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This course provides an overview of the varieties of English spoken on the North American continent. Considering the settlement history of the United States and Canada, we will investigate how the different settler groups shaped the development of regional dialects and how contact with speakers from other languages resulted in the emergence of such contact varieties as African American English and Chicano English. The major aim of the seminar will be to trace the changes and developments in North American Englishes over the centuries as well as examine current changes in progress. In doing so, we will characterise North American varieties in terms of their linguistic features and examine to what extent variation in the use of these features is determined by extra-linguistic variables such as gender, age and ethnicity.