The module will cover important aspects of English grammar, stressing the sense in which grammar (in English and in general) is not an abstract system of arbitrary rules but is motivated by meaning and shaped by usage. We will apply this so-called functionalist perspective not only to present-day English but also to the way in which certain grammatical constructions have developed over time. Topics typically include:

• The purpose of (studying) grammar
• Simple sentences
• Word classes
• Grammatical functions
• Sentence structures and functions
• Types and structure of phrases
• Complex sentences
• The passive: form(s) and function(s)
• The grammar of spoken English

This course will provide students with an introduction to the phonetics of English. We will embark on a detailed examination of speech production, including the anatomy and physiology of the tongue, lips and larynx. In addition to this, we will cover different ways of representing speech, including transcribing phonetic variation using the International Phonetic Alphabet, and acoustic phonetics – the analysis of the physics of sound. Along the way, we will apply some of the above concepts to understanding phonetic variation in English, including various kinds of social and geographical variation.

This module comprises of both oral and aural skills, to be taken alongside the Written Skills module. It builds upon skills gained in the first year.

This module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency in spoken German in a range of formal and informal settings (both spontaneous and prepared). Specific attention will be given to developing good, accurate pronunciation and intonations well as fluency, accuracy of grammar, and vocabulary when speaking the language.

This module also aims at broadening students’ knowledge about different aspects of modern society, politics and culture, and contemporary issues and institutions in order to prepare them for residence abroad in their 3rd year.

By the end of this module, you will have had the opportunity to enhance your comprehension of the spoken language, as used in both formal speech, and in everyday life situations including those that you may encounter in German-speaking countries.

This module comprises of both oral and aural skills, to be taken alongside the corresponding Written Language module. It builds upon skills gained in the first year. Students who have taken the Intensive language course in their first year, normally follow this course throughout the second year.

The module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency in spoken German in a range of formal and informal settings (both spontaneous and prepared). Specific attention will be given to developing good, accurate pronunciation and intonations well as fluency, accuracy of grammar, and vocabulary when speaking the language.

This module also aims at broadening your knowledge about different aspects of modern society, politics and culture, and contemporary issues and institutions in order to prepare them for residence abroad in their 3rd year.

By the end of this module, you will have had the opportunity to enhance your comprehension of the spoken language, as used in both formal speech, and in everyday life situations including those that you may encounter in German-speaking countries.

This module comprises of reading and writing skills to be taken alongside the Oral Skills module.

This module aims to consolidate skills you have hopefully developed in the first year of study, and enable you to build a level of competence and confidence required to familiarise yourselves with the culture and society of countries where your studied language is spoken.

The module aims to enhance your proficiency in the writing of German (notes, reports, summaries, essays, projects, etc.) including translation from and into German; and the systematic study of German lexis, grammar and syntax.

The module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency, with particular emphasis on reading a variety of sources and on writing fluently and accurately in the language, in a variety of registers.

This module comprises of reading and writing skills to be taken alongside the Oral Skills module.

This module aims to consolidate skills you have hopefully developed in the first year of study, and gives you the opportunity to build a level of competence and confidence required to familiarise yourselves with the culture and society of countries where your studied language is spoken.

The module aims to enhance your proficiency in understanding spoken German, as well as in the writing of German (notes, reports, summaries, essays, projects, etc.) including translation from and into German; and the systematic study of German lexis, grammar and syntax.

The module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency, with particular emphasis on reading a variety of sources and on writing fluently and accurately in the language, in a variety of registers.

This module is a non-credit bearing module. If you are a major student going abroad in your second or third year you are enrolled on it during the year prior to your departure, and timetabled to attend the events. These include: introduction to the International Placement Year and choice of activities; British Council English Language Assistantships and how to apply; introduction to partner universities and how they function; working in companies abroad; finance during the International Placement Year; research skills and questionnaire design; teaching abroad; curriculum writing and employability skills; and welfare and wellbeing.

What has it meant to be German over the past two hundred years? This module provides students with awareness of the ‘must-know’ moments and movements that have shaped contemporary German-language culture, while developing skills in critical-textual analysis, including film, poetry, drama, and political writing. It takes you on a journey through moments and movements across two centuries of cultural history, encountering along the way a series of radical thinkers, writers, filmmakers and creative artists. The main aim of the module is twofold: to build students' reading knowledge of German while giving them a flavour of the rich cultural output that has defined the modern German-speaking realm.

