COURSE [ENG-3204]

English in Diverse World Contexts

Course Title: English in Diverse World Contexts

Course Code: ENG-3204

Credits: 3:00

Contact Hours: 3 Hrs/Week

Total Marks: 100

Instructor: Farah Diba Yasmin, Lecturer, English Department, BU

Contact: farah.diba@bu.edu.bd

Lecture Hours: Tuesday, 12:00-1:30, Thursday, 10:30-12:00

Consult Hours: Tuesday, 3:30-5:00 or by appointment. .

Week: 1 Lesson 1 & 2

Topic: English as an International Language

This session includes these topics:

1. Orientation of the course and the syllabus.

2. Description of English as an International Language

3. Historical reasons
Canada

The first English-language contact with Canada was as early as 1497, when John Cabot is

thought to have reached New- foundland; but English migration along the Atlantic coast

did not develop until a century later, when the farming, fishing, and fur- trading

industries attracted English-speaking settlers.

The next major development followed the US Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Loyalist supporters of Britain (the ‘United Empire Loyalists’) found themselves unable to

stay in the new United States, and most left for Canada, settling first in what is now Nova

Scotia, then moving to New Brunswick and further in- land. They were soon followed by

many thousands (the so-called ‘late Loyalists’) who were attracted by the cheapness of

land, especially in the area known as Upper Canada (above Montreal and north of the

Great Lakes). Within fifty years, the population of this province had reached 100,000.

Over 31 million were estimated in 2001, with two-thirds claiming English as a native or

home language.

Because of its origins, Canadian English has a great deal in common with the rest of

the English spoken in North America, and those who live outside Canada often find it

difficult to hear the difference. Many British people identify a Canadian accent as

American; many Americans identify it as British. Canadians themselves insist on not

being identified with either group, and certainly the variety does display a number of

unique features. In addition, the presence of French as a co-official language, chiefly

spoken in Quebec, produces a sociolinguistic situation not found in other English-

speaking countries.