Welcome to English (1-30) 30,0 Credits

Information from the course co-ordinator

Your full commitment to this course is essential. If you have registered for the course but no longer wish to take it, you should submit a withdrawal (avbrott) in Ladok. This ensures that your place can be offered to someone on the reserve list during the first two weeks of the semester.

A mandatory roll call session will be held on Zoom in connection with your first seminar in week 4. The schedule, including the exact time and Zoom link, will be published in Kronox four weeks before the course begins. If you are unable to attend the roll call but intend to study the course, you must contact the course coordinator before the meeting takes place and briefly explain in writing why you wish to study English. Preparation work will be required before the first seminar, so you must make sure that you gain access to the course page on Canvas and read all announcements and material posted by the course coordinator and instructors before the course starts.

As this course runs at 50 percent study pace, you should plan to devote approximately 20 hours per week to lectures, seminars, reading and written assignments. Studying 15 credits in one term is equivalent to a half-time workload.

You will complete five modules in total within this course: Language Structure (7.5 hp), Written Communication (7.5 hp), World English (3 hp), Culture, Ethnicity and Identity (4.5 hp) and Contemporary Literature in English (7.5 hp). During the spring term of 2026, the following modules will be taught: Culture, Ethnicity and Identity (weeks 4–8), Contemporary Literature in English (weeks 9–18) and World English (weeks 19–23). The remaining modules will be taught during the autumn term of 2026.

Please ensure that you order the literature for the first module, John McLeod’s Beginning Postcolonialism (2nd edition, 2010), ISBN 9780719078583, well in advance. It is important that you obtain the correct edition listed on the official literature list. For Contemporary Literature in English, you will read all novels on the literature list apart from Heart of Darkness. The short-story collection Games at Twilight will also not be read in this course. The course book for World English, Marko Modiano’s Teaching English in a European and Global Perspective, is available as a free ebook through the university library.

More detailed information about each module, including content, learning outcomes and assessment procedures, will be provided by the instructors on Canvas. All modules require a high degree of attendance to receive a passing grade, with at least one scheduled seminar per week and other compulsory examinations that must be prioritized in your timetable. Additional details will be published on Canvas in good time before each module begins.

It is important that you log in to Canvas well before the course starts, as this will be our main channel for communication. Canvas is where you will find essential course material such as the timetable, instructions and additional resources. It is also where the course coordinator will post general announcements about the course. The email client will be used when individual communication is required. You should therefore check both the course page and your email regularly and make sure that your Canvas notifications are activated. Please note that the Canvas calendar is not your class schedule; it only shows deadlines for Canvas assignments. Your class schedule is available in Kronox through the university website.

We will meet in a virtual classroom using Zoom. Information about how to access the Zoom classroom will be posted on Canvas. To ensure good audio and video quality, it is important that you have a stable and reliable internet connection. It is also important that you use a headset with a microphone instead of relying on your computer’s built-in microphone. A functioning camera is essential for communication during seminars and other interactive activities. Please note that iPads and iPhones do not work sufficiently for these purposes.

Cheating and plagiarizing are serious academic offenses that can result in failing the module in question and being reported to the university’s disciplinary board. You are required to complete a knowledge test on cheating in Canvas before submitting any assignments in the course. It is also your responsibility to read the university’s information for new students, including how to register and how to access the different digital resources, well in advance of the course start.