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A fascinating and entertaining book with lots of inspiration for the teacher about the interaction of English with other languages. Melvyn Bragg shows us the remarkable story of the English language: from its beginnings as a minor guttural Germanic dialect to its position today as a truly global language — embracing elements of Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Hindi and Gullah. English is democratic, ever-changing and ingenious in its assimilation of other cultures. English runs through the heart of world finance, medicine and the Internet. English is understood by around two thousand million people across the world. This is a story of power, religion and trade, but also the story of people, and how their day-to-day lives shaped an extraordinary language. (354 pages)
Level: A/B/Linjefag/Inspiration til Almen Sprogforståelse

• Australian English •Caribbean English • Estuary English • Received Pronunciation • Scottish English •US Regional Dialects •Political English •The Corpus Revolution •The Influence of Shakespeare •The King James Bible •The Sound System of English •The Nature of the Lexicon

An overview of the linguistic characteristics of varieties of English around the world. The book also includes a chapter on "Lesser-known Englishes", but the main emphasis is on the central varieties. Lots of compact and schematic information, but somewhat technical as the book makes extensive use of phonetic transcription and terminology. Comparisons across the varieties provide a comprehensive guide to differences in phonetics, phonology, grammar and vocabulary, providing a useful resource for teachers of English as a foreign language.. In this fifth edition the authors have added a new discussion of what Standard English really is, as well as an outline of typologies of varieties of English including ELF 'English as a lingua franca'. (176 pages)
Level: A (especially STX)/Baggrund for Almen Sprogforståelse/Linjefag

How does the English language work? Written in a clear and easy-to-follow style, this introductory textbook is based around three core topics in the study of language:

Word: English words, how they fit into sentences, their internal structure, their meaning and how they make up vocabularies for various purposes.

Sound: the sound systems of English, its phonetics and phonology, and English intonation and stress patterns.

Sentence: English sentence structure and introductory English grammar.

Authors: Koenraad Kuiper and W. Scott Allan. (364 pages)

The companion website (see page 308) already offers a great range of usable teaching resources and is still being developed (2010). The website, like the book, is divided into four sections: Introduction, Words, Sounds, Sentences. On the website these learning modules contains powerpoint files available for downloading. They are summaries of what is in the book and provide headings for taking notes. They are also used for the mini-lecture Quicktime movies each of which presents a topic from a section of the book. Students can either watch the movie before reading the relevant section of the book ... or watch afterwards for revision ... or the teacher can just expand the mini-lecture with material from the book. Finally there are MP3 sound files. These are short and aim to get you thinking about language issues, or they provide additional material on related topics.

NB! While there is more material in many sections than a gymnasium student will need ... and teachers will need to sort out what they want to use, the combination of book and multimedia offer a great range of flexible teaching possibilities!

Level: Gymnasiet/Almen sprogforståelse/Linjefag

The British Isles are home to a vast range of different languages and dialects. Language continues to evolve rapidly, in its diversity, in the number and the backgrounds of its speakers, and in the repercussions it has had for political and educational affairs. This book provides a comprehensive survey of the languages and dialects used in the British Isles. Topics covered include the history of English; the relationship between Standard and Non-Standard Englishes; the major non-standard varieties spoken on the islands; the history of multilingualism; and the educational and planning implications of linguistic diversity in the British Isles. Among the many dialects and languages surveyed by the volume are British Black English, Celtic languages, Chinese, Indian, European migrant languages, British Sign Language, and Angloromani. This is a clear and accessible guide. Author: David Britain. Warmly recommended! (508 pages)
Level: Library/Depot — an inspiration and resource for gymnasium English teachers/Almen Sprogforståelse/Linjefag

Contents: Part I. English: 1. History of English; 2. Standard and non-standard English; 3. Phonological variation in England; 4. Grammatical variation in England; 5. Scottish English and Scots; 6. Northern Irish English; 7. Southern Irish English; 8. English in Wales; 9. English on the Isle of Man; 10. English in the Channel Islands; Part II. The Celtic Languages: 11. The history of the Celtic languages in the British Isles; 12. Gaelic; 13. Irish; 14. Welsh; Part III. Other Languages of the British Isles: 15. Multilingualism; 16. Caribbean creoles and Black English; 17. Indic languages; 18. Chinese; 19. European immigrant languages; 20. Sign languages; 21. Channel Island French; 22. Angloromani; Part IV. Applied Sociolinguistic Issues: 23. Language policy and planning; 24. Non-standard English and education; 25. Education and languages other than English.

