Papers of Keith Mitchell

This material is held atEdinburgh University Library Heritage Collections

  • Reference
    • GB 237 Coll-1593
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1965-2012
  • Name of Creator
  • Language of Material
    • English
  • Physical Description
    • 16 boxes

Scope and Content

The papers contain folders, box-files and loose-leaf files of research data and lecture notes, a number of them noted as 'for sorting', and composed of material on:

Box 1:

  • 'Have'
  • 'Have' and 'have got'
  • 'Had better', and 'might as well'
  • 'Change of state', 'stative', 'inchoative', 'continuative predications', 'be', 'get'
  • Generic activities

Box 2:

  • 'Dative' and 'obj', 'source' and 'goal'
  • 'Passive', 'Activo passive', 'Reflexive and reciprocal'
  • 'Get passives'
  • 'Unaccusatives'
  • 'Prepositions'
  • 'Phrasal verbs' and Ph.D candidate notes
  • References, on 'modality', 'get-passives' etc
  • 'Interpropositional relations'
  • 'Modality and mood'
  • 'Mood'
  • 'Modals'

Box 3:

  • 'Middles'
  • 'NP genitives'
  • 'Determiners'
  • 'Locative structures', 'Spatial relations'
  • 'Complementation'
  • 'Object deletion' etc, 'Cognate ob/s'
  • Case grammar - General problems, agents, patients, instruments, causation
  • Gradables, degree, comparison
  • Degree, manner etc., Recent notes

Box 4:

  • Grammar notes
  • Grammar notes (for sorting), 1985-6
  • Grammaticalisation and semantic shift; Mood, modal expressions and modality; etc
  • Clause types
  • Intensive complement constructions; Ascriptive (and equative)
  • Modality notes
  • Modality

Box 5:

  • 'NP - VP' similarities
  • 'Always'
  • 'For'
  • 'Prepositions'
  • 'Splitting'
  • 'O + D' predicates - cognition, emotion, perception, sensation etc
  • 'O + L' structures, locative prepositions
  • 'Copulative structures' - verb patterns - Notes 1984
  • 'Noun phrase'
  • 'Complementation'
  • 'Aspect + adv, or + NPs' - and notes on not (until) = by; not (for) = in
  • 'Pv' and 'Deverbal noun'

Box 6:

  • 'Conditional sentences'
  • 'Conditional's - regret / relief
  • 'Tense and aspect' - Pres perf
  • 'Tense and aspect' - Present simple
  • 'Tense and aspect' (for sorting)
  • 'Tense and aspect' (for sorting)

Box 7:

  • 1 x loose-leaf folder: M.Sc. Teaching - Term 2/3 Options - Romance languages, English Contrastive Studies, Discourse, Pedagogical description
  • Discourse studies
  • English grammar
  • Potential M.Sc. Teaching
  • Romance languages, English Contrastive Studies
  • Pedagogical description, 1993-4

Box 8:

  • 1 x box-file: Lecture notes, and over-head projector slides etc
  • Material on Change and continuity
  • Old handouts
  • Units 13, 14, and 15

Box 9: Lower Certificate in English / Certificate of Proficiency in English / CGPB

  • Difficulties / errors by German speakers
  • Notes towards new material
  • Michael Swan - Conundrums
  • CGPB / Meanings into words - rough notes
  • CGPB

Box 10:

  • Unsorted notes - Modality and other
  • Unsorted notes - Discourse grammar, English grammar
  • Unsorted notes
  • Unsorted notes
  • Unsorted notes - contains small sheaf of 1973 correspondence, and Certificate in English Studies exam papers

Box 11:

  • Notes - Durham paper
  • Notes, various - Essere/Avere
  • Notes - Barbara Dancygier

Box 12:

  • 1 x box-file: Lecture notes - Evidentials (Eng/Fre data), As-clauses, Be able to / be supposed to / be meant to
  • Notes - 'Need / Dare' etc - SARA, Corpus data
  • Notes - SARA, Corpus data

Box 13:

  • 1 x box-file: Articles and off-prints, research notes - e.g. Keith Mitchell 'On comparisons in a notional grammar', and articles of others

Box 14:

  • Articles and off-prints
  • various notes and abstracts,and works of others: e.g. Raphael Salkie; Tze Chi-wei (1980); Tsai, Jiunn-yih (1982); Leslie Farthing (1973);

Box 15:

  • Notes, handouts, articles
  • Proposal for advanced coursebook in English grammar - Draft etc
  • Chapter drafts

Box 16:

  • Bundle of financial papers (2009-2011): Mme Laure Mitchell, Avis d'Operation, Neuflize OBC

Administrative / Biographical History

Keith Mitchell studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1960. In Cambridge he taught English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at the Bell and Lennox-Cook Language Schools. In 1967 he arrived at Edinburgh University to study for a Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Linguistics. On completion of the course, he was appointed as a Lecturer at the University in the Department of English Studies (Foreign Students). In 1982 he became Head of this Department until 1985.

The Department of English Studies became absorbed into the Department of Theoretical & Applied Linguistics with Keith Mitchell as its Head from 1994 to 1997. He served as Course Director of the M.Sc. degree in Applied Linguistics between 1999 and 2000.

He taught grammar, semantics and discourse at Edinburgh University and had a research interest in the communicative teaching of grammar. His published work includes: co-author of the text-book A new way to proficiency in English (1967); co-author of Meanings into Words (1983-84); and, co-editor Edinburgh textbooks in applied linguistics published by Edinburgh University Press.

Keith Mitchell died in March 2012.

Access Information

Open to bona fide researchers, but please contact repository for details in advance of visit.

Acquisition Information

Material donated by the Mitchell family. Accession no: E2014.81.

Archivist's Note

Catalogued by Graeme D. Eddie 23 April 2015