183-628: The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh language in Argentina ); encouraging cultural, scientific, technological and educational cooperation with the United Kingdom. The organisation has been called
366-537: A West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , whose speakers, called Anglophones , originated in early medieval England on the island of Great Britain . The namesake of the language is the Angles , one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to Britain . It is the most spoken language in the world, primarily due to the global influences of the former British Empire (succeeded by
549-553: A mixed language or a creole —a theory called the Middle English creole hypothesis . Although the great influence of these languages on the vocabulary and grammar of Modern English is widely acknowledged, most specialists in language contact do not consider English to be a true mixed language. English is classified as a Germanic language because it shares innovations with other Germanic languages including Dutch , German , and Swedish . These shared innovations show that
732-542: A soft power extension of UK foreign policy, as well as a tool for propaganda . The British Council is governed by a Royal Charter . It is also a public corporation and an executive non-departmental public body (NDPB), sponsored by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office . Its headquarters are in Stratford , London. Its chair is Paul Thompson and its chief executive is Scott McDonald. The British Council
915-644: A 2012 official Eurobarometer poll (conducted when the UK was still a member of the EU), 38 percent of the EU respondents outside the countries where English is an official language said they could speak English well enough to have a conversation in that language. The next most commonly mentioned foreign language, French (which is the most widely known foreign language in the UK and Ireland), could be used in conversation by 12 percent of respondents. A working knowledge of English has become
1098-445: A Royal Commission in 1862 and later spread to other universities. Those attending University College were expected to bring a servant with them to deal with cooking, cleaning and so on. The level of applications to Bishop Hatfield's Hall led to a second hall along similar lines, Bishop Cosin's Hall , being founded in 1851, although this only survived until 1864. Elsewhere, the university expanded from Durham into Newcastle in 1852 when
1281-466: A consortium led by Interserve would design, build and operate two colleges at Mount Oswald (new buildings for John Snow College and one new college ) for £105 million. The project company (in which the university has a 15 per cent stake) financed the construction via a £90 million 46-year bond issue. The two colleges opened in 2020. Separately, the university announced that it had raised £225 million to fund its estate masterplan through
1464-524: A court order, closed down the venue scheduled to host the Festival's closing event since there was Palestinian Authority involvement, but the British Council stepped in and the evening was relocated to its grounds. The British Council supports the festival, also known as PalFest. A controversial issue arose in 2012 because PalFest's website states that they endorse the "2004 Palestinian call for
1647-658: A distinct language from Modern English and is virtually impossible for 21st-century unstudied English-speakers to understand. Its grammar was similar to that of modern German: nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs had many more inflectional endings and forms , and word order was much freer than in Modern English. Modern English has case forms in pronouns ( he , him , his ) and has a few verb inflections ( speak , speaks , speaking , spoke , spoken ), but Old English had case endings in nouns as well, and verbs had more person and number endings. Its closest relative
1830-490: A foreign language, make up the "expanding circle". The distinctions between English as a first language, as a second language, and as a foreign language are often debatable and may change in particular countries over time. For example, in the Netherlands and some other countries of Europe, knowledge of English as a second language is nearly universal, with over 80 percent of the population able to use it, and thus English
2013-690: A former Literature Director of the British Council itself. In March 2007, the British Council announced its "intention to increase its investment in the Middle East , North Africa and Central and Southern Asia ". In June 2007, MPs were told of further closures in Tel Aviv and East Jerusalem (where there had been a British Council Library since 1946). The British Council libraries in Athens and Belgrade were also scheduled to close. Similarly in India,
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#17327657140582196-540: A humorous way by Lawrence Durrell in his collection of anecdotes about a diplomat's life on foreign postings for the Foreign Office – Antrobus Complete . In the six Olivia Manning novels that make up The Balkan Trilogy and The Levant Trilogy, Guy Pringle is an employee of the British Council, and Council politics make up several of the plot points. The books portray Eastern Europe and the Middle East in
2379-469: A manuscript which she claims is a novel to an English publisher who she says is "her friend"! It is also featured in one of the scenes in Graham Greene 's The Third Man – the character Crabbin, played by Wilfrid Hyde-White in the film, worked for The British Council. In 1946, the writer George Orwell advised serious authors not to work for it as a day job arguing that "the effort [of writing]
2562-520: A more standard version of English. They have many more speakers of English who acquire English as they grow up through day-to-day use and listening to broadcasting, especially if they attend schools where English is the medium of instruction. Varieties of English learned by non-native speakers born to English-speaking parents may be influenced, especially in their grammar, by the other languages spoken by those learners. Most of those varieties of English include words little used by native speakers of English in
2745-695: A number of other Anglic languages, including Scots and the extinct Fingallian dialect and Yola language of Ireland. Like Icelandic and Faroese , the development of English in the British Isles isolated it from the continental Germanic languages and influences, and it has since diverged considerably. English is not mutually intelligible with any continental Germanic language, as it differs in vocabulary , syntax , and phonology . However, some of these, such as Dutch or Frisian, do show strong affinities with English, especially with its earlier stages. Unlike Icelandic and Faroese, which were isolated,
2928-684: A requirement in a number of occupations and professions such as medicine and computing. English has become so important in scientific publishing that more than 80 percent of all scientific journal articles indexed by Chemical Abstracts in 1998 were written in English, as were 90 percent of all articles in natural science publications by 1996 and 82 percent of articles in humanities publications by 1995. International communities such as international business people may use English as an auxiliary language , with an emphasis on vocabulary suitable for their domain of interest. This has led some scholars to develop
3111-957: A rethink of its strategy in Latin America . In Italy , British Council closed its offices in Turin and Bologna and reduced the size of offices in Milan and Rome (with the closure of the library in the latter). Charles Arnold-Baker , author of the Companion to British History said of the British Council's shift in priorities: "This whole policy is misconstrued from top to bottom. We are going somewhere where we can't succeed and neglecting our friends in Europe who wish us well. The only people who are going to read our books in Beirut or Baghdad are converts already." The article also points out that
3294-407: A rich inflectional morphology and relatively free word order to a mostly analytic pattern with little inflection and a fairly fixed subject–verb–object word order . Modern English relies more on auxiliary verbs and word order for the expression of complex tenses , aspects and moods , as well as passive constructions , interrogatives , and some negation . The earliest form of English
3477-758: A significant minority speaks English. The countries with the most native English speakers are, in descending order, the United States (at least 231 million), the United Kingdom (60 million), Canada (19 million), Australia (at least 17 million), South Africa (4.8 million), Ireland (4.2 million), and New Zealand (3.7 million). In these countries, children of native speakers learn English from their parents, and local people who speak other languages and new immigrants learn English to communicate in their neighbourhoods and workplaces. The inner-circle countries provide
3660-447: A verb ending ( present plural): From the 8th to the 11th centuries, Old English gradually transformed through language contact with Old Norse in some regions. The waves of Norse (Viking) colonisation of northern parts of the British Isles in the 8th and 9th centuries put Old English into intense contact with Old Norse , a North Germanic language. Norse influence was strongest in the north-eastern varieties of Old English spoken in
3843-563: Is Old Frisian , but even some centuries after the Anglo-Saxon migration, Old English retained considerable mutual intelligibility with other Germanic varieties. Even in the 9th and 10th centuries, amidst the Danelaw and other Viking invasions, there is historical evidence that Old Norse and Old English retained considerable mutual intelligibility, although probably the northern dialects of Old English were more similar to Old Norse than
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#17327657140584026-490: Is a charity governed by Royal Charter . It is also a public corporation and an executive nondepartmental public body (NDPB), sponsored by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office . Its headquarters are in Stratford, London. Its chair is Paul Thompson , and its CEO is Scott McDonald . The British Council's total income in 2014–2015 was £973 million principally made up of £154.9 million grant-in-aid received from
4209-601: Is a former Catholic seminary that is a licensed hall of residence of the university. It hosts parts of the Business School and of the Centre for Catholic Studies, with the university having committed to leasing the East Wing until 2027 and to establishing a residential research library at Ushaw. Queen's Campus in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees ( Thornaby , North Yorkshire ) 30 miles from Durham City. Until 2017–18,
4392-609: Is a wing of our Secret Intelligence Services, however minor. Officially it is no such thing but there are connections. Why should it be otherwise because all information is invaluable? After all, the British Council also deals with trade missions and inevitably that involves low-grade intelligence-gathering." In 2005, along with the Alliance française , the Dante Alighieri Society , the Goethe-Institut ,
4575-466: Is also undergoing change under the influence of American English, fuelled by the strong presence of American English in the media and the prestige associated with the United States as a world power. As of 2016 , 400 million people spoke English as their first language , and 1.1 billion spoke it as a secondary language. English is the largest language by number of speakers . English
4758-558: Is also widely used in media and literature, and the number of English language books published annually in India is the third largest in the world after the US and UK. However, English is rarely spoken as a first language, numbering only around a couple hundred-thousand people, and less than 5% of the population speak fluent English in India. David Crystal claimed in 2004 that, combining native and non-native speakers, India now has more people who speak or understand English than any other country in
4941-407: Is an official language of countries populated by few descendants of native speakers of English. It has also become by far the most important language of international communication when people who share no native language meet anywhere in the world. The Indian linguist Braj Kachru distinguished countries where English is spoken with a three circles model . In his model, Kachru based his model on
5124-486: Is called Old English or Anglo-Saxon ( c. 450–1150 ). Old English developed from a set of West Germanic dialects, often grouped as Anglo-Frisian or North Sea Germanic , and originally spoken along the coasts of Frisia , Lower Saxony and southern Jutland by Germanic peoples known to the historical record as the Angles , Saxons , and Jutes . From the 5th century, the Anglo-Saxons settled Britain as
5307-466: Is currently hosted in the UK by Sian Eleri since 2024 - previous hosts include Jamz Supernova, Goldierocks and Andrea Oliver – and many countries take the English language version of the show and create a new show from the tracks and features, translating the 'links' into the local language. The British Council has been running a teacher training programme in North Korea since 2001. In July 2014
5490-817: Is in Berlin . Formally it is to its sponsoring department, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office , that the UK Parliamentary Table Office refers any parliamentary questions about the British Council. The effectiveness of British Council efforts to promote higher education in China was examined in the UK by the House of Commons Select Committee on Education and Skills in a report issued in August 2007. It expressed concern that in terms of joint educational programmes involving Chinese universities,
5673-536: Is often arbitrarily defined as beginning with the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066, but it developed further in the period from 1150 to 1500. With the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the now-Norsified Old English language was subject to another wave of intense contact, this time with Old French , in particular Old Norman French , influencing it as a superstrate. The Norman French spoken by
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5856-535: Is planned to become Durham's 18th college. The Waterside Building, home of the business school 's Department of Management and Marketing from 2024, is on the east bank of the River Wear north (downstream) of the city centre. Boldon House in Pity Me will house some professional services from 2025. The university published a strategy document in 2017 setting out (among other things) a roadmap for development of
6039-424: Is routinely used to communicate with foreigners and often in higher education. In these countries, although English is not used for government business, its widespread use puts them at the boundary between the "outer circle" and "expanding circle". English is unusual among world languages in how many of its users are not native speakers but speakers of English as a second or foreign language. Many users of English in
6222-517: Is spoken by communities on every continent and on islands in all the major oceans. The countries where English is spoken can be grouped into different categories according to how English is used in each country. The "inner circle" countries with many native speakers of English share an international standard of written English and jointly influence speech norms for English around the world. English does not belong to just one country, and it does not belong solely to descendants of English settlers. English
6405-564: Is the sole or dominant language for historical reasons without being explicitly defined by law (such as in the United States and United Kingdom ). It is a co-official language of the United Nations , the European Union , and many other international and regional organisations. It has also become the de facto lingua franca of diplomacy, science , technology, international trade, logistics, tourism, aviation, entertainment, and
6588-777: Is the third person pronoun group beginning with th- ( they, them, their ) which replaced the Anglo-Saxon pronouns with h- ( hie, him, hera ). Other core Norse loanwords include "give", "get", "sky", "skirt", "egg", and "cake", typically displacing a native Anglo-Saxon equivalent. Old Norse in this era retained considerable mutual intelligibility with some dialects of Old English, particularly northern ones. Englischmen þeyz hy hadde fram þe bygynnyng þre manner speche, Souþeron, Northeron, and Myddel speche in þe myddel of þe lond, ... Noþeles by comyxstion and mellyng, furst wiþ Danes, and afterward wiþ Normans, in menye þe contray longage ys asperyed, and som vseþ strange wlaffyng, chyteryng, harryng, and garryng grisbytting. Although, from
6771-528: Is too much to make if one has already squandered one's energies on semi-creative work such as teaching, broadcasting or composing propaganda for bodies such as the British Council". In her autobiography, Dame Stella Rimington , the first woman head of MI5 , mentions working for British Council in India before joining the British Intelligence Services. The British Council was referred to (and its man on-station, Goole ) – frequently in
6954-628: The Alliance française and the Goethe-Institut , unlike the British Council, are both expanding and replenishing libraries Europe-wide. France opened its new library in Tel Aviv in 2007, just a few months after the British Council closed there and shut down the British Council library in West Jerusalem . In Gaza , the Institut français supports the Gaza municipal library in partnership with
7137-485: The Augustinian canon Orrm , which highlights the blending of both Old English and Anglo-Norman elements in English for the first time. In Wycliff'e Bible of the 1380s, the verse Matthew 8:20 was written: Foxis han dennes, and briddis of heuene han nestis . Here the plural suffix -n on the verb have is still retained, but none of the case endings on the nouns are present. By the 12th century Middle English
7320-715: The Bill Bryson Library (named after the writer Bill Bryson , chancellor of the university 2005–2012), Development in the 21st century has included the Arthur Holmes Building (2003; earth sciences; named after Arthur Holmes , Professor of Geology), the Calman Learning Centre (2007; named after Kenneth Calman , vice-chancellor and warden 1998–2006), the Palatine Centre (2012; law and the university's administration),
7503-505: The Commonwealth of Nations ) and the United States . English is the third-most spoken native language , after Standard Chinese and Spanish ; it is also the most widely learned second language in the world, with more second-language speakers than native speakers. English is either the official language or one of the official languages in 59 sovereign states (such as India , Ireland , and Canada ). In some other countries, it
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7686-546: The Danelaw area around York, which was the centre of Norse colonisation; today these features are still particularly present in Scots and Northern English . The centre of Norsified English was in the Midlands around Lindsey . After 920 CE, when Lindsey was incorporated into the Anglo-Saxon polity, English spread extensively throughout the region. An element of Norse influence that continues in all English varieties today
7869-582: The Daniel Libeskind -designed Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics (2016), and the Lower Mountjoy Teaching and Learning Centre (2019), the only part of the site west of South Road. In October 2013, a geological sculpture of the British Isles titled What Lies Beneath Us – a map with the geology of each location shown by a sample of the rock found at that location (and, for most areas, from that location) – by artist John de Pauley
8052-552: The European Free Trade Association , Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) set English as their organisation's sole working language even though most members are not countries with a majority of native English speakers. While the European Union (EU) allows member states to designate any of the national languages as an official language of
8235-592: The Instituto Cervantes , and the Instituto Camões , the British Council shared in the Princess of Asturias Award for the outstanding achievements of Western Europe's national cultural agencies in communications and the humanities. At the time of this joint award, the full extent of The British Council's closure policies in Europe was not yet public knowledge. Royle also goes on to note that