With his usual wit and insight, Bill Bryson explores the history, eccentricities, resilience and fun of the English language. From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can’t), Bryson tells the story of how the inadequate, second-rate tongue of peasants developed into the world's leading global language. Along the way he explains how the words from over fifty other languages have ended up in your English dictionary; he explores the countless varieties of English ... and looks at the oddities of swearing and spelling. (270 pages)
Level: A great resource for any English teacher. At the very least it will make your teaching much more entertaining!

Contents: The World’s Language — The Dawn of Language — Global Language — The First Thousand Words — Where Words Come From — Pronunciation — Varieties of English — Spelling — Good English and Bad — Order Out of Chaos — Old World, New World — English as a World Language — Names — Swearing — Wordplay — The Future of English

Humour permeates our lives. People tell jokes, make puns, and engage in witty banter. There is written humour in headlines and captions, in ads, on signs, t-shirts, and bumper stickers, and in the form of graffiti. Nowadays humour is available on the web and circulated by e-mail. Playing with Words shows how every facet of language is exploited for humour. Where a word has multiple meanings or sounds like another, this is the basis for puns (A boiled egg is hard to beat). The word-building rules are used for clever compounds, smart blends and catchy phrases as in circulated by word of mouse. Ambiguities in the syntax afford further scope for humour (Miners refuse to work after death), and the sounds of words can be exploited in humorous verse. There is also humour to be found in slips of the tongue, malapropisms, and funny misspellings. Playing with Words also covers the subject matter of humour and the part it plays in society. It is an informed account in non-technical language and full of examples. Author: Barry J. Blake. (181 pages) Level: Gymnasiet

A very attractive, authoritative and accessible history and status of the English language, with lots of teachable sections:
Born as a Germanic tongue with the arrival in Britain of the Anglo-Saxons in the early medieval period, heavily influenced by Norman French from the 11th century, and finally emerging as modern English from the late Middle Ages, the English language has grown to become the linguistic equivalent of a superpower, and is now often described as the world's lingua franca. Worldwide some 380 million people speak English as a first language and some 600 million as a second language. A staggering one billion people are believed to be learning it. English is the premier international language in communications, science, business, aviation, entertainment, and diplomacy and also on the Internet. It is considered by many good judges to be well on the way to becoming the world's first universal language. This is the story of the English language in all its variety. Read about the origins and changing definitions of common words such as OK, beserk, curfew, cabal and pow-wow. Read about the massive transformations wrought in the vocabulary and structure of the language by the Anglo-Saxon and Norman conquests. Read about the literary triumphs of Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales and the works of Shakespeare. The Story of English is a tale of linguistic, social and cultural transformation. Author: Philip Gooden. Large format illustrated hardback. (223 pages)

Table of Contents: Introduction — A Universal Language?; Early English: The Celts and the Romans; The Anglo-Saxons; The Viking Effect; Middle English: The Norman Conquest; Chaucer's English; Developing English: The Age of Shakespeare; Faith and Science; A New-Found Language; Modern English: The Age of Doctor Johnson; American Independence; Global English: The Spread of English; The Nineteenth Century; English in Today's World: English Now; The Future of English; English Matters: English: Right and Wrong; English: Taking Sides; Glossary

Contents: 1. You speak a language that I understand not: myths and realities; 2. Now, sir, what is your text?: knowing the sources; 3. In print I found it: Shakespeare graphology; 4. Know my stops: Shakespearean punctuation; 5. Speak the speech: Shakespearean phonology; 6. Trippingly upon the tongue: Shakespearean pronunciation; 7. Think on my words: Shakespearean vocabulary; 8. Talk of a noun and a verb: Shakespearean grammar; 9. Hear sweet discourse: Shakespearean conversation; Epilogue: Your daring tongue: Shakespearean creativity; Appendix: an A-to-Z of Shakespeares false friends.