This short module provides support for students transitioning from year one to the more independent work expected in year two and beyond. It gives students the opportunity to reflect on the feedback from their coursework and exams in year one, as a foundation for developing the level of academic writing required in subsequent coursework. It also develops students’ awareness of the resources available from the library and how these may be accessed and used, particularly for independent research in coursework and the dissertation, and offers early alerts to the Careers service and planning for life after university. All majors and joint majors with either Linguistics or English Language must take this module in their second year.

This module examines explanations of how we acquire our first language. We bring psycholinguistics and theoretical linguistics together to describe and explain the processes a child goes through in learning their first language. We also look at some more advanced issues such as bilingualism, language impairments, and language development in deaf children. The module is an introduction to language acquisition studies, psycholinguistics and theories of mind and language – looking particularly at the wide spectrum of different explanations for language acquisition.

The module aims to introduce students to the critical analysis of spoken and written discourse in contemporary social contexts. It provides a range of resources and techniques for analysing texts, and enables students to apply them in looking at use of language as one aspect of social processes and change in postmodern society. Methods include functional grammatical analysis of clauses and sentences, analysis of text cohesion and generic structure, conversational and pragmatic analysis of dialogue, and intertextual and interdiscursive analysis. With a focus on spoken data and conversation analysis, we will also address written texts and introduce Critical Discourse Analysis and provide a focus on institutional discourse.

If you follow this course you will:

• develop your capacity for language analysis;
• learn to apply academic knowledge and analysis to real world issues and problems;
• develop a critical stance towards your social environment in its language aspects;
• question and challenge social and intellectual authority and knowledge, including what is taught on the course.

This module explores how post-war economic change has affected European societies, and how socio-political factors in turn have influenced the patterns and outcomes of economic development, over the second half of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty first century.

The module is structured on the basis of three country-specific modules (France, Germany and Spain), examining how these countries have confronted key moments of economic change, and what the longer-term consequences of that change have been. While the module emphasis is on broad national developments, discussion also covers examples relating to particular industries and major companies.

In lectures, workshops, and seminars we will explore the context of reconstruction after World War II and the pattern of subsequent economic development; the relationship between social and economic policies; the development of the three countries' economies; the changes of the 1980s and their impact on subsequent years; and the consequences of specific momentous events, such as the re-unification of Germany and how the financial crisis of 2008 affected, and still affects, France, Germany and Spain.

This module introduces students to a range of technologies that require specialist treatment of linguistic data to function. Students will engage with technologies that require text databases (such as text categorisation technologies), as well as technologies that make use of the human speech signal (such as speech recognition and speaker recognition technologies). Students will not only learn about how these systems work, but they will also start to develop the coding skills required to build them. The module will be assessed by two reports that evaluate the performance of language technologies under different data conditions, reflecting the kind of development tasks undertaken in the technology industry.

In this module, students learn how the language used by institutions shapes individual perceptions of identity. It aims to provide a basic theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between language and power as reflected in current language policies at regional, national, and supranational levels. It gives you the opportunity to recognise forms of prestige and stigma associated with varieties of the three main languages under study. We aim to raise critical awareness of the portrayal and representation of linguistic variations in the media and in the sphere of literature.

The main topics covered in the course include language and power; European language policies; German as a pluricentric language; regional variations of France: linguistic diversity and French national identity; the languages and language attitudes of Spain (Castilian Spanish, Catalan, Basque, Galician); language and power in the Sinophone world.

In this module you will examine the language of ‘legacy’ as well as ‘newer’ media and how it interacts with other modes (for example, images). In the first half of the module, you will typically explore topics relating to ‘legacy’ media including but not limited to the structure of news, news values, broadcast talk, patterns in news discourse. In the second half of the module, you will typically examine topics relating to ‘newer’ media including but not limited to the ethics of social media data collection, hate speech, mis-/dis-information, social media advocacy and activism. You will learn how a range of approaches from linguistics - for example, discursive news values analysis, corpus linguistics, corpus-assisted discourse analysis, multimodal discourse analysis, (digital) conversation analysis, digitally mediated discourse analysis - can be applied to study topics relating to ‘legacy’ and ‘newer’ media.

