Knowing a little bit about its history can open up new perspectives on a language and its cultural heritage. For teachers, this may offer a source of renewed interest in their subject as well as insight into some of its discrete linguistic features.
The status (or near dominance) of English as a global language makes it all the more essential for teachers of English to have at least a cursory understanding of its roots, development and relationship to other languages. Understanding where it has been may shed some light on where it is going.
Kevin Collins has been teaching the history of English at Wakayama University for several years. In this presentation, he will survey some of the major highlights of this fascinating story and share some of his reflections on ways that it can revitalize and improve our work as teachers.
Please come. There’s a pretty good chance you will never look at English the same way again.
