Part I Sociolinguistics

This course comprises:

  • LING101 Language Description (Term 1 and Term 3)
  • LING151 Introduction to General Linguistics (Term 1)
  • LING153 Introduction to Language in Society (Term 2)

This course is available to visiting students (ERASMUS, JYA etc) as follows:

  • Full Year (October to June) - students take the full course as detailed above - 10 semester credits or 20 ECTS credits
  • Michaelmas Only (October to December) - students take LING101 plus LING151 - 5 semester credits or 10 ECTS credits
  • Lent and Summer Only (January to June) - students take LING153 - 5 semester credits or 10 ECTS credits.

Please note that this course cannot be taken with Part I Linguistics (because there is an overlap).

 

LING101 Language Description

LING101 is designed to introduce you to basic analytic skills that you will need in the study of language. It is taught through a single lecture each week in the Michaelmas term and the first half of the Summer Term. However, an equally important part of the course are the web-based activities that accompany each lecture. These include readings, transcription exercises and self-tests; you will also interact with a grammar teaching tool called Cytor and a corpus analysis program called WordSmith.

Course aims

  • To familiarise students with the International Phonetic Alphabet and the basics of phonemic transcription;
  • To give students a basic grounding in grammar and morphology;
  • To introduce students to corpus linguistics and acquaint them with the use of the concordance analysis package WordSmith Tools.

 

LING151 Introduction to General Linguistics

In this module you will be introduced to a number of key issues in Linguistics. By the end of the course you will have a keener appreciation of what linguistics is, and a deeper understanding about some of the main topics that linguists study. The course is arranged in a number of blocks of several weeks each. There are two lectures and one seminar per week.

BLOCK 1 - BEGINNINGS & ENDINGS

In this first block we'll introduce you to the course as whole, before discussing the 'beginnings' and 'endings' of language. We'll cover both the origins of language in a person and in the human species, and we'll also examine how people learn languages other than their own. We end this block by considering the end - or loss - of language, e.g. by looking at language disorders such as aphasia.

BLOCK 2 - DESCRIBING VARIATION IN LANGUAGE

Next, we focus on variation in language. We will consider variation in sound (the phonetics of some accents of English and other languages). For example, does BATH have the vowel of START or of CAT? We will also consider variation in dialect - that is, we'll concentrate on the grammatical differences which, whilst not relating to pronunciation, still identify a speaker as being from a certain place. To do this, we'll use a case study of Lancashire dialect and describe some of its features using linguistic terminology.

BLOCK 3 - MEANING IN LANGUAGE

In this block we focus on meaning in language. We begin by looking at what meaning means - how we decode the meaning of words and what information we can glean from the context. We also examine how speakers say one thing and mean another, using pitch and pauses to create different pragmatic effects. We end this block by examining how animals communicate - do they have meaning? And is that language?

BLOCK 4 - APPLIED LINGUISTICS AND CORPORA

In the final block of the course, you will begin to apply some of the technical concepts and terminology you have learned to other areas of language study. For example, we will examine how linguistics is used in language teaching, and also how we can use linguistic concepts to study a range of literary genres in insightful ways. We end this block - and the course - with an examination of how computers are used in the study of language to enhance our understanding of it.

Course Aims

By the end of the course you will:

  • have a keener appreciation of what language is, and of what linguists study;
  • have become familiar with a variety of technical terminology;
  • have had lots of opportunity to critically evaluate basic linguistic principles, and apply them both to English and to other languages.

Recommended Reading

Aronoff, Mark & Janie Rees-Miller (2001) The Handbook of Linguistics, Oxford: Blackwell

 

LING153 Introduction to Language in Society

This course is about the role of language in social life, touching on a wide variety of linguistic and social issues. There are three broad divisions to the course: Language and Identity, Language and (In)equality and Culture in Interaction. All three are concerned with language, society, culture and the relations between them. Language and Identity deals with language variation by social class, region of origin and gender. It also deals with attitudes towards standard and non-standard language varieties, multilingualism and pidgin and creole languages. Language and (In)equality looks at how languages are different in terms of the amount of power and prestige they have, as well as issues of sexism, literacy and sign languages. The Culture in Interaction strand looks at everyday conversation (for example, telephone calls) and builds on this to investigate institutional interactions like job interviews, cross-cultural misunderstandings and talk between patients and carers.

Course Aims

By the end of the course, students should:

  • be able to explain the range of relationships that exist between language and society;
  • be able to explain key concepts in sociolinguistics, such as accent, dialect, language, speech community, code-switching, address terms, cross-cultural communication, and language and power;
  • be able to explain the main methodologies in use in sociolinguistics, and understand why different methodologies are used;
  • have an understanding of some of the debates which exist within sociolinguistics.

Recommended Reading

Holmes, Janet (2008) Introduction to Sociolinguistics (3rd edition). London: Longman.

You will find the following three books useful as well:

Llamas, Carmen, Louise Mullany and Peter Stockwell (eds) (2007) The Routledge Companion to Sociolinguistics. London: Routledge. (This is an excellent purchase for its series of very clear introductions to many sociolinguistic topics.)

Mesthrie, R, Swann, J, Deumert, A and Leap, W. (2000) Introducing Sociolinguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. (This is the LING307 textbook.)

Langford, D (1994) Analysing Talk: Investigating Verbal Interaction in English. London: Macmillan.

 

Assessment

LING101: Tests x 2 (worth 10% overall)

LING151: Test (worth 10% overall) plus essay (worth 10% overall)

LING153: Essay (worth 20% overall)

LING151/153: Combined exam (worth 50% overall)