8418-663: The Internet . English accounts for at least 70% of total speakers of the Germanic language branch, and as of 2021 , Ethnologue estimated that there were over 1.5 billion speakers worldwide. Old English emerged from a group of West Germanic dialects spoken by the Anglo-Saxons . Late Old English borrowed some grammar and core vocabulary from Old Norse , a North Germanic language . Then, Middle English borrowed vocabulary extensively from French dialects , which are
8601-767: The Low Saxon and Frisian languages . English is an Indo-European language and belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages . Old English originated from a Germanic tribal and linguistic continuum along the Frisian North Sea coast, whose languages gradually evolved into the Anglic languages in the British Isles , and into the Frisian languages and Low German /Low Saxon on
8784-622: The Matariki Network of Universities and the Coimbra Group . The university estate includes 83 listed buildings , ranging from the 11th-century Durham Castle to the 1960s brutalist students' union . The university also owns and manages the Durham World Heritage Site in partnership with Durham Cathedral . The university's ownership of the world heritage site includes Durham Castle, Palace Green and
8967-851: The Persian Gulf area. Council offices were closed in Lesotho , Eswatini , Ecuador and provincial Länder in Germany in 2000–2001 – as well as Belarus – prompting Parliamentary criticism. Subsequent promises by British Council Chair Neil Kinnock to a conference in Edinburgh that the Belarus closure would hopefully prove to be just a "temporary" withdrawal proved illusory. The British Council office in Peru also closed in September 2006 as part of
9150-659: The Queen's Campus in Stockton-on-Tees . One of the major public attractions in Durham City is the 10 ha (25-acre) Botanic Gardens , established (on the current site) in 1970, with over 80,000 visitors annually. As of 2021, the university estate contains over 380 buildings with a floor area of 424,600 square metres (4,570,000 sq ft), including 189,400 square metres (2,039,000 sq ft) of residential area in 170 residential buildings (not including
9333-526: The Queen-in-Council was issued granting the university use of Durham Castle , which had previously been a palace of the Bishop of Durham, for further accommodation. In 1846, Bishop Hatfield 's Hall (later to become Hatfield College ) was founded, providing the opportunity for students to obtain affordable lodgings with fully catered communal eating, a revolutionary idea at the time, endorsed by
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#17327657140589516-401: The Russell Group of research-intensive British universities. Between 2010 and 2012 the university was criticised for accepting funds from controversial sources, including the government of Iran, the US State Department , the prime minister of Kuwait, and British American Tobacco . The university announced in 2016 that it would relocate the colleges and academic activities currently at
9699-495: The St Cuthbert Gospel , for the nation for £9 million. It is displayed equally in London and Durham, being shown at the university's Palace Green Library for the first time as part of the Lindisfarne Gospels Durham exhibition in 2013. In addition to the central library system, many colleges maintain their own libraries, such as the Bettenson, Brewis, Williams and Fenton Libraries of St Chad's College, which contain over 38,000 volumes. Durham staff and students can also access
9882-455: The United Nations at the end of World War II , English had become pre-eminent and is now the main worldwide language of diplomacy and international relations. It is one of six official languages of the United Nations. Many other worldwide international organisations, including the International Olympic Committee , specify English as a working language or official language of the organisation. Many regional international organisations such as
10065-425: The University of Durham ) is a collegiate public research university in Durham , England , founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to open in England for more than 600 years, after Oxford and Cambridge , and is thus the third-oldest university in England . As a collegiate university, its main functions are divided between
10248-420: The engineer ) were established at Stockton, replacing UCS, and the new medical school (operating in association with the University of Newcastle upon Tyne ) accepted its first students. In 2002, her golden jubilee year, the Queen granted the title "Queen's Campus" to the Stockton site. By 2005, Queen's Campus, Stockton, accounted for around 18 per cent of the total university student population. In 2005,
10431-454: The palatalisation of consonants that were velar consonants in Proto-Germanic (see Phonological history of Old English § Palatalization ). The earliest varieties of an English language, collectively known as Old English or "Anglo-Saxon", evolved from a group of North Sea Germanic dialects brought to Britain in the 5th century. Old English dialects were later influenced by Old Norse -speaking Viking invaders and settlers , starting in
10614-463: The second Earl Grey who was the prime minister when the university was founded. Expansion up Elvet Hill continued, with Van Mildert College , Trevelyan College (1966), and Collingwood College (1972) all being added to the university, along with the relocation of the botanic garden (1970) and the business school (1977). These were not the only developments in the university, however. The Graduate Society, catering for postgraduate students,
10797-505: The "outer circle" countries are countries such as the Philippines , Jamaica , India , Pakistan , Singapore , Malaysia and Nigeria with a much smaller proportion of native speakers of English but much use of English as a second language for education, government, or domestic business, and its routine use for school instruction and official interactions with the government. Those countries have millions of native speakers of dialect continua ranging from an English-based creole to
10980-427: The 8th and 9th centuries. Middle English began in the late 11th century after the Norman Conquest of England, when a considerable amount of Old French vocabulary was incorporated into English over some three centuries. Early Modern English began in the late 15th century with the start of the Great Vowel Shift and the Renaissance trend of borrowing further Latin and Greek words and roots, concurrent with
11163-448: The Angles. English may have a small amount of substrate influence from Common Brittonic, and a number of possible Brittonicisms in English have been proposed, but whether most of these supposed Brittonicisms are actually a direct result of Brittonic substrate influence is disputed. Old English was divided into four dialects: the Anglian dialects ( Mercian and Northumbrian ) and the Saxon dialects ( Kentish and West Saxon ). Through
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#173276571405811346-422: The British Council (due to a lack of regulations on its activities) along with the general consulate in St. Petersburg . The move was reported to be retaliation against the UK's actions toward Russia for the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal . The British Council has been a primary partner of the Palestine Festival of Literature since the Festival's beginning in 2008. In 2009, the Israeli police, acting on
11529-432: The British Council Associate Parliamentary Group. Nigel Griffiths MP was Vice-Chair of this British Council lobby group until stepping down as an MP. In 2008, the British Council was called before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) following the earlier publication of a National Audit Office report. The subsequent PAC report confirmed that Nigel Griffiths MP – Vice Chair of The British Council Associate Parliamentary Group –
11712-508: The British Council Libraries at Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram were closed despite protests from library users as part of the Council's policy to "reduce its physical presence" in the country and to divert funds to mega projects in the fields of culture, education, science and research. British Council libraries and offices have also been closed in several other countries judged by the British Council to be of little strategic or commercial importance, as it refocused its activities on China and
11895-405: The British Council announced a global programme with the BBC , British Film Institute , the National Theatre , the Royal Shakespeare Company , the Shakespeare 400 consortium, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and Shakespeare's Globe to celebrate Shakespeare's life and work on the 400th anniversary of this death. Selector Radio is a weekly two-hour radio show, produced by Folded Wing for
12078-439: The British Council gave the example of India where their UK India Education and Research Initiative is being "championed" by British multinational oil companies such as BP and Shell , the pharmaceutical giant GSK and arms company BAE Systems . Criticism of British Council marketing efforts in this area has also come from Scotland where The Sunday Herald obtained documents under the Freedom of Information Act showing that
12261-399: The British Council in Tripoli to a daughter of President Gaddafi who had previously been said to have been killed in a US raid on Gaddafi's residence in 1986. In July 2011, the Hong Kong edition of China Daily reported on the flourishing "ghost-writing" industry that critics suggest has sprung up around the British Council IELTS tests in China. English language English is
12444-402: The British Council in more than 850 towns and cities in 2014–2015. The British Council jointly runs the global IELTS English-language standardised test with the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations and IDP Education Australia. Over 2.5 million IELTS tests were delivered in 2014–2015. In 2014, the British Council launched its first MOOC, Exploring English: Language and Culture, on
12627-499: The British Council relaunched the global website Education UK for international students interested in UK education. The site receives 2.2 million visitors per year and includes a search tool for UK courses and scholarships, advice and articles about living and studying in the UK. From 2014 to 2020, the British Council and Ecorys UK jointly administered almost €1 billion of the €14.7 billion Erasmus+ programme offering education, training, youth and sports opportunity for young people in
