Leader: Dr Simon Musgrave

Offered

Clayton First semester 2008 (Day)

Synopsis

This unit will survey sociolinguistics, including key general notions, contrasts between sociolinguistic and folk-linguistic ideas, sociolinguistic research methods, language variation, types of language variety, dialectology, code choice, speech communities, language attitudes, language change, language and identity, language in use, ethnography of speaking, language situations, language problems, language planning, language and culture/thought, language and gender/ethnicity, language and ideology.

Objectives

Upon successful completion of this unit students will be able to:

1. Identify and assess the significance of key theoretical perspectives in the study of language and society.

2. Apply sociolinguistic insights to everyday experience.

3. Describe the main data gathering methods used in sociolinguistics, and select appropriate methods for a range of research questions.

4. Design and carry out a small sociolinguistic fieldwork project.

5. Engage in informed debate on matters of theoretical and practical significance in the areas of language and society, language education, language purism and language planning.

Assessment

Presentation: 10%; Assignment (1000 words) 20%; Essay/Project (2000 words) 50%; Test (1 hour) 20%;
Third-year students will be required to show a greater degree of theoretical and methodological sophistication in their research projects and in the annotation of their scrapbooks.

Contact hours

2 hours (1 x 2 hour seminar) per week

Prerequisites

12 points of Linguistics at second-year level

Prohibitions

LIN2350