The Bible, Shakespeare and Faulkner: Inspiring Texts That Can Be Used for Teaching Linguistics

Abstract

This article describes some possibilities for using literary and Biblical texts in linguistics classes in order to achieve certain learning outcomes. The first part focuses on excerpts from Shake­speare and the King James Bible and how to exploit their potential for introducing students to Early Modern English in a “History of the English Language” course; while the second discusses how William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury can provide an inspiring start­ing point for students to explore some features of African-American Vernacular English in a “Varieties of English” class.