12810-438: The British Council signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for cultural and educational exchange. The British Council's Young Creative Entrepreneurs Awards identify and support talented people from across the creative industries, such as the International Young Publisher of the Year , International Young Design Entrepreneur of the Year , International Young Music Entrepreneur of
12993-421: The British Council's Marketing Co-ordinator in the US had been referring to the University of Stirling as "The University of Sterling" (sic) and also documenting "tensions" between Scottish Executive civil servants and British Council in India and China over overseas promotion of universities in Scotland where education is a devolved responsibility. The Sunday Herald reported that these turf wars were undermining
13176-510: The British Council's internal rules for overnight stays in London. In 2007, the Russian government accused the British Council of an illegal operation by breaking Russian tax laws and ordered the organisation to close two of its offices. Many believed that the council had become the victim of a diplomatic row between the UK and Russia. In 2018, Russia expelled 23 British diplomats and closed down
13359-562: The British Council. Originally launched in 2001, the show is now broadcast in more than 30 countries around the world, connecting a global audience to a wide range of music the United Kingdom has to offer, covering a variety of genres from grime , indie , soul , dance and more. The show features interviews, guest DJ mixes and exclusive live sessions from some of the UK's most exciting artists. It avoids many mainstream acts, in favour of emerging talent and underground styles. It has an estimated listenership of over four million people. The show
13542-470: The British Empire in the 1950s and 1960s, former colonies often did not reject English but rather continued to use it as independent countries setting their own language policies. For example, the view of the English language among many Indians has gone from associating it with colonialism to associating it with economic progress, and English continues to be an official language of India. English
13725-835: The Chemistry Building (chemistry), the Maths building (temporary home of the school of education), the West Building (geography), the Rochester Building (physics, named after George Rochester , Professor of Physics), the Christopherson Building (engineering, named after Derman Christopherson , vice-chancellor and warden 1960–1979), the Higginson Building (engineering, named after Gordon Higginson , Professor of Engineering), and
13908-582: The Chief of Police in Rangoon to the British Ambassador stating their belief that there had been British involvement in the assassination of Aung San and his Cabinet for which one of his political opponents was hanged and that "the go-between" had been a British Council official named in the programme. In August 2011, a journalist from The Irish Times discovered a certificate dated 2007 issued by
14091-577: The Church of England. Regulations for degrees were finalised in 1836 and the university was incorporated by royal charter granted by William IV on 1 June 1837 as the "Warden, Masters and Scholars of the University of Durham", with the first students graduating a week later. At the opening of the university, accommodation was provided in the Archdeacon's Inn (now Cosin's Hall ); in 1837 an order of
14274-639: The Crown in 1545 following the Reformation. The strong tradition of theological teaching in Durham gave rise to various attempts to form a university within the city itself, notably under King Henry VIII and then under Oliver Cromwell , who issued letters patent and nominated a proctor and fellows for the establishment of a college in 1657 . However, a proposal to allow the college to confer degrees met with opposition from Oxford and Cambridge universities, and
14457-663: The Durham Castle and Cathedral UNESCO World Heritage Site and multiple other heritage assets including three ancient monuments (the Maiden Castle Iron Age promontory fort , Cosin's Library and Divinity House ), four grade I listed buildings (including Kingsgate Bridge , the Exchequer Building on Palace Green , the gatehouse, keep, north range and west range of Durham Castle , and multiple listings covering surviving sections of
14640-705: The Durham Union have included Richard Dannatt , Sir Edward Leigh , and Crispin Blunt . The Durham Colleges Students Representative Council (SRC) was founded around 1900 after the model of the College of Medicine SRC (in Newcastle). The Durham University SRC was formed in 1907 with representatives from the Durham Colleges, the College of Medicine, and Armstrong College (also in Newcastle). In 1963, after
14823-452: The Durham division expanded rapidly. St Aidan's Society ( St Aidan's College from 1961) was founded in 1947 to cater for non-resident women and the decision was made to expand further on Elvet Hill (where the science site had been established in the 1920s), relocating St Mary's College, building new men's colleges, vastly expanding the existing pure science provision in Durham, and adding applied science (1960) and engineering (1965). In 1947,
15006-547: The Early Modern period includes the works of William Shakespeare and the translation of the Bible commissioned by King James I . Even after the vowel shift the language still sounded different from Modern English: for example, the consonant clusters /kn ɡn sw/ in knight , gnat , and sword were still pronounced. Many of the grammatical features that a modern reader of Shakespeare might find quaint or archaic represent
15189-655: The English Language , which introduced standard spellings of words and usage norms. In 1828, Noah Webster published the American Dictionary of the English language to try to establish a norm for speaking and writing American English that was independent of the British standard. Within Britain, non-standard or lower class dialect features were increasingly stigmatised, leading to the quick spread of
15372-557: The English-speaking inner circle countries outside Britain helped level dialect distinctions and produce koineised forms of English in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The majority of immigrants to the United States without British ancestry rapidly adopted English after arrival. Now the majority of the United States population are monolingual English speakers. English has ceased to be an "English language" in
15555-651: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Annual Report, the Foreign Affairs Committee spends an hour each year examining witnesses from the British Council but even this level of scrutiny is undermined by a Commons ruling exempting MPs from the requirement to declare overseas trips paid for by The British Council. Two members of the Public Accounts Committee ( Nigel Griffiths MP and Ian Davidson MP ) were office-bearers in
15738-504: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; £637 million income from fees and teaching and examinations services; and £164 million from contracts. The British Council works in more than 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the UK and the English language; encouraging cultural, scientific, technological and educational understanding and cooperation; changing people's lives through access to UK education, skills, qualifications, culture and society; and attracting people who matter to
15921-514: The Latin post-nominal letters Dunelm after their degree, from Dunelmensis (of, belonging to, or from Durham). Between around 1286 and 1291 the Benedictine monks of Durham established a hall at Oxford University to provide them with a seat of learning. In 1381 this received an endowment from Thomas Hatfield , Bishop of Durham, becoming Durham College . Durham College was surrendered to
16104-710: The Mountjoy site include Applebey (West Building; capacity 275; named after Malcolm Applebey, chair of the Durham Colleges Council 1937–1955); Scarbrough (Chemistry Building; capacity 264; named after Roger Lumley, 11th Earl of Scarbrough , chancellor of the university 1958–1969); Dawson (Dawson Building; capacity 228); the Calman Learning Centre lecture theatres: Arnold Wolfendate (capacity 400, named after Sir Arnold Wolfendale , Astronomer Royal and Professor of Physics), Rosemary Cramp (capacity 260, named after Dame Rosemary Cramp , first female professor at
16287-526: The Privy Council approving changes in Durham's statutes to make UCS a college of the University of Durham. Further integration of the Stockton development with the university led to the formation of the University of Durham, Stockton Campus (UDSC) in 1998 and the separation of teaching responsibilities from UCS. In 2001, two new colleges, John Snow and George Stephenson (after the physician and
16470-675: The Queen's Campus to Durham City from 2017; with the School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health being transferred to Newcastle University . The Queen's Campus became an International Study Centre to prepare overseas students to study at Durham, run by Study Group . In March 2017 Lord Rees opened the Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics, designed by Daniel Libeskind . The new building, named after alumnus Peter Ogden , provides extra laboratories and office space for 140 staff. In May 2017
16653-554: The Roman economy and administration collapsed . By the 7th century, this Germanic language of the Anglo-Saxons became dominant in Britain , replacing the languages of Roman Britain (43–409): Common Brittonic , a Celtic language , and British Latin , brought to Britain by the Roman occupation. At this time, these dialects generally resisted influence from the then-local Brittonic and Latin languages. England and English (originally Ænglaland and Ænglisc ) are both named after
16836-720: The Scottish Executive's key Fresh Talent policy. Some of the activities of the British Council were examined in 2007/2008 by the National Audit Office (NAO). The NAO's report, The British Council: Achieving Impact , concluded: "that the British Council's performance is strong and valued by its customers and stakeholders". It also concluded, however, that its English classes are elitist and have unfair advantages over commercial providers, as well as questioning thousands of unanswered phone calls and e-mails to British Council offices. As part of its examination of