This module provides an opportunity for students to explore language, learning and teaching. A particular focus is on classroom language, including whole class, paired and group work situations. This includes consideration of the role of technologies. We will look at a wide span of educational contexts, as we examine language and learning from the early years of schooling to looking at talk in tertiary education. We will see that language varies greatly in character and purpose according to who is involved and for what purpose. We will compare the language and learning opportunities that arise in whole class situations with pair and group work. What do students gain when they work collaboratively to help one another? What kind of teacher questions and responses promote greater learning opportunities? Do some kinds of interaction limit the potential for learning?

Using data from actual primary, secondary and/or post-secondary classrooms, students will develop their ability to analyse classroom language to explore how language fosters and/or sometimes hinders learning. This course will be of particular interest to those students who are curious about language and education, or who are considering working in educational contexts.

This course is complemented by LING209 Literacy and Education. The two modules alternate, so LING209 runs one year and then LING218 runs the following year. Most students therefore have the chance to take both modules, one in their second year and the other in their third year.

This module examines explanations of how language evolved in humans. We explore the evolution of the human language capacity drawing on evidence from linguistics, evolutionary theory, primatology and (paleo)anthropology. We consider language as a cognitive adaptation and ask what it is an adaptation for, e.g. instruction in tool making, as a form of social bonding, or as a means of winning a potential mate. We consider the phylogenetic development of language within the species as well as what cognitive and communicative abilities in non-human primates might reveal about the origins and functions of human language.

This module will allow students to undertake a short period of work experience with an employer in the North-West. Students spend forty hours working for an organisation which employs graduates in English Language and Linguistics, or a charity relevant to speech and language therapy. Placements are sourced by the Faculty Careers Team and include positions in areas such as publishing, marketing, social media, advertising, and speech and language therapy. Workshops prepare students for their chosen placement and training is provided. The module aims to give students a flavour of what it might be like to work in their chosen industry, in addition to developing graduate skills such as teamwork, taking direction from managers, confidence and independent working.

This module seeks to support you to apply your linguistic and cultural understanding in a specific professional context. This module gives you the opportunity to spend time on a work-based placement in the UK or abroad. You will be given the opportunity to develop, reflect on and articulate both the range of competences and the linguistic and cross-cultural skills that enhance employability by working in language-related professional contexts and reflecting on key issues in relation to their placement organisation. There is the opportunity to join a local work placement developed by the department, or for you to source your own placements (subject to departmental approval). Workshops before and during the placement will provide preparation and guidance on sourcing, confirming and then reflecting on academic work. Students will share their experiences and learning with each other by means of end-of-module presentations.

How do films deal with topics such as immigration, environment, the posthuman and gender? Do they entertain viewers, instruct them, or both?

This module explores European, Latin American, and Chinese films in their social and historical contexts; the topics mentioned are the focus of key lectures and seminars. The module begins with introductory lectures on cinema and society and on film aesthetics and content. The main aim is to make connections between the films and such contexts, not only on the level of narrative, characterisation and dialogue, but also on that of form and technique.

In this module you will learn to produce, describe, and transcribe all the sounds in the World's languages. We will describe the physiology of how different sounds are produced and will look at the acoustic characteristics of particular sounds. You will practise transcribing all sounds within the International Phonetic Alphabet, and will learn examples of where sounds are used. For example, we spend time looking at the occurrence of click sounds in South African languages and at how pitch variation is used in tone languages. Seminars will cover the practical aspects to sound production, and we will also spend some time learning how to use computers for speech analysis.

This module will cover central concepts around word order, case marking, agreement, alignment, animacy, definiteness and valency changes and teach you to analyse new data from the world’s languages in terms of these topics. You will learn to critically evaluate the extent to which the structures of the world’s languages are shaped by cognition and communication. You will also learn how linguists provide explanations for why languages are structured the way they are, given the functions they serve. It is expected that you will acquire a better understanding of the structure of English as a result of seeing how English differs from other languages.

