English in Action
Teachers Learning Abroad – UK
Oxford University
The Story and Future of English
July 16-22, 2017 (1 week)
Course Description
From its Anglo-Saxon origins over two thousand years ago, as a minor guttural Germanic dialect, the
English language today is the dominant language of commerce and culture. There are more than two
billion English speakers around the world. Two-fifths of the world’s population use English as a
primary or secondary language. English is the language of more than half the world’s newspapers.
Over its history English has been the medium of invasion, conquest, colonization, religion, power, and
culture. It has constantly re-invented itself. It has evolved, with new vocabulary and borrowing words
from other languages it has encountered. It is a story that takes us across time and geography, from 5th
century Friesland to 21st century Singapore.
The many strands of English (Standard English, dialect and slang among them) have developed to create
the richly-varied language of today. A language providing the words by which we describe the way we
live, think, and through which we express ourselves.
This program, drawing on the expertise of scholars at Oxford University, will explore the fascinating
story of the development of English, from its beginnings to the global influence it exerts today. It will
comprise 15 hours of presentations and lectures, plus visits to the Oxford English Dictionary Archives at
Oxford University Press and also the Bodleian Library, Oxford University. Speakers will be from the
Oxford English Dictionary and the Oxford English Faculty.
Who should apply?
Appropriate for English, history and communications teachers of all experience levels (including preservice and retired), and others who are eager to engage in study with world-class educators in an
historic university.
Application is available online until April 15, 2017, or until course is filled. While this course is noncompetitive, it is limited to 30 participants and scholars will be accepted on a rolling basis.
After the course, continue the conversation back at home with membership in the ESU and ESU
Teacher-Scholar Consortium.
THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING UNION OF THE UNITED STATES
144 East 39th Street, New York, NY 10016
212-818-1200 [email protected] www.esu-tlab.org
Program Cost
$2,750 current classroom teachers and early applicants by February 15, 2017
$2,950 all others ready to engage in an Oxford adventure
Program cost includes accommodation in Worcester College in a single room with an en-suite and half
board (breakfast and dinner). Program cost does not include travel, travel insurance, medical insurance,
additional meals, or any other incidentals. ESU Scholarships are not available for this program, but the
ESU will supply letters of support for grant or scholarship applications.
Deposit of $500 is required with application. Invoice for balance of program cost is sent ten weeks prior
to course, at which point the exchange rate from pound sterling to U.S. dollars is set based on current
exchange rate, including transaction fees. Full balance is due eight weeks prior to course.
Refund Policy
Deposit is non-refundable for accepted applications. Full balance is due eight weeks prior to course.
This course is non-refundable, barring insufficient enrollment in the course, in which case deposit will
be refunded in full. If you are not able to attend the course due to emergency circumstances, you will be
refunded minus an administration fee only if there is a waitlist applicant who will be able to attend the
program in your place.
Professional Development Contact Hours and Credit
This course incorporates approximately 30 professional contact hours. All participants who complete
the course receive a certificate of attendance.
Travel and Housing Arrangements
Housing is included in the program cost. You will be notified of further arrangements upon acceptance
to the program.
You are responsible for arranging your travel to and from the U.K. Oxford and the ESU will provide
you with guidelines to make necessary arrangements. You are responsible for travel insurance, which
the ESU strongly suggests you purchase.
You must have a valid passport to travel to the U.K. Passport must be valid for the duration of your stay
and it is recommended it is valid up to six months after your entry date.
Terms and Conditions/Liability
Participants are billed ten weeks prior to program in U.S. dollars, based on current exchange rates and
including transaction fees. Full balance is due from participants eight weeks prior to course start date.
Program cost is non-refundable.
The program fee includes room and half board (breakfast and dinner). You are responsible for travel,
travel insurance, medical insurance, additional meals, or other incidentals.
The English-Speaking Union (ESU) reserves the right to change predetermined course schedules should
it be necessary. The ESU reserves the right to cancel course in case of insufficient enrollment. The
ESU is not responsible for any entities that provide services during your course, including but not
limited to the institution with which you are studying, housing or accommodation facilities, airline, or
other travel agencies. In participating in this TLab-UK program you must agree to sign the ESU’s
Waiver and Release of Liability.