17019-532: The UK lagged Australia , the US , Hong Kong, Canada and France . In its evidence to this committee, the British Council argued that "UK degrees are highly valued by international students for their global recognition. International students adopt an essentially utilitarian view of higher education which is likely to increasingly involve consideration of value for money, including opting for programmes at least partly delivered offshore". As their preferred marketing "model",
17202-710: The UK social learning platform FutureLearn . This was accessed by over 230,000 people. "Peacekeeping English" is a collaboration between the British Council, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Ministry of Defence to improve the English-language skills of military personnel through the Peacekeeping English Project (PEP). PEP is helping train approximately 50,000 military and police service personnel in 28 countries, amongst them Libya , Ethiopia and Georgia . In 2013,
17385-680: The UK. It was expected that nearly 250,000 people will have undertaken activities abroad with the programme. Over 16,000 schools have taken part in an international school partnership or benefited from teacher training through the British Council Connecting Classrooms programmes. The RENKEI network, established in 2012, brings together universities from Japan and the UK. RENKEI stands for "Research and Education Network for Knowledge Economy Initiatives" in English and means "collaboration" in Japanese. As of May 2024,
17568-494: The Union, in practice English is the main working language of EU organisations. Although in most countries English is not an official language, it is currently the language most often taught as a foreign language . In the countries of the EU, English is the most widely spoken foreign language in nineteen of the twenty-five member states where it is not an official language (that is, the countries other than Ireland and Malta ). In
17751-616: The Venerable Bede for men, established in 1839, also existed in the city and these merged to form the mixed College of St Hild and St Bede in 1975. From 1896 these were associated with the university and graduates of St Hild's were the first female graduates from Durham in 1898. During its expansion phase the university also became the first English university to establish relationships with overseas institutions; firstly in 1875 with Codrington College , Barbados, and secondly in early 1876 with Fourah Bay College , Sierra Leone. Under
17934-651: The Year and British Council West Africa Arts Programme ~ Creative Entrepreneurs 2018 awards. In 2010, Conservative MP Mark Lancaster , the then Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury , the then Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin , and other MPs were involved in rows over expenses incurred on undisclosed taxpayer-funded British Council trips. The British Council's then chief executive, Martin Davidson, also faced press criticism for expenses claimed in an apparent breach of
18117-505: The academic and cultural boycott of Israel". Susanna Nicklin, the council's director of literature, said in response: "The British Council is a non-political organisation, and we believe that international cultural exchange makes a powerful contribution to a more peaceful, tolerant and prosperous world. Therefore, the British Council does not support cultural or academic boycotts." The British Council closed its operations in Syria in 2012 due to
18300-485: The academic departments of the university and its 17 colleges . In general, the departments perform research and provide teaching to students, while the colleges are responsible for their domestic arrangements and welfare. The university is a member of the Russell Group of British research universities and is also affiliated with the regional N8 Research Partnership and international university groups including
18483-621: The area around Howlands Farm (Josephine Butler and Stephenson colleges), the Leazes Road site (Hild Bede College), and the Business School site on Mill Hill as possible locations for new accommodation development (i.e., new colleges). A 'strategy refresh' was approved in 2023, which included establishing a new cultural quarter on the old swimming baths site in Elvet and developing interdisciplinary science research and laboratory facilities at Upper Mountjoy. Ushaw College , 5 miles west of Durham,
18666-563: The arrangements the two colleges became affiliated colleges of the university with their students sitting examinations for and receiving Durham degrees. The landmark event was not met with universal applause, with the London Times stating "it would not be much longer before the University of Durham was affiliated to the Zoo". After nearly a century of affiliation and with the prevailing winds of decolonisation, Fourah Bay became independent of
18849-407: The base from which English spreads to other countries in the world. Estimates of the numbers of second language and foreign-language English speakers vary greatly from 470 million to more than 1 billion, depending on how proficiency is defined. Linguist David Crystal estimates that non-native speakers now outnumber native speakers by a ratio of 3 to 1. In Kachru's three-circles model,
19032-453: The basis for the required controlled natural languages Seaspeak and Airspeak, used as international languages of seafaring and aviation. English used to have parity with French and German in scientific research, but now it dominates that field. It achieved parity with French as a language of diplomacy at the Treaty of Versailles negotiations in 1919. By the time of the foundation of
19215-400: The beginning, Englishmen had three manners of speaking, southern, northern and midlands speech in the middle of the country, ... Nevertheless, through intermingling and mixing, first with Danes and then with Normans, amongst many the country language has arisen, and some use strange stammering, chattering, snarling, and grating gnashing. John Trevisa , c. 1385 Middle English
19398-610: The biological sciences building in 1993 (now biosciences). The mathematical sciences and computer sciences building opened in 2021 and also includes the Hazan Venture Lab, intended to equip students for entrepreneurship and to encourage student start-ups. The local NHS administrative offices are also located in John Snow House in Upper Mountjoy. Large lecture theatres with a capacity of over 200 on
19581-506: The campus was home to around 2,000 full-time students in two colleges ( John Snow and Stephenson Colleges ) and the Wolfson Research Institute , with a bus connecting Queen's Campus to Durham City. The colleges and academic departments were relocated between 2017 and 2018, and Queen's Campus became an International Study Centre (ISC) run by Study Group , preparing non-EU foreign students to enter degree courses at
19764-767: The castle walls around the north of the castle and along the top of the river bank behind Hatfield College and St Cuthbert's Society ) and 79 grade II or II* listed buildings. As of 2023, the estate in Durham includes 112 ha (280 acres) of woodland scrub (with 46 ha (110 acres) of woodland designated as Areas of High Landscape Value, including the 32.4 ha (80 acres) of Great High Wood, Hollingside Wood and Blaid's Wood additionally designated as Ancient Semi-Natural Woodlands , Sites of Nature Conservation Importance and Sites of Ecological Value ), 53 ha (130 acres) of farming and grazing land, and 27 ha (67 acres) of amenity grassland, alongside 51.4 ha (127 acres) of built environment. The estate also includes
19947-542: The chancellor would be appointed by convocation, as remains the case) and the abolition of ad eundem degrees. This reform also removed the university from the authority of the Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral , who had been the governors of the university since its foundation. Thirty years after this, the Royal Commission of 1937 recommended changes in the constitution of the federal university, resulting in
20130-638: The consensus of educated English speakers around the world, without any oversight by any government or international organisation. American listeners readily understand most British broadcasting, and British listeners readily understand most American broadcasting. Most English speakers around the world can understand radio programmes, television programmes, and films from many parts of the English-speaking world. Both standard and non-standard varieties of English can include both formal or informal styles, distinguished by word choice and syntax and use both technical and non-technical registers. The settlement history of
20313-701: The continent. The Frisian languages, which together with the Anglic languages form the Anglo-Frisian languages , are the closest living relatives of English. Low German/Low Saxon is also closely related, and sometimes English, the Frisian languages, and Low German are grouped together as the North Sea Germanic languages, though this grouping remains debated. Old English evolved into Middle English , which in turn evolved into Modern English. Particular dialects of Old and Middle English also developed into
20496-673: The creation of Newcastle University , the Durham Colleges SRC became the Durham University SRC, and was renamed as the Durham Students' Union in 1970. Until the mid 19th century, University of Durham degrees were subject to a religion test and could only be taken by members of the established church. Medical degrees in Newcastle were exempt from this requirement from the start of the affiliation of
20679-604: The department of Government and International Affairs, as well as the Teikyo University of Japan in Durham and the Oriental Museum . Ustinov College, Durham's postgraduate college, is located in Sheraton Park, beyond Elvet Hill. Rushford Court , owned by Unite Students , is the temporary home of Hild Bede College as of 2024 and was also used by John Snow College in 2019–20. In the longer term, it
20862-587: The departments in the faculty of social science and health. Development of what is now Lower Mountjoy began in 1923 with the Dawson Building (originally the Science Building until 1952, when it was named after Sir Arthur James Dawson, a northeast educator). This building is now home to the departments of archaeology and anthropology, but has also housed chemistry, geology, physics, biology, botany and zoology. Later 20th century development included
