminar
Description: Seminars are typically oriented towards critical group discussion and analysis of language data in terms of the theoretical concepts introduced in the lectures and/or within the assigned readings.