The module is concerned with the linguistic analysis of literary texts, and particularly with the relationship between linguistic choices on the one hand and readers’ interpretations on the other. It deals with all three main literary genres: poetry, prose fiction and drama. Topics typically include:

• Foregrounding in language: deviation
• Foregrounding in language: parallelism
• Figurative language and thought
• Metaphor, metonymy and pain in verbal and visual art
• Narrative and point of view
• Fictional minds 1: point of view and mind style
• Speech and thought presentation
• Fictional conversations and characterisation
• Fictional minds 2: conversation and autistic characters
• Demonstration stylistic analysis: flash fiction

We all know when an ad has caught our attention, and whether it works for us or not, but what precisely is responsible for these effects? In this module, we will learn how to take ads apart using tools taken from linguistics, rhetoric, and semiotics. We will explore how ad writers make use of the different levels of language: for instance, how they exploit sounds and spellings; how they toy with word meanings and word associations; how they manipulate, and sometimes break, the rules of standard grammar. We will also explore how ads interact with other texts and consider the relationship between words and pictures. As well as analysing ads themselves, we will also learn how to test out our intuitions about them, by investigating how the words, structures and visuals used in the ads are employed in other kinds of texts.

This module aims to give you a background to and insight into the diversity of twentieth and twenty-first century thought and contemporary definitions of culture.

Some key questions explored on the module include: What is 'culture' and how does it work? How do 'art' and 'culture' relate to each other? What do we mean when we talk about the production and consumption of culture? Why does popular culture arouse conflicting responses? What role does the body play in our understanding of culture? How does culture define who we are? Can a work of culture be an act of resistance?

With these questions in mind, this module focuses on texts which raise questions about class, race, gender, and subcultures.

The module encourages intercultural dialogue between students from different backgrounds and specifically welcomes Visiting and International students.

As part of The International Placement Year you will normally spend at least eight months abroad in your third year. You will have the opportunity to:

• analyse the contemporary relevance of a tradition, contemporary social, political or economic issue, or a living part of the regional culture.
• reflect critically on cultural differences observed in everyday life such as social relationships, politics, attitudes to food, drink, religion, etc., explaining them in the context of various historical, social and cultural developments.
• think analytically about your intercultural position and understanding of the relevant culture(s).
• reflect on language use (different registers, varieties of pronunciation and accents, dialects, vocabulary and idiomatic expressions, and aspects of grammar) and the process of the acquisition of skills in the relevant language(s).

The module also aims to enhance and develop your language skills, with all assessments being written in the target language. If you have started a language as a beginner in year one you will spend a minimum of four months in a country where that language is spoken. If you are a joint honours student who is studying two languages, you may choose to spend the year in either of the two countries concerned or, if appropriate arrangements can be made, you can spend a semester in each country.

Lancaster University will make reasonable endeavours to place students at an approved overseas partner. Students conduct either a study placement at a partner University, a teaching assistantship placement with the British Council or an appropriate working placement with a vetted employer abroad or a combination of placements (please note that there are some restrictions on British Council placements which usually last for the whole of the academic year).

Joint honours degrees

If you are a joint honours student who is combining a language with a non-language subject, your placement year will provide the opportunity to develop your language skills and cultural awareness, but will not necessarily relate to the non-language aspect of your degree.

Lancaster University cannot accept responsibility for any financial aspects of your International Placement Year.

This module focuses on the contemporary field of English Language Studies. In particular, it will look at corpus linguistics - a research specialism at Lancaster University - and its application to areas such as the description of English grammar.

The module's programme of lectures will begin with a detailed introduction to the method before moving on, later in the term, to discuss the applications and implications of the method. Meanwhile, lab-based seminars will allow students to acquire and exercise practical skills with the computational tools (such as concordance software) required by the area of study.

This module is integrated with the German Language: Written Skills module.

Both the oral and the written language modules focus on particular topics of cultural and contemporary interest. The general aim of these modules is to develop further the abilities you have hopefully gained during their second year and the year abroad.

By the end of this module, we aim for you to have developed an informed interest in the society and culture of the German-speaking world. We hope you will also have acquired almost native-speaker abilities in both spoken and written language.

This module is integrated with the German Language: Oral Skills module.

This module has two main aims. The first one is to enhance students’ linguistic proficiency with emphasis on the understanding of spoken and written German, the speaking of German (prepared and spontaneous) in both formal and informal settings, the writing of German, and the systematic study of German lexis, grammar, and syntax. The second aim is to increase your awareness, knowledge, and understanding of contemporary Germany.