21045-476: The development of English was influenced by a long series of invasions of the British Isles by other peoples and languages, particularly Old Norse and French dialects . These left a profound mark of their own on the language, so that English shows some similarities in vocabulary and grammar with many languages outside its linguistic clades —but it is not mutually intelligible with any of those languages either. Some scholars have argued that English can be considered
21228-476: The distinct characteristics of Early Modern English. In the 1611 King James Version of the Bible, written in Early Modern English, Matthew 8:20 says, "The Foxes haue holes and the birds of the ayre haue nests." This exemplifies the loss of case and its effects on sentence structure (replacement with subject–verb–object word order, and the use of of instead of the non-possessive genitive), and
21411-401: The early period of Old English were written using a runic script . By the 6th century, a Latin alphabet was adopted, written with half-uncial letterforms . It included the runic letters wynn ⟨ ƿ ⟩ and thorn ⟨ þ ⟩ , and the modified Latin letters eth ⟨ ð ⟩ , and ash ⟨ æ ⟩ . Old English is essentially
21594-551: The educational reforms of King Alfred in the 9th century and the influence of the kingdom of Wessex , the West Saxon dialect became the standard written variety . The epic poem Beowulf is written in West Saxon, and the earliest English poem, Cædmon's Hymn , is written in Northumbrian. Modern English developed mainly from Mercian, but the Scots language developed from Northumbrian. A few short inscriptions from
21777-695: The elite in England eventually developed into the Anglo-Norman language . Because Norman was spoken primarily by the elites and nobles, while the lower classes continued speaking English, the main influence of Norman was the introduction of a wide range of loanwords related to politics, legislation and prestigious social domains. Middle English also greatly simplified the inflectional system, probably in order to reconcile Old Norse and Old English, which were inflectionally different but morphologically similar. The distinction between nominative and accusative cases
21960-417: The estate over the period to 2027, including the development of a new home for the business school at Elvet Waterside (Old Elvet), to open in 2021, the redevelopment of the arts and humanities facilities at Elvet Riverside (New Elvet), opening from 2022, the construction of four to six new colleges, and the continued development of the Mountjoy site. The university's Estate Masterplan for 2017–2027 identified
22143-408: The expanding circle use it to communicate with other people from the expanding circle, so that interaction with native speakers of English plays no part in their decision to use the language. Non-native varieties of English are widely used for international communication, and speakers of one such variety often encounter features of other varieties. Very often today a conversation in English anywhere in
22326-586: The facade of Buckingham Palace. In 2015, the British Council launched fiveFilms4freedom , a free, online, 10-day LGBT film festival with the British Film Institute , supported by the UN Free & Equal campaign. It was the first global online LGBT film festival. The festival runs a 24-hour campaign to ask people to watch a movie and show that love is a human right. In 2016, films were viewed by over 1.5m people in 179 countries. In October 2015,
22509-558: The first purpose-built self-catering college for students within Durham. This was the first new college to open in Durham itself since the creation of Collingwood in the 1970s. In May 2010, Durham joined the Matariki Network of Universities (MNU) together with Dartmouth College (US), Queen's University (Canada), University of Otago (New Zealand), University of Tübingen (Germany), University of Western Australia and Uppsala University (Sweden). In 2012, Durham (along with York , Exeter and Queen Mary, University of London ) joined
22692-513: The foundation stones for the new St Mary's College building on Elvet Hill were laid by Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II ). The new building opened in 1952. In the same year, tensions surfaced again over the Durham–Newcastle divide, with the university court putting forward a proposal to change the name of the university to the "University of Durham and Newcastle". This motion was defeated in convocation (the assembly of members of
22875-676: The future of the UK and engaging them with the UK's culture, educational opportunities and its diverse, modern, open society. In 2014–2015, the British Council spent: £489 million developing a wider knowledge of the English language; £238 million encouraging educational cooperation and promoting the advancement of education; £155 million building capacity for social change; £80 million encouraging cultural, scientific and technological cooperation; and £10 million on governance, tax and trading expenses. The British Council offers face-to-face teaching in more than 80 teaching centres in more than 50 countries. Three million candidates took UK examinations with
23058-601: The grant of a supplemental charter in 1895 allowing women to receive degrees of the university, the Women's Hostel ( St Mary's College from 1919) was founded in 1899. The Newcastle division of the university, which comprised both Armstrong College (named after Lord Armstrong) and Durham University College of Medicine, quickly grew to outnumber the Durham colleges, despite the addition of two independent Anglican foundations: St Chad's College (1904) and St John's College (1909). A parliamentary bill proposed in 1907 would have fixed
23241-721: The growing economic and cultural influence of the United States and its status as a superpower following the Second World War has, along with worldwide broadcasting in English by the BBC and other broadcasters, caused the language to spread across the planet much faster. In the 21st century, English is more widely spoken and written than any language has ever been. As Modern English developed, explicit norms for standard usage were published, and spread through official media such as public education and state-sponsored publications. In 1755, Samuel Johnson published his A Dictionary of
23424-546: The history of English was Early Modern English (1500–1700). Early Modern English was characterised by the Great Vowel Shift (1350–1700), inflectional simplification, and linguistic standardisation. The Great Vowel Shift affected the stressed long vowels of Middle English. It was a chain shift , meaning that each shift triggered a subsequent shift in the vowel system. Mid and open vowels were raised , and close vowels were broken into diphthongs . For example,
23607-407: The history of how English spread in different countries, how users acquire English, and the range of uses English has in each country. The three circles change membership over time. Countries with large communities of native speakers of English (the inner circle) include Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand, where the majority speaks English, and South Africa, where
23790-417: The independent St Chad's and St John's colleges, which are not owned by the university). The insurance reinstatement value was estimated as close to £850 million in 2014. Durham City is the main location of the university and contains all of the colleges and academic departments. The Durham City estate is spread across several different sites. The Bailey and Palace Green form the historic centre of
23973-403: The inner-circle countries, and they may show grammatical and phonological differences from inner-circle varieties as well. The standard English of the inner-circle countries is often taken as a norm for use of English in the outer-circle countries. In the three-circles model, countries such as Poland, China, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Indonesia, Egypt, and other countries where English is taught as
24156-531: The introduction of loanwords from French ( ayre ) and word replacements ( bird originally meaning "nestling" had replaced OE fugol ). By the late 18th century, the British Empire had spread English through its colonies and geopolitical dominance. Commerce, science and technology, diplomacy, art, and formal education all contributed to English becoming the first truly global language. English also facilitated worldwide international communication. English
24339-475: The introduction of the printing press to London. This era notably culminated in the King James Bible and the works of William Shakespeare . The printing press greatly standardised English spelling, which has remained largely unchanged since then, despite a wide variety of later sound shifts in English dialects. Modern English has spread around the world since the 17th century as a consequence of
24522-431: The languages have descended from a single common ancestor called Proto-Germanic . Some shared features of Germanic languages include the division of verbs into strong and weak classes, the use of modal verbs , and the sound changes affecting Proto-Indo-European consonants, known as Grimm's and Verner's laws . English is classified as an Anglo-Frisian language because Frisian and English share other features, such as
24705-502: The libraries of Durham Cathedral and Ushaw College . Some departments, such as classics and ancient history, also have their own libraries. In February 2017, the university announced a £2 million investment to establish the first residential research library at a UK university in collaboration with Ushaw College and Durham Cathedral and offering access to the collections of all three institutions. The university's Museums, Galleries and Exhibitions manages three museums open to
24888-582: The local authority and a municipal twinning link between Gaza City and the French port of Dunkirk . In Oslo , British Council informs Norwegian callers that "our office is not open to the public and we do not have an enquiry service". Goethe Institute also has a more visible presence in Glasgow than the British Council. There is now, in contrast, only one British Council office left in Germany – and that
25071-476: The medical school there (established in 1834) became a college of the university. This was joined in 1871 by the College of Physical Sciences (renamed the College of Science in 1884 and again renamed Armstrong College in 1904). St Cuthbert's Society was founded in 1888 for non-collegiate, mostly mature, male students as a non-residential society run by the students themselves. Two teacher-training colleges – St Hild's for women, established in 1858, and The College of
