- UCAS course code
- QR32
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA English Language and German
- Typical A-level offer: ABB
- Typical contextual A-level offer: BBC
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: BBC
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 34 points overall with 6,6,5 at HL
Fees and funding
Fees
Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students will be £26,500 per annum. For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.
Policy on additional costs
All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).
Scholarships/sponsorships
Course unit details:
German Dialects
Unit code | GERM30341 |
---|---|
Credit rating | 20 |
Unit level | Level 3 |
Teaching period(s) | Semester 1 |
Available as a free choice unit? | Yes |
Overview
Dialects are living history. Contrary to popular belief, they are not “corrupt” or “lazy” forms of a language but represent older forms and structures that may have been lost in the modern standard language. So, this course unit takes you on a journey, not just through different parts of the German-speaking countries but also through time – giving you a chance to listen to a range of regional dialects as we hear them today and tracing them back through parts of their history over more than 1,500 years.
Pre/co-requisites
Available on which programme(s)? | Programmes with German Studies |
Available as Free Choice (UG) or to other programmes (PG)? | Yes, subject to adequate German language skills and willingness to acquire basic concepts in phonetics independently if necessary |
Available to students on an Erasmus programme | Yes |
Pre/Co/Antirequisite units | Normally GERM10040 Introduction to German Linguistics, or by consent of Course Unit Director. Students must be able to read German very well. |
Language of instruction | English |
Aims
-
To expand students’ knowledge of a range of regional varieties of German
-
To raise students’ awareness of the nature of regional dialects as living records of different historical processes that have shaped the German language over the past 1,500 years
-
To introduce students to a range of techniques of linguistic investigation, from observation of unmonitored linguistic behaviour to tightly focussed questionnaire-based study
-
To foster an appreciation of the social significance of dialect use, ranging from the stigma of educational disadvantage to the covert prestige of local group membership
-
To demonstrate to students the gradual development of the field of dialect geography over seven centuries, from the incidental beginnings to the highly sophisticated and technologically advanced studies of today
Knowledge and understanding
On successful completion of the course unit, students will be able to:
show an appreciation of the range of regional varieties of German
discuss the difficulties of defining the concept of ‘dialect’
critically review the aims and methods of dialect geography
give a structured and detailed account of the key phonetic and phonological (as well as some morpho-syntactic and lexical) characteristics of a broad range of German dialect groups
Intellectual skills
The course unit will provide opportunities for students to enhance their ability to
critically evaluate specific techniques of data collection and their suitability for certain purposes
collect, sift and evaluate arguments and factual evidence from published sources in order to shape these into a balanced and coherent discussion of key issues in dialect geography
Practical skills
The course unit will provide opportunities for students to develop an ability to
apply specific linguistic concepts to real-world (as well as fictitious) language data
critically read and interpret phonetic transcriptions of dialect data, in conjunction with audio recordings of the same material
identify a given sample of dialect material as belonging to a particular dialect group on the basis of their knowledge of key characteristics of certain groups of Low, Middle and Upper German dialects
draw and interpret dialect maps
gather evidence from a set of linguistic data to support or refute a particular hypothesis
Transferable skills and personal qualities
On successful completion of the course unit, students will have further developed the following skills or competencies:
working collaboratively (in a group) to analyse given material according to specified criteria
presenting findings orally in a clear and accessible manner, using appropriate terminology
reading published material critically
viewing a given issue from the perspective of someone else’s intellectual position
Employability skills
- Other
- On successful completion of the course unit, students will have further developed the following skills or competencies: ¿ German language skills ¿ intercultural awareness ¿ ability to critically interpret statistical information (e.g. data on dialect usage or variables) ¿ project planning and implementation (in the context of some coursework essay topics) ¿ time management
Assessment methods
Assessment task | Formative or Summative | Weighting within unit (if Summative) |
Open-book online written examination | Summative | 40% |
Coursework essay/project report | Summative | 60% |
Resit Assessment
Coursework essay/project report |
Feedback methods
Feedback method | Formative or Summative |
Written and/or face-to-face feedback on essay/project plan | Formative |
Written feedback on coursework essay/project report | Formative and Summative |
Feedback on exam technique and subject competence to students who submit up to two answers to exam questions from previous years | Formative |
Written and, where possible, face-to-face feedback on exam performance (on request) | Formative and Summative |
Recommended reading
Besch, Werner, Ulrich Knoop, Wolfgang Putschke & Herbert Ernst Wiegand (eds.). 1982/1983. Dialektologie: ein Handbuch zur deutschen und allgemeinen Dialektforschung (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft 1.1 & 1.2). Berlin: de Gruyter.
Boberg, Charles, John Nerbonne & Dominic Watt (eds.). 2018. The Handbook of Dialectology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Chambers, J.K. & Peter Trudgill. 1998. Dialectology. 2nd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache. https://www.dwds.de
Keller, Rudolf E. 1961. German dialects: phonology and morphology. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
König, Werner. 2004. dtv-Atlas zur deutschen Sprache. 14th edn. Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag.
Löffler, Heinrich. 2003. Dialektologie: eine Einführung. Tübingen: Narr.
Niebaum, Hermann & Jürgen Macha. 2014. Einführung in die Dialektologie des Deutschen. 3rd edn. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
Russ, Charles V.J. (ed.). 1990. The dialects of Modern German: a linguistic survey. London: Routledge.
Stedje, Astrid. 2007. Deutsche Sprache gestern und heute: Einführung in Sprachgeschichte und Sprachkunde. Stuttgart: UTB.
Wray, Alison & Aileen Bloomer. 2012. Projects in linguistics and language studies: a practical guide to researching language. 3rd edn. London: Routledge.
Study hours
Scheduled activity hours | |
---|---|
Assessment written exam | 1 |
Seminars | 33 |
Independent study hours | |
---|---|
Independent study | 166 |
Teaching staff
Staff member | Role |
---|---|
Wiebke Brockhaus-Grand | Unit coordinator |