By the end of this module, we aim for you to have developed an informed interest in the society and culture of the German-speaking world. We hope you will also have acquired almost native-speaker abilities in both spoken and written language.

This module investigates how English varies at any given time and how it changes over time. It introduces you to the (socio)linguistic dimensions along which the language can vary and to the (extra)linguistic processes accounting for the ways in which it has changed. Attention is paid: to all domains of English, ranging from its sounds and structures to its usage; to the methods used by linguists to study variation and change in the language; and in particular to the close relationship between linguistic variation and change. The module covers key theoretical research in the field but also encourages you, especially in the seminars, to undertake your own data collection and to critically apply models and concepts presented in the lectures.

This module will consider different ways in which the concept of ‘dictatorship’ has been understood and critiqued throughout the twentieth century. Considering examples from Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Guinea, Italy, Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe, students will explore the differences between the Latin American caudillo, European dictators, and the ‘Big Men’ of Africa. Selected critical and theoretical sources will be drawn upon to develop a more critical understanding of dictatorship, including the work of Hannah Arendt, Roberto González Echevarría and Achille Mbembe.

The module will also examine relationships between dictatorship and cultural production. How have dictators represented themselves in their writing, speeches and literature? To what extent have they controlled cultural production and to what end? How, in turn, have they been represented in cultural production? What role do writers, artists and intellectuals play in evaluating and critiquing dictatorship? In turn, can the writer, artist or intellectual be considered to be a dictator in the particular world view he/she projects and/or the rhetoric he/she adopts?

The module seeks to provide a closer look at selected aspects of language structure and how they are analysed within various theoretical frameworks. It aims to develop a critical awareness of theoretical constructs and the extent to which they influence not only analyses but also the choice of data to be analysed. Students will also be taught to evaluate the appropriateness of specific analyses for individual languages or facets of language. By the end of the module, you should have a good knowledge of the basic principles, notions and structures of Cognitive Linguistics, particularly of Cognitive Grammar.

In addition, you should develop:

• the competence to analyse linguistic (corpus) data in terms of these theoretical constructs;
• an appreciation of the sense in which Cognitive Linguistics is grounded in cognitive psychology, and how this is different from formalist frameworks such as Generative Grammar and its derivatives.

This module introduces you to major themes that shape the experience of contemporary city dwellers: gender, social inequality, and practices of citizenship. These interlinking themes are introduced through novels, poetry and films and typically covers the following European, North American (with the emphasis on immigrant communities within its cities) and Latin American cities: New York, Mexico City, Santiago de Chile, Barcelona, and Berlin.

The combination of lectures, workshops and textual analysis encourages cross-referencing between the themes; students are encouraged to identify links between the topics studied (for example, gender and sexuality are relevant to an analysis of social inequality, and vice versa).

We will start with taught sessions covering the planning and designing of research in Linguistics and English language. We will cover topics including identifying and accessing relevant literature; formulating answerable research questions; working with data; and ethics and responsibilities in research. This is assessed through a short dissertation proposal. You will then carry out the research project planned in your proposal, working independently but with guidance from a supervisor. This culminates in the second assessment which is your written dissertation.

The module will cover the two main sub-areas of the field, i.e. forensic phonetics and forensic linguistics more generally. Following a general introduction on the nature and history of forensic linguistics, lectures will focus on the two main questions forensic linguists concern themselves with: what does a text say, and who is (are) its author(s)? The issues of trademarks and lie detection do not fit into either of these, but will be covered as well. All aspects of the field will be illustrated with reference to specific (court) cases, which will also help shed light on the evolving status of forensic linguistic evidence in courts of law.

DELC320 Full Unit Dissertation

This module is assessed entirely through coursework. Students are given a chance of pursuing a topic of their own interest, which is not covered in taught options. A dissertation consists of approximately 10,000 words written in English. The topic of dissertation must relate to French/German/Spanish language, or a comparison between two or more, or a general European issue. Any topic is subject to approval and must fall within the range of expertise of a member of the Department’s staff.

Each student is assigned a supervisor, who provides regular supervision, and feedback on the first draft of the completed dissertation. The topic is agreed and discussed with the supervisor in the Summer Term of the second year, and preparatory research should begin during the Year Abroad.

