Introduction to Sociolinguistics 3201-1SCAOP
The course aims to familiarise students with diverse aspects of the relationship between language and society. Everyday interaction shows the multiplicity of ways in which people communicate in different social contexts. These circumstances guide speakers in their choices of linguistic forms used for effective and/or strategic communication with their addresses. The different pronunciations, vocabulary, grammar, styles, dialects or languages that speakers employ convey a wealth of information about their social background, including such factors as class, status, education, occupation, sex, age, as well as regional or ethnic origin. They also reflect different language varieties that people choose spontaneously or deliberately to attain their communicative goals in specific situations. The shape of these strategies is determined altogether by combinations of interacting parties and kinds of contact between them, topics discussed, settings or functions of communicative exchanges. The speakers’ linguistic behaviours thus produced are both consequences as well as markers of their social bonds and affiliations, roles in groups and communities or ranks and positions in social hierarchies. By illustrating diversified conditions for social variation in language use, the course adds to a better understanding of how languages function in intra and cross-cultural contexts. By explaining mechanisms of the interplay between linguistic and social factors it indicates potential solutions for miscommunication problems that typically arise in social life.
student's contribution to the course: 2 ECTS
30h - participation in the classes
10h - reading assignments
10h - homework
10h - preparation of the semester project
Type of course
Mode
Prerequisites (description)
Learning outcomes
K1_W01, K1_W02, K1_W05, K1_U01, K1_U02, K1_U03, K1_U04, K1_U06, K1_U11, K1_U12, K1_K02, K1_K03
KNOWLEDGE
- knowledge of most important concepts and theories in the field of sociolinguistics
- understanding relations between linguistic processes and social processes
SKILLS
- ability to apply the acquired theoretical tools and methodology to linguistic data
COMPETENCE
- sensitivity to communicative consequences of the social role of language
Assessment criteria
grade credit (100% of the final grade) - based on oral presentations of semester projects
Assessment criteria:
- coverage of the course material
- students’ ability to express themselves orally on a specific research topic
The condition to approach the final evaluation is participation in the course, with the maximum of 2 absences allowed.
Practical placement
no
Bibliography
Aitchison, Jean. 2001 (3rd edition.) Language change. Progress or decay ? Cambridge : CUP.
Arends, Jacques – Pieter Muysken – Norval Smith (eds.) 1995. Pidgins and creoles. An introduction. Amsterdam and Philadelphis: John Benjamins.
Bergvall, Victoria L. - Janet M. Bing - Alice F. Freed (eds.) 1996. Rethinking language and gender research. Theory and practice. New York: Longman.
Chambers, Jack K. 1995. Sociolinguistic theory. Oxford, UK - Cambridge, USA: Blackwell.
Fasold, Ralph. 1984. The sociolinguistics of society. Oxford: Blackwell
Giles, H. – R. StClair. 1979. Language and social psychology. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Holmes, Janet. 1995. Women, men and politeness. London and New York: Longman.
Holmes, Janet. 2001 (2nd edition.) An introduction to sociolinguistics. Harlow – London : Longman.
Hudson, Richard A. 1993. Sociolinguistics. Cambridge: CUP.
Johnstone, Barbara. 2000. Qualitative methods in sociolinguistics. New York and Oxford: OUP.
Labov, William. 1972. Sociolinguistic patterns. Philadelphia: UPP.
Labov, William. 1999. Principles of linguistic change. Volume 1: Internal factors. Oxford, UK and Cambridge USA: Blackwell.
Labov, William. 2001. Principles of linguistic change. Volume 2: Social factors. Oxford, UK and Cambridge USA: Blackwell.
Lightfoot, David. 2006. How new languages emerge. Cambridge: CUP.
Milroy, Lesley. 1980. Language and social networks. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Milroy, Lesley. 1987. Observing and analysing natural language. A critical account of sociolinguistic method. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Milroy, Lesley – Matthew Gordon. 2003. Sociolinguistics. Method and interpretation. Oxford: Blackwell.
Nevalainen, Terttu – Helena Raumolin-Brunberg (eds.) 1996. Sociolinguistics and language history. Studies based on the Corpus of Early English Correspondence. Amsterdam & Atlanta: Rodopi.
Scollon, Ron – Suzanne Scollon. 1995. Intercultural communication. Oxford UK, Cambridge USA: Blackwell.
Singh, Ishtla. 2000. Pidgins and creoles. An introduction. London: Arnold.
Thomas, Jenny. 1995. Meaning in interaction. Introduction to pragmatics. London and New York: Longman.
Trudgill, Peter. 1999. (2nd edition.) The dialects of Engliand. Oxford : Blackwell.
Wardhaugh, Ronald. 1995. An introduction to sociolinguistics. (2nd edition.)Oxford, UK and Cambridge, USA: Blackwell.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: