This is a temporary version, not fully checked, and due for a reformat, general up-date, face-lift and haircut. MWS, June Attending courses is only a small part of the study of English language and literature. The major part consists in reading. You will have to do a great deal of required as well as independent reading. The present list is meant to assist you in choosing from the vast canon of primary and secondary material. It contains study recommendations. We know that there are an awful lot of books out there, and we have therefore divided our recommendations into many smaller sections.
We hope that this will help you to see the wood for the trees, and to organize your studies in the best way possible. Partly, our list reflects the particular research and teaching interests of the staff. So please try to obtain an overview of English language and literature by consulting, among other things , the specific handbooks and make your own choice of reading and study topics, depending on your particular motivation and prior knowledge.
In your study of English, it is important for you to become familiar with standard reference books on the English language. Here is some basic information, particularly relevant for sprachpraktische Übungen. You should know well, and use frequently, at least.
Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary. Sinclair, J. Significantly different from other dictionaries, since all illustrations of usage are real, attested examples. No rare words, since it is restricted to words which occur fairly frequently. Also shorter students' versions. The edition is completely revised and based on a corpus of some million words of contemporary English. Collins Dictionary of the English Language. Hanks, P. A traditional British dictionary. Large number of head words, including biographical, geographical entries, etc.
Webster's New World Dictionary of American English. A major new dictionary. Good on idiomatic usage. Also shorter student versions. The Collins and Langenscheidt dictionaries are also useful. Greenbaum, S. London: Longman. New York: HarperCollins. All examples of usage are attested in real corpus data. Particularly strong on which words occur in which grammatical constructions. Sutcliffe, A. Good book for learning practicing coherent structure organization, strategies and styles of expository writing.
