GRADUATE COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION READING LIST SELECTED BY THE GRADUATE FACULTY
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MA candidates who sit for the English language examination should be able to demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of the history of the language, linguistics, and grammar. Area experts from among the graduate faculty offer the following works for students to select from in preparing for the exam:
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE:
John Algeo. The Origins and Development of the English Language (4th edition or later) (and Workbook)
Albert Baugh and Thomas Cable. A History of the English Language
N. F. Blake. A History of the English Language
Jenny Cheshire. English around the World
David Crystal. English as a Global Language
---. English as a Global Language
---. The Stories of English
Richard Hogg, gen. ed. The Cambridge History of the English Language, Volumes 1-6
Dick Leith. A Social History of English
C.M. Millward. A Biography of the English Language (and Workbook)
Laura Wright, ed. The Development of Standard English: 1300-1800
LINGUISTICS:
David Crystal. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (2nd edition)
Edward Finegan. Language: Its Structure and Use (6th edition or earlier)
Edward Finegan and John Rickford, eds. Language in the U.S.A.: Themes for the 21st Century
Thomas W. Steward, Jr., and Nathan Vaillette, eds. Language Files: Materials for an Introduction to Language and Linguistics. (9th edition or later)
GRAMMAR:
Thomas Klammer, Muriel Schulz, and Angela Della Volpe. Analyzing English Grammar (4th edition or later)
Martha Kolln and Robert Funk. Understanding English Grammar (6th edition or later)
Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum. A University Grammar of English
*Rev. 1 August 2014