Course overview
This course looks at the use of language in society and its relationship to the culture(s) of its speakers. Students are introduced to the broad fields of socio-linguistics and anthropological linguistics. The course studies language variation across regions, ethnicity, social class, gender, age, religion, level of education etc. The course also looks at language as a window into the culture of its speakers, thus serving as a useful tool for anthropologists in coming to understand cultural institutions and the world-view of speakers. A major focus will be on how different languages and language varieties co-exist, complement or replace other languages and language varieties or even result in new languages.
The course will be activity-based and will encourage students to observe language as it is used around them. They may be required to collect and analyse authentic language data in use within the community.
Course learning outcomes
- Understand the theoretical underpinnings of the tradition of Ethnography of Communication and its location within the field of Sociolinguistics
- Understand different perspectives on context, including identities, social institutions, cultural values and relationships with language
- Confidently engage with the technical discourse and metalanguage within the field
- Make the clear link between the use of language and the context of that use
- Link theory to the practical reality of language variation in the community
- Articulate why and how some varieties of language are more highly valued than others
- Understand and engage in the ethnographic method as an approach to data generation
- Generate, collate and analyse samples of authentic language use
- Undertake small-scale research, with a focus on language variation in the community
- Engage productively and respectfully with their peers