This course is an introduction to sociolinguistics, the study of the relationship between language and society. We will look at variation at all levels of language and how such variation constructs and is constructed by identity and culture. An exploration of attitudes and ideologies about these varieties will be of particular importance to understanding this relationship. We will also consider some of the educational, political, and social repercussions of these sociolinguistic facts.

Course Contents:

    • Introduction to Sociolinguistics
      • Sociolinguistics & its scope
      • The connection between Sociolinguistics and language teaching
    • Language and Context: Social Class and Region
      • What is traditional sociolinguistics?
      • Language Varieties
      • What do we mean by language variation?
      • Code, Dialect, Sociolect, Idiolect, Isogloss.
    • Language Society and Culture
      • Functions of Language in Society
      • Domains of Language Use
      • Speech Community
      • Regional & Social dialects
      • Style, register, jargon
      • Pidgins & Creoles
      • National Language, Standard Language
      • Language, Culture and Thought
    • Multilingualism and Bilingualism
      • Dimensions of bilingualism
      • Bilingualism
      • Causes of bilingualism
      • Manifestations of bilingualism (borrowing, code-switching, code-mixing)
    • Effects of bilingualism
      • Language conflicts
      • Language attitudes
      • Language maintenance
      • Language shift
      • Language death
    • Immigrnt stories
    • Assimilation, integration, separation and marginalization
    • Language and Gender
      • Men’s and women’s language
      • Gender issues in classroom and society
    • Language and Power
      • Diglossia
      • Critical language awareness
    • Language–in-education Planning
      • What does planning involve?
      • The issue of the selection of national and official language(s)

Recommended Readings:

      1. Wardhaugh, Ronald (2010). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics (6th edition). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
      2. Mesthrie, Rajend, ed. (2011). The Cambridge Handbook of Sociolinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
      3. Jenkins, Jennifer (2009). English as a Lingua Franca: Interpretations and Attitudes. World Englishes, 28 (2).
      4. Kachru, Braj B. & Cecil L. Nelson (1996). World Englishes. In Sandra Lee Mc Kay & Nancy H. Hornberger (eds.), Sociolinguistics and Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
      5. Pennycook, Alastair (2000). The Social Politics and the Cultural Politics of Language Classrooms. In Joan Kelly Hall and William G. Eggington (eds) The Sociopolitics of English Language Teaching. Buffalo, NY: Multilingual Matters.
      6. Snell, Julia (2010) From Sociolinguistic Variation to Socially Strategic Stylisation. Journal of Sociolinguistics 14(5).