Featured Faculty
Dr. Helen Appleton – Career Development Fellow, Balliol College, University of Oxford. Dr.
Appleton’s research focuses on pre- and post-conquest English literature.
Dr. Sandie Byrne – Associate Professor in English Literature and Creative Writing. Teaching
includes English Literature (1740-present), critical theory, and critical reading.
Peter Gilliver – Lexicographer and Associate Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, and
author of The Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (2016).
David Grylls – Founding Fellow of Kellogg College, University of Oxford, and Departmental
tutor and book reviewer for the Sunday Times. His scholarly work has concentrated on the
nineteenth century.
Prof. Simon Horobin – Professor of English Language and Literature; Tutorial Fellow,
Magdalen College, University of Oxford. Research includes the history of the English language,
especially in the Medieval period.
Dr. Francis Leneghan – Associate Professor of Old English and Non-Tutorial Fellow, with a
research focus on intersections between politics, religion, and literature in Anglo-Saxon England.
Brian McMahon – Scholar and researcher of Old Norse Literature, focusing on the figure of the
itinerant storyteller in eddic and saga literature.
Prof. Lynda Mugglestone – Fellow and Tutor in English Language and Literature, Professor of
the History of English, Pembroke College, University of Oxford. Prof. Mugglestone’s teaching
includes English language from Old English (1400-present day).
Dr. Lynn Robson – Supernumerary Fellow in English, Regent’s Park College, University of
Oxford. Research interests include early modern print culture.
TIMETABLE FOR THE ENGLISH SPEAKING UNION PROGRAMME AT OXFORD
SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Sunday 16 July – Saturday 22 July 2017
Worcester College
Sunday 16 July
Monday 17 July
Tuesday 18 July
Wednesday 19 July
Thursday 20 July
Friday 21 July
Saturday 22 July
AM Arrival
8.00am – 9.00am Breakfast
Hall
8.00am – 9.00am Breakfast
Hall
8.00am – 9.00am Breakfast
Hall
8.00am – 9.00am Breakfast
Hall
8.00am – 9.00am Breakfast
Hall
8.00am – 9.00am
Breakfast
Hall
9.15am – 10.45am
Old English and Old Norse: A
Linguistic Conquest
9.00am – 10.30am
What is Old
English?
9.00am – 10.30am
Jane Austen’s Language
Brian McMahon
Dr Francis Leneghan
9.00am – 10.30am
“Fire-new words"
"
: Shakespeare's Dramatic
Language'
Dr Lynn Robson
9.00am – 10.30am
Writing and
Reading Words in War-Time.
P
rofessor Lynda Mugglestone
10.45am – 11.15am
Coffee
Linbury Foyer
10.30am – 11.00am
Coffee
Linbury Foyer
10.30am – 11.00am
Coffee
Linbury Foyer
10.30am – 11.00am
Coffee
Linbury Foyer
10.30am – 11.00am
Coffee
Linbury Foyer
11.15am – 12.45pm
" ivided by a common lanD
guage"
? British and American
English.
11.00am – 12.30pm
Wrought in the Middle: English Writing in the Later
Medieval Period
11.00am – 12.30pm
The Making of the Oxford
English Dictionary
11.00am – 12.30pm
The Future of English
11.00am – 12.30pm
David Grylls
Dr Helen Appleton
2.00pm – 4.00pm
Oxford Walking Tour with Blue
Badge Guides
2.00pm – 4.30pm
Visit: Keble
College
2.00pm – 4.30pm
Visit: Ashmolean Museum
2.00pm – 4.30pm
Visit: Weston & Bodleian
Libraries
6.30pm – 7.00pm
Closing Reception
Cloisters
Evening meal in
Dining Hall
Evening meal in Dining Hall
Evening meal in Dining Hall
Evening meal in Dining Hall
Evening meal in Dining Hall
5.45pm
Orientation
Dr Sandie Byrne
TBD
Professor Simon Horobin
Peter Gilliver
6.30pm
Opening
Reception
DEPARTURE DAY