1. The English-speaking world in the 21st century.

1.1 Spread and foundations.

1.2 Models of expansion; the relevance and limits of Kachru’s concentric circles.

2. The inner circle.

2.1 Traditional standard variety(ies): identification and present status.

2.2 Other varieties: structural and sociolinguistic description of Australian English; other examples to be defined according to students’ interests).

3. The outer circle.

3.1 New Englishes: sociolinguistic issues and structural tendencies; the case of Indian English; other examples to be defined according to students’ interests.

3.2 Pidgins and creoles: structural and sociolinguistic tendencies; examples.

4. The expanding circle.

4.1 From EFL to ELF.

4.2 Consequences of the internationalisation of English: ELT, international diglossia and Anglicisation.

GRADING

The final mark is based on oral participation (20%), a written test (40%) and either another written test or an individual research paper (40%).

Oral participation includes the presentation of either (part of) a text in the digital course book or a short video (5-10m) on a topic related to the syllabus.