Suggested preparatory readings for students who have studied English Language at A Level
Most of the students we make offers to have studied English Language in some form at A Level and will be well-prepared for undergraduate study. However, degree-level work will inevitably pose new challenges, and we therefore provide below a list of books that you may want to choose from if you decide to do some preparatory readings before October. Reading just one or two books will certainly make a difference to your ability to do well on the courses you will take when you come to Lancaster.
We have divided the books into different areas according to the main degree schemes we offer, but there are overlaps between some areas, so that some books are listed under more than one heading. If you are going to study on a combined degree scheme, you may find that more than one of the headings below is relevant to you..
Most of these books are recommended here because they provide accessible introductions to relevant areas. As a consequence, they may not be used on the courses you will take. However, we have marked with an asterisk * those books which are used as textbooks at Lancaster.
- English Language
- Linguistics
- Sociolinguistics
- English Language and Literature
- English Language and Creative Writing
- English Language in the Media
English Language
Start with one (or more) of the first three entries in this list and then try one or two of the others.
Bloomer, A., Griffiths, P. and A. J. Merrison (2005) Introducing Language in Use. Routledge.
Crystal, D. (2002) The English Language, Penguin
Crystal, D. (2003) (2nd edn) The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English Language, Cambridge University Press (read a couple of entries a day from this book, in any order you like, until you have read a significant portion of the book, if not all of it, to get a sense of the breadth of English Language study)
* Culpeper, J. Katamba, F., Kerswill, P., Wodak, R. and T. McEnery (2009) English Language: Description, Variation and Context, Palgrave Macmillan (this book, which has 39 chapters on different aspects of English Language study is written by members of the department and so will help to give you a sense of what we are like as well as what the linguistic study of the English language is like).
* Hughes, A., P. Trudgill and D. Watt (2005) English Accents and Dialects, Arnold (CD can be purchased)
Linguistics
Start with one (or both) of the first two entries in this list and then try one or two of the others.
Crystal, D. (1997) The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language, Cambridge University Press (read a couple of entries a day from this book, in any order you like, until you have read a significant portion of the book, if not all of it, to get a sense of the breadth of the study of Linguistics)
Culpeper, J. Katamba, F., Kerswill, P., Wodak, R. and T. McEnery (2009) English Language: Description, Variation and Context, Palgrave Macmillan (this book, which has 39 chapters on different aspects of English Language study is written by members of the department and so will help to give you a sense of what we are like as well as what the linguistic study of the English language is like).
Aitchison, J. (2000) Language Change: Progress or Decay, Cambridge University Press.
Aitchison, J (2000) The Seeds of Speech, Cambridge University Press.
Aitchison, J. (2002) Words in the Mind: An Introduction to the Mental Lexicon, Cambridge University Press.
Aitchison, J. (2007) The Articulate Mammal: An Introduction to Psycholinguistics, Cambridge University Press.
Ashby, P. (2005), Speech Sounds, London: Routledge
Crystal, D. (1990) Linguistics, Penguin
Fabb, N. (2005) Sentence Structure, Routledge
Nettle, D. and Romaine, S. (2000) Vanishing Voices: The Extinction of the World's Languages, Oxford University Press.
Pinker, S. (1999) Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language, Phoenix.
Pinker, S. (2003) The Language Instinct, Penguin
Pinker, S. (2008) The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature, Penguin.
You may also find the web links below helpful:
Sociolinguistics
Start with one (or both) of the first two entries in this list and then try one or two of the others.
Crystal, D. (1997) The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language, Cambridge University Press (read a couple of entries a day from this book, in any order you like, until you have read a significant portion of the book, if not all of it, to get a sense of the breadth of the study of Linguistics, including Sociolinguistics)
* Culpeper, J. Katamba, F., Kerswill, P., Wodak, R. and T. McEnery (2009) English Language: Description, Variation and Context, Palgrave Macmillan (this book, which has 39 chapters on different aspects of English Language study is written by members of the department and so will help to give you a sense of what we are like as well as what the linguistic, including sociolinguistic study of the English language is like).
* Holmes, J. (2008) An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, Longman
Stockwell, P. (2007) Sociolinguistics: a resource book for students. Routledge
Romaine, S. (2000) Language in Society, Oxford University Press (second edition)
Trudgill, P (2000) Sociolinguistics: An Introduction, Penguin
Wardhaugh, Ronald (2006). An introduction to sociolinguistics. Blackwell.
Mesthrie, R, Swann, J., Deumert A and Leap, W (2000) Introducing Sociolinguistics. Edinburgh University Press.
English Language and Literature
Read at least one of the books listed under 'English Language', plus at least one of the following:
Carter, R. et al. (2001) Working with Texts (2nd edition), Routledge
Gregoriou, C. English Literary Stylistics, Palgrave Macmillan
* Short, M. (1996) Exploring the Language of Poems, Plays and Prose, Longman
* Short, M. (2003) Language and Style web-based course http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/projects/stylistics/index.htm (this web-based course, which is freely available worldwide is used as part of the term 2 Language and Style course, so it will give you a good sense of the course as well as helping you with your A-level English Language/Literature work)
Simpson, P. (1996) Language Through Literature, Routledge
English Language and Creative Writing
Read at least one of the books listed under 'English Language', plus at least one of the following:
Carter, R. et al. (2001) Working with Texts (2nd edition), Routledge
Nash, W. (1998) Language and Creative Illusion, Longman
Nash, W. and Stacey, D. E. (1997) Creating Texts: An Introduction to the Study of Composition, Longman
Gregoriou, C. English Literary Stylistics, Palgrave Macmillan
* Short, M. (1996) Exploring the Language of Poems, Plays and Prose, Longman
* Short, M. (2003) Language and Style web-based course http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/projects/stylistics/index.htm (this web-based course, which is freely available worldwide is used as part of the term 2 Language and Style course [compulsory for students taking English Language and Creative Writing], so it will give you a good sense of the course as well as helping you with your A-level English Language/Literature work)
Simpson, P. (1996) Language Through Literature, Routledge
English Language in the Media
Read at least one of the books listed under 'English Language', plus at least one of the following:
Curran, J. and Gurevitch, M. (eds.) (2000) Mass Media and Society, Arnold
Goddard, A. (2002) The Language of Advertising (2nd edition), Routledge
Marshall, J. and Werndley, A. (2002) The Language of Television, Routledge
McLoughlin, L. (2000) The Language of Magazines, Routledge
Myers, G. (1994) Words in Ads, Arnold
Myers, G. (1999) Ad Worlds, Arnold
Newbold, C., Boyd-Barrett, O. and van den Bulck, H. (eds.) (2002) The Media Book, Oxford University Press
Reah, D. (2002) The Language of Newspapers (2nd edition), Routledge