25254-432: The medical school, but in Durham it lasted until the revision of the statutes in 1865. Despite the opening of degrees, staff and members of Convocation were still required to be members of the Church of England until the Universities Tests Act 1871 . However, "dissenters" were able to attend Durham and then sit the examinations for degrees of the University of London , which were not subject to any religious test. Following
25437-495: The members are the universities of Durham , Edinburgh , Leeds , Liverpool , Newcastle and Southampton from the UK and Keio , Kyushu , Ritsumeikan and Tohoku universities from Japan. ACCELERATE was a leadership programme for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the creative arts , run jointly by the British Council and the Australia Council in partnership with Australian state arts agencies, between 2009 and 2016. During that time, 35 people participated in
25620-417: The merger of the two colleges in the Newcastle Division to form King's College. The vice-chancellorship alternated between the Warden of the Durham Division and the Rector of the Newcastle Division, the chief academic and administrative officers of the two divisions under the 1937 statutes. The executive head of Durham University continues to use the title of "Vice-Chancellor and Warden". After World War II,
25803-442: The north bank of the Wear, opposite the Racecourse playing fields and Old Elvet, was home to the School of Education and Hild Bede College. As of 2024, this site is being redeveloped and refurbished with the aim that a 19th college will be established adjacent to Hild Bede. In preparation for redevelopment, departments and facilities were relocated from Leazes Road in 2022, and Hild Bede college moved temporarily to Rushford Court in
25986-435: The novel The Russia House by John Le Carré (former consular official David Cornwell) opens with a reference to The British Council. The organisation's "first-ever audio fair for the teaching of the English language and the spread of British culture" is "grinding to its excruciating end" and one of its officials is packing away his stuff when he is approached by an attractive Russian woman to undertake clandestine delivery of
26169-428: The ongoing conflict in the country. The closure was a result of the deteriorating security situation and the inability to ensure the safety of its staff and visitors. In April 2012, the British Council faced a storm of protests over the exclusion of dissident Chinese writers from the London Book Fair 2012 . Critics included English PEN and journalist Nick Cohen writing for The Observer , as well as Alastair Niven ,
26352-416: The opening years of World War Two . The role of the British Council in Myanmar in 1947 came under scrutiny with the release of classified documents to a BBC investigation by journalist Feargal Keane into the role of dissident British colonial officials in the assassination of the then Burmese independence leader Aung San (father of Aung San Suu Kyi ). The BBC programme quoted from a 1948 document sent by
26535-426: The prestige varieties among the middle classes. In modern English, the loss of grammatical case is almost complete (it is now only found in pronouns, such as he and him , she and her , who and whom ), and SVO word order is mostly fixed. Some changes, such as the use of do-support , have become universalised. (Earlier English did not use the word "do" as a general auxiliary as Modern English does; at first it
26718-419: The private sale of long-term bonds to British and US investors. In 2021 it was reported that there was a culture of sexism and bullying at Durham, and that the university had been reluctant to address structural problems, thereby enabling this culture to develop relatively unchallenged. Durham University owns a 257 ha (640-acre) estate of which 251 ha (620 acres) is in Durham. This contains part of
26901-432: The programme, with many alumni going on to excel in their fields. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II hosted the official launch of the UK-India Year of Culture on 27 February 2017 at Buckingham Palace , with Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley representing Prime Minister Narendra Modi . The British Council worked with the Palace and British-Indian start-up Studio Carrom to project a peacock , India 's national bird, onto
27084-420: The public, all accredited by Arts Council England through the UK Museum Accreditation Scheme, as well as two non-public collections. Total holdings are over 100,000 pieces. Built in the 1960s, the Durham University Oriental Museum grew predominantly from the acquisitions of the university's former School of Oriental Studies. The collection contains over 30,000 objects from Asian art to antiquities, covering
27267-453: The reign of Henry V . Around 1430, the Court of Chancery in Westminster began using English in its official documents , and a new standard form of Middle English, known as Chancery Standard , developed from the dialects of London and the East Midlands . In 1476, William Caxton introduced the printing press to England and began publishing the first printed books in London, expanding the influence of this form of English. Literature from
27450-529: The school of modern languages and cultures and parts of the department of English studies. Durham Students' Union is based in Dunelm House, just north of Elvet Riverside, linked to the peninsula area by Kingsgate Bridge. The Racecourse has university playing fields, including the main cricket ground. While no colleges are based in the Elvet area, it does contain the Parson's Field accommodation for St Cuthbert's Society and Hatfield College's James Barber House and Palmer's Garth accommodation. The Leazes Road site on
27633-399: The seat of the university in Durham for only ten years, allowing the Senate to choose to move to Newcastle after this. This was blocked by John Taylor , MP for Chester-le-Street , with the support of graduates of the Durham colleges, until the bill was modified to establish a federal university with its seat fixed in Durham, as well as greater representation for the graduates (including that
27816-415: The sense of belonging only to people who are ethnically English . Use of English is growing country-by-country internally and for international communication. Most people learn English for practical rather than ideological reasons. Many speakers of English in Africa have become part of an "Afro-Saxon" language community that unites Africans from different countries. As decolonisation proceeded throughout
27999-427: The source of approximately 28% of Modern English words , and from Latin , which is the source of an additional 28% . As such, though most of its total vocabulary comes from Romance languages , Modern English's grammar, phonology, and most commonly used words in everyday use keep it genealogically classified under the Germanic branch. It exists on a dialect continuum with Scots and is then most closely related to
28182-481: The south of Durham. It opened under the name of University College Stockton (UCS) in 1992. UCS was initially intended to grant joint degrees validated by both institutions (BAs and BScs). However, Teesside, which had only become a university in 1992, had difficulties in taking on its responsibilities for the college and withdrew in 1994, Durham taking over full responsibility for UCS and the degrees to be awarded there. A programme of integration with Durham began, with
28365-474: The southern dialects. Theoretically, as late as the 900s AD, a commoner from certain (northern) parts of England could hold a conversation with a commoner from certain parts of Scandinavia. Research continues into the details of the myriad tribes in peoples in England and Scandinavia and the mutual contacts between them. The translation of Matthew 8:20 from 1000 shows examples of case endings ( nominative plural, accusative plural, genitive singular) and
28548-462: The special and heritage collections. In 2005, designated status was granted by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council to two of the special collections: Bishop Cosin's Library on Palace Green (founded in 1669 and including medieval manuscripts and early printed books) and the Sudan Archive, held in Palace Green Library. In 2012 the university, together with the British Library and Durham Cathedral , purchased Europe's oldest intact book,
28731-455: The study of English as an auxiliary language. The trademarked Globish uses a relatively small subset of English vocabulary (about 1500 words, designed to represent the highest use in international business English) in combination with the standard English grammar. Other examples include Simple English . The increased use of the English language globally has had an effect on other languages, leading to some English words being assimilated into
28914-464: The surrounding buildings including the historic Cosin's Library . Current and emeritus academics as of 2018 included 15 Fellows of the Royal Society , 18 Fellows of the British Academy , 16 Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences , 5 Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 3 Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts , 2 Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering and 2 Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences . Durham graduates have long used
29097-422: The university and Professor of Archaeology) and Ken Wade (capacity 260, named after Kenneth Wade , Professor of Chemistry); and the 250 and 500 capacity Lower Mountjoy Teaching and Learning Centre lecture theatres. Elvet Hill, south of the Mountjoy site, has ten of the colleges as well as the Botanic Garden and the vice-chancellor's residence in Hollingside House. It is also home to the Business School and
29280-428: The university and contain five colleges as well as the departments of music, history, classics and ancient history, and theology and religion, the Institute of Advanced Study, Palace Green Library (housing the university's special collections), the archaeological museum , the Durham Union Society , and the Assembly Rooms Theatre . The Bailey is linked to Dunelm House , home of Durham Students' Union in New Elvet, by
