This course provides an introduction to the study of language in culture and society and raises awareness of the role of language in the development and formation of society and the individual within it. This course will engage in a systematic observation and critical discussion of linguistic phenomena. Students are encouraged to consider critically current issues and debates, and to apply theoretical arguments to real language data drawn from a variety of sources. This course will acquaint students with the many levels of meaning communicated in our everyday use of language, with special attention to issues such as Standard language, language maintenance, dialects of American English (ethnic and regional), the social ramifications of language diversity, multilingualism, and language planning. No prerequisites required.
Students will be introduced to methods of studying the relationships between language variation and social structure and to the major findings of sociolinguists who have examined these relationships. The course will focus largely (but not exclusively) on quantitative methods developed in the tradition of variationist sociolinguistics, pioneered by William Labov, that are designed to reveal the way language change is rooted in synchronic variation. The class will study reports of research which focus variously on everyday social interaction and on larger scale patterns of social dialect variation. Relationships between language and social class, language and gender, and language and ethnicity will be discussed. Other topics covered will be language and style and larger scale social, educational, and political issues associated with the process of language standardization. Course prerequisites: Students enrolled in this course must have taken LING200, LING400 (for linguistics majors) or equivalent (ENGL370). It is also recommended that students have taken LING450.
This course aims to do two things: to continue to build familiarity with the classic literature in sociolinguistics and to learn how sociolinguistic research and sociolinguistic theory have an impact on data collection and analysis. Students will analyze linguistic theory they already know in terms of the impact of social categories such as identity, socio-economic status, and group solidarity on language. In addition they will identify the basic principles of sociolinguistic theory and sociolinguistic variables and identify and critique current debates and methodology surrounding sociolinguistics. Course prerequisites: Students enrolled in this course must have taken LING4/532.
Advanced study in current theories of Sociolinguistics-topics vary
Betsy E. Evans
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