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This class will provide students with a comprehensive, in-depth look at two importance aspects of English mastery: spelling and punctuation. The course will engage the students on multiple levels, requiring them to utilize and improve their reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills throughout the semester. In addition to practicing the spelling and punctuation of modern English, the students will gain knowledge of the historical roots our alphabet as well as of our spelling and punctuation conventions. The goals of the course are to sensitize students to the rich history of English spelling and punctuation, to empower students to skillfully write and edit texts in English in terms of spelling and punctuation, to help students with their own "pet peeves" regarding spelling and punctuation, and to demonstrate to the students that such ostensibly dry content can be both fun and rewarding. In order to bring the historical side of things to life, a guest lecturer will be joining the course for a couple of sessions, our very own Medieval Studies expert, Prof. Dr. Thomas Honegger.
UPDATE (April 2, 2020): Given the current situation due to the corona virus, this class will start on May 5, 2020, and it will be taught by means of a combination of our course management platform (Wordwise) and a video conferencing tool (Zoom). In order for you to use the time between now and May 5 wisely, I would like to ask you all to read a book called The Alphabet by David Sacks (ISBN:978-0099436829, 2004 version). Our alphabet is of course central to English spelling, so an understanding of the history of the alphabet will help us to appreciate our 26 letters a bit more. The chapters on the letters themselves are fairly short, so I would ask you to take notes about whatever you find to be most interesting and relevant when it comes to the history of the individual letters. The contents of this book will definitely find their way into the final exam for this course, but because of the current state of affairs it is as yet unclear what an exam might entail. I will be sure to let you know as soon as I know. Towards the end of April I will send you the information you will need in order to access Wordwise and the weekly Zoom sessions. If you have any questions, please write me an email. |