29463-408: The university announced a new ten-year strategy that proposed investing £700m in improving the campus, creating 300 new academic posts, increasing the size of the university to 21,500 students while attracting more international students, and expanding the business school and the departments of law, politics, English and history to reach "critical research mass". In 2018 the university announced that
29646-477: The university came into being. The act received royal assent from King William IV on 4 July 1832. The university opened on 28 October 1833. In 1834 all but two of the bishops of the Church of England confirmed that they would accept holders of Durham degrees for ordination. In 1835 a fundamental statute was passed by the Dean and Chapter, as governors of the university, setting up Convocation and laying down that Durham degrees would only be open to members of
29829-416: The university in 1968 to form part of the University of Sierra Leone while Codrington College became affiliated to the University of the West Indies in 1965. The first debating society in Durham was founded in 1835, but may have closed by 1839. The Durham University Union was established in 1842, and revived and moved to Palace Green in 1872–3 as the Durham Union Society . Notable past presidents of
30012-418: The university opened a fund-raising and alumni office, with a virtual community for alumni. In 1991, a joint venture between the university and the University of Teesside saw the Joint University College on Teesside of the Universities of Durham and Teesside (JUCOT) established at Thornaby-on-Tees in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, 30 miles (48 km) to
30195-405: The university unveiled a re-branded logotype and introduced the trading name of Durham University, although the legal name of the institution remained the University of Durham and the official coat of arms was unchanged. The same year, St Mary's College had its first mixed undergraduate intake. In October 2006, Josephine Butler College opened its doors to students as Durham's newest college –
30378-401: The university's Kingsgate Bridge . The Elvet area contains the departments of English studies and philosophy along with the school of modern languages and cultures in the faculty of arts as well as departments of sociology and sport and exercise sciences of the faculty of social sciences and health. While many of the departments are in converted houses, the Elvet Riverside complex is home to
30561-419: The university) by 135 votes to 129. Eleven years later, with the Universities of Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne Act 1963, King's College became the University of Newcastle upon Tyne , leaving Durham University based solely in its home city. By the time of the separation from Newcastle the Elvet Hill site was well established; with the first of the new colleges being founded in 1959, Grey College , named after
30744-531: The university, from September 2017. The former John Snow College buildings were sold in 2020 and, from 2022, only the Ebsworth building has been used by the ISC. Durham University Library was founded in January 1833 at Palace Green with a 160-volume donation by the Bishop of Durham, William Van Mildert, and now holds over 1.5 million printed items across four branches: Bill Bryson Library (the main library), Queen's Campus Library, Durham University Business School Library and Palace Green Library, which holds
30927-409: The viaduct area in summer 2024. UPP were announced in May 2024 as the preferred bidders to deliver the refurbishment of Hild Bede and the building of the new 19th college under a design, build, fund and operate model. The Mountjoy site (formerly the Science site) south of New Elvet contains many of the university's departments, including all of the departments in the faculty of science and most of
31110-448: The vocabularies of other languages. This influence of English has led to concerns about language death , and to claims of linguistic imperialism , and has provoked resistance to the spread of English; however the number of speakers continues to increase because many people around the world think that English provides them with opportunities for better employment and improved lives. Durham University Durham University (legally
31293-464: The whole scheme was abandoned at the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. Consequently, it was not until 1832 when Parliament , at the instigation of Archdeacon Charles Thorp and with the support of the Bishop of Durham, William van Mildert , passed "an Act to enable the Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral to appropriate part of the property of their church to the establishment of a University in connection therewith" ( 2 & 3 Will. 4 . c. 19 ) that
31476-473: The word bite was originally pronounced as the word beet is today, and the second vowel in the word about was pronounced as the word boot is today. The Great Vowel Shift explains many irregularities in spelling since English retains many spellings from Middle English, and it also explains why English vowel letters have very different pronunciations from the same letters in other languages. English began to rise in prestige, relative to Norman French, during
31659-785: The world may include no native speakers of English at all, even while including speakers from several different countries. This is particularly true of the shared vocabulary of mathematics and the sciences. English is a pluricentric language , which means that no one national authority sets the standard for use of the language. Spoken English, including English used in broadcasting, generally follows national pronunciation standards that are established by custom rather than by regulation. International broadcasters are usually identifiable as coming from one country rather than another through their accents , but newsreader scripts are also composed largely in international standard written English . The norms of standard written English are maintained purely by
31842-539: The world, but the number of English speakers in India is uncertain, with most scholars concluding that the United States still has more speakers of English than India. Modern English, sometimes described as the first global lingua franca , is also regarded as the first world language . English is the world's most widely used language in newspaper publishing, book publishing, international telecommunications, scientific publishing, international trade, mass entertainment, and diplomacy. English is, by international treaty,
32025-438: The worldwide influence of the British Empire and the United States. Through all types of printed and electronic media in these countries, English has become the leading language of international discourse and the lingua franca in many regions and professional contexts such as science, navigation , and law. Its modern grammar is the result of a gradual change from a dependent-marking pattern typical of Indo-European with
32208-405: Was adopted in parts of North America, parts of Africa, Oceania, and many other regions. When they obtained political independence, some of the newly independent states that had multiple indigenous languages opted to continue using English as the official language to avoid the political and other difficulties inherent in promoting any one indigenous language above the others. In the 20th century
32391-415: Was expelled. In April 2008, the British Council was told to ensure all portable media was encrypted after losing staff data and wrongly saying the disc was encrypted. Following the accusations made against the British Council in Russia (see above) Trevor Royle, the diplomatic editor of The Sunday Herald quoted a "British diplomatic source" saying: "There is a widespread assumption that The British Council
32574-408: Was founded in 1965 (renamed Ustinov College in 2003) and the Roman Catholic seminary of Ushaw College , which had been in Durham since 1808, was licensed as a hall of residence in 1968 (closed 2011). In 1988 Hatfield, the last men's college, became mixed; followed by the women's college of Trevelyan in 1992, leaving the original women's college of St Mary's as the last single-sex college. In 1989
32757-454: Was fully developed, integrating both Norse and French features; it continued to be spoken until the transition to early Modern English around 1500. Middle English literature includes Geoffrey Chaucer 's The Canterbury Tales , and Thomas Malory 's Le Morte d'Arthur . In the Middle English period, the use of regional dialects in writing proliferated, and dialect traits were even used for effect by authors such as Chaucer. The next period in
32940-452: Was lost except in personal pronouns, the instrumental case was dropped, and the use of the genitive case was limited to indicating possession . The inflectional system regularised many irregular inflectional forms, and gradually simplified the system of agreement, making word order less flexible. The transition from Old to Middle English can be placed during the writing of the Ormulum . The oldest Middle English texts that were written by
33123-533: Was only used in question constructions, and even then was not obligatory. Now, do-support with the verb have is becoming increasingly standardised.) The use of progressive forms in -ing , appears to be spreading to new constructions, and forms such as had been being built are becoming more common. Regularisation of irregular forms also slowly continues (e.g. dreamed instead of dreamt ), and analytical alternatives to inflectional forms are becoming more common (e.g. more polite instead of politer ). British English
33306-434: Was part of the small number of PAC members who approved this report on the British Council despite not having been recorded as being present during the evidence session – in June 2008 – where the British Council's chief executive was cross-examined. Mr Griffiths had earlier travelled to Russia and spoke favourably of British Council activities there in January 1998 around the time that their man in St Petersburg (Stephen Kinnock)
33489-449: Was unveiled by Iain Stewart at the pedestrian entrance to Lower Mountjoy at the junction of South Road and Stockton Road, near the Bill Bryson Library. Development of the Upper Mountjoy site started with construction of the psychology building in 1970, followed by the Mountjoy Research Centre, built in 1984 for the University of Durham Industrial Research Laboratories (now the Mountjoy Centre, housing university service departments), and
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