This module aims at exploring the nature of the relationship between the individual and society, notions of progress and economic justice, as these are still widely debated topics in contemporary Europe in light of the current economic and political crisis.

This module will use the concepts of utopia, dystopia and ideology as a forum for discussion on the relationship between individual imagination and social discourse in the nineteenth century, as well as the relationship between fiction and political discourse. You will look at the major intellectual debates which influenced the contemporary European thought after the French Revolution.

You will explore the development of major ideologies and cultural movements such as Romanticism, Marxism, Socialism and Positivism, spanning from the period immediately following the French Revolution to the middle of the nineteenth century.

This module is about sociolinguistics, and in particular about how language relates to identities at different levels. This includes how individuals use language to signal their membership of particular social groups, and how different kinds of social groupings, such as peer groups, communities and nations, identify themselves through language.

The module will focus on three important areas of variation in language within society: gender, ethnicity and class. It will discuss the key research in each of these. Both theoretical and applied aspects of topics will be covered. The notion of ‘Identity’ provides the course with a unifying theme.

This module aims to broaden and deepen your capacity for language analysis applied to real social issues and problems and to encourage you to evaluate research critically and undertake your own data collection and analysis.

The module combines classic philosophical approaches with recent state-of-the-art experimental evidence to address a central topic in modern cognitive science: Does the language we speak affect the way we think? And as a result, do speakers with different cultural and linguistic backgrounds think differently? These questions form the core of the so-called linguistic relativity hypothesis, which will be the focus of this module. The module begins by laying down the foundation of the cognitive mechanisms underpinning the interaction between language and thought, such as working memory, semantic memory, and the structure and nature of meaning representations in the brain. The module then examines in detail the different ways in which language may affect thinking and give rise to cross-cultural and cross-linguistic differences between different populations, different individuals, and during first and second language development. Throughout, emphasis will be given to the different experimental methods used and the kinds of evidence that can inform our understanding of the linguistic relativity hypothesis.

Psycholinguistics is the study of the psychology of language, which is one of the abilities that makes humans unique. It can cover topics in social psychology, developmental psychology, cognitive psychology and neuropsychology. The exact topics we cover vary each year depending on who is teaching on the module, but we aim to balance these areas and include topics on how children learn language and to read, how language is used in social interaction, how adults process sounds, words and sentences, and what happens when children fail to learn language normally or when adults suffer from brain damage.

This module will provide students with an opportunity to work as classroom volunteers in primary or secondary schools over the course of one term.

DELC338 Spirits in the Material World: Cultures and Sciences

This module lives in the space between the here-and-now and a future made possible by science. You’ll explore perceptions of science across different languages and cultures, from Asia to Europe to the Americas, and explore relationships between the spiritual and the material.

You’ll look at some intriguing questions about science and the twenty-first century human condition such as: Where is AI taking humanity and are we already robots? Are science fiction writers a form of contemporary shaman? What possibilities do modern medical advances offer for transformative queer and trans healthcare?

You’ll find out about differing views on these and other topics from a wide range of source materials, such as speculative fiction, graphic novels, film, philosophical essays, and online talks. Themes typically cover Spirit and Matter, Speculative Fiction, The Post-Human, Philosophy, Art and Neuroscience, Biomedicine and the Hospital.

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This module investigates some of the theoretical aspects to speech production and sound structure across the World's languages. We will spend time discussing and evaluating different frameworks for modelling phonetics and phonology, for example generative and usage-based approaches. Then, we will examine some case-study areas which challenge existing theories, for example intonational phonology and the study of historical sound change. This module aims to contribute to questions such as 'How are groups of sounds structured so that we can understand language?' or 'How are sounds stored and processed in the mind?'

What makes a good translation and how do translations do good? This module aims to help you understand the practice of translation as it has evolved historically from the 18th century to the present across European and American societies. The materials we study include historical textual sources as well as contemporary documents. Our aim is to look at translation as both a functional process for getting text in one language accurately into another and a culturally-inflected process that varies in its status and purpose from one context to another. We will pay particular attention to the practical role that literary translators play within the contemporary global publishing industry and consider the practicalities of following a career in literary translation in the Anglophone world.