Undergraduate - UnitATS2676 - Sociolinguistics

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2012 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Offered	Clayton First semester 2012 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Howard Manns

Notes

Previously coded LIN2350

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.

Outcomes

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

Identify and assess the significance of key theoretical perspectives in the study of language and society.
Apply sociolinguistic insights to everyday experience.
Describe the main data gathering methods used in sociolinguistics, and select appropriate methods for a range of research questions.
Design and carry out a small sociolinguistic fieldwork project.
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.