Sociolinguistics
Fall 2015
9:10-12:00 Mondays, Room 413
Instructor: Prof. D. Victoria Rau
Lngrau@ccu.edu.tw
Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:00-4:00 or by appointment, Extension 31503
Course Description:
This course is a survey of important concepts and principles in sociolinguistics that will provide a
foundation for graduate students to understand, analyze, and solve language related problems pertinent to
their context. Topics to be covered include (1) how to conduct sociolinguistic survey based on sociology of
language and multilingualism, (2) how to research sociolinguistic variation and linguistic change, (3) how
to research intercultural pragmatics and interlanguage variation for second language education, and (4) how
to research language use in intercultural communication.
Goals:
Master students will learn sociolinguistic theories and methods to analyze language structure and use of
their own interests. Doctoral students are expected to demonstrate the following skills at the end of the
course: (1) identify a feasible research area for their dissertation, (2) conversant in the sociolinguistic
literature of their specific research area, and (3) revise one of their research papers in sociolinguistics for
publication.
Required text:
Coupland, N. and Jaworski A. (Eds.) (2009). The new sociolinguistics reader. Palgrav Macmillan.
Other recommended texts:
Applied sociolinguistics:
Trudgill, Peter. (Ed.) (1984). Applied sociolinguistics. London: Academic Press.
Cognitive sociolingusitics:
Geeraerts, D. Kristiansen, G., and Peirsman, Y. (eds.) (2010). Advances in cognitive sociolinguistics. New
York: Mouton de Gruyter.
Kristiansen, G. and Dirven, R. (eds.) (2008). Cognitive sociolinguistics: Language variation, cultural
models, social systems. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Discourse analysis:
Capps, Lisa and Elnor Ochs (1995). Constructing panic: The discourse of agoraphobia. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.
Jaworski, Adam and Nikolas Coupland (Eds.) (2014). The discourse reader, Third Edition. New York:
Routledge.
Rogers, Rebecca (Ed.) (2004). An introduction to critical discourse analysis in education. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
Scollon, Ron and Suzanne Wong Scollon. (2001). Intercultural Communication: A Discourse Approach.
Second Edition. Blackwell.
Scollon, Ron and Suzie Wong Scollon. (2003). Discourses in place: Language in the material world.
London: Routledge.
Scollon, Ron and Susie Wong Scollon. (2004). Nexus analysis: Discourse and the emerging Internet. New
York: Routledge.
Ethnography of communication:
Saville-Troike, M. (2003). The ethnography of communication. Third Edition. Oxford: Blackwell. Chapters
4-8.
Forensic linguistics:
吳偉平. (2002). <<語言與法律﹕司法領域的語言學研究>>。上海外語教育出版社。
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Coulthard, Malcolm and Alison Johnson. (2007). An introduction to forensic linguistics: Language in
evidence. New York: Routledge.
Olsson, John. (2009). Wordcrime: Solving crime through forensic linguistics. New York: Continuum.
Shuy, Roger. (2002). Linguistic battles in trademark disputes. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Foundations:
Chambers, J. K. (1995). Sociolinguistic Theory. Cambridge, MA.: Blackwell.
Fasold, Ralph. (1984). The Sociolinguistics of Society. Oxford: Blackwell.
Fasold, Ralph. (1990). Sociolinguistics of Language. Cambridge, MA.: Blackwell.
Malinson, Christine, Becky Childs, and Gerard Van Herk. (Eds.) (2013). Data collection in
sociolinguistics: Methods and applications. New York: Routledge.
Meyerhoff, Miriam and Erik Schleef. (Eds.) (2010). The Routledge sociolinguistics reader. Routledge.
Wardhaugh, R. (2009). An introduction to sociolinguistics. Sixth Edition. Wiley-Blackwell.
Wodak, Ruth, Barbara Johnstone and Paul Kerswill. (Eds.) (2011). Sage handbook of sociolinguistics.
Sage.
Wolfram, W. and Schilling-Estes, N. (2006). American English. Second Edition. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Gender:
Eckert Penelope and Sally McConnell-Ginet (2003). Language and gender. New York: Cambridge
University Press.
Interlanguage variation:
Bardovi-Harlig, Kathleen and Beverly S. Hartford. (Eds.) (2005). Interlanguage pragmatics: Exploring
institutional talk. Taylor & Francis Group.
Bayley, Robert and Dennis R. Preston. (Eds.) (1996). Second language acquisition and linguistic variation.
Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Chen, Yuanshan and D. Victoria Rau (October 2011). Investigating the complimenting behaviors of
Chinese speakers of English. Language and Linguistics 12.4: 917-950.
http://www.ccunix.ccu.edu.tw/~lngrau/_private/Chen%20and%20Rau%20%28October,%202011%
29Investigating%20complimenting%20behaviors%20of%20Chinese%20speakers%20of%20American
%20English.pdf
Rau, D. Victoria, Hui-Huan Ann Chang, & Elaine Tarone. (September 2009). Think or sink: Chinese
learners’ acquisition of the voiceless interdental fricative. Language Learning. 59.3: 581-621.
http://www.ccunix.ccu.edu.tw/~lngrau/_private/A-3.pdf
Tarone, Elaine. (1988). Variation in interlanguage. London: Edward Arnold.
Literacy:
Hornberger, Nancy. (Ed.). (2003). Continua of biliteracy: An ecological framework for educational policy,
research, and practice in multilingual settings. Tonawanda, NY: Multilingual Matters.
Rau, Victoria and Michael Rau (December 2012). Development of Chinese literacy in academic genres as a
heritage language. In Chin-lung Wei (ed.), Globalization and Digitalization: Pedagogical
Challenges and Responses (全球化與數位化：教學挑戰與對策). ISBN: 978-986-147-568-4. pp.
135-161.
http://www.ccunix.ccu.edu.tw/~lngrau/_private/CHAIR%202012%20Book%20%28draft%202%29.
pdf
Second language education:
Jenkins, J. (2000). The phonology of English as an international language: New models, new norms, new
goals. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chapters 6-8. pp. 123-231.
Kramsch, C. (2009). Third culture and language education. In Vivian Cook and Li Wei (eds.)
Contemporary Applied Linguistics, Vol. 1, Language Teaching and Learning, Chapter 11. New
York: Continuum.
Kramsch, C. (1993). Context and culture in language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chapter
3. pp. 70-104.
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McKay, S. L. (2003). Toward an appropriate EIL pedagogy: Re-examining common ELT assumptions.
International Journal of Applied Linguistics 13.1: 1-22.
Rau, D. V., Chang, H.-H, and Tarone, E. (2009). Think or sink: Chinese learners’ acquisition of the
voiceless interdental fricative. Language Learning. 59.3: 581-621.
Wolfson, Nessa. 1989. Perspectives: Sociolinguistics and TESOL. Boston, MA:
Heinle & Heinle.
Survey:
Blair, F. (1990). Survey on a shoestring: A manual for small-scale language surveys. Dallas, TX: Summer
Institute of Linguistics.
Grimes, J. (1995). Language survey reference guide. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Appendix. pp. 82-87.
Liu, Dorinda Tsai-Hsiu, Ying-Hwa Chang, Paul Jen-Kuei Li & Ji-Ping Lin (2015): Language shift of
Taiwan's indigenous peoples: a case study of Kanakanavu and Saaroa, Journal of Multilingual and
Multicultural Development, 1-21. DOI: 10.1080/01434632.2015.1022179
Variation and change:
Bayley, R. and Lucas, C. (eds.) (2007). Sociolinguistic variation: Theories, methods, and applications.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapters 12-17.
Biber, D. (1988). Variation across speech and writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapters
6-7. pp. 101-169.
Chambers, J. K., Peter Trudgull, and Natalie Schilling-Estes. (Eds.) (2002). The handbook of language
variation and change. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Coupland, Nikolas. (2007). Language variation and identity. Leiden: Cambridge University Press. (CCU ebook)
Di Paolo, Marianna and Malcah Yaeger-Dror (Eds.) (2011). Sociophonetics: A student’s guide. Routledge.
Eckert, Penelope and John R. Rickford (eds.), (2001). Style and Sociolinguistic Variation. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Kiesling, S. (2011). Linguistic variation and change. Edinburg: Edinburg University Press.
Labov, W. (1994). Principles of linguistic change, Vol. 1: Internal factors. Oxford: Blackwell.
Labov, W. (2001). Principles of linguistic change, Vol. 2: External factors. Oxford: Blackwell.
Labov, W. (2010). Principles of linguistic change, Vol. 3: Cognitive and cultural factors. Chichester
: Wiley-Blackwell. (CCU e-book)
Rau, D. V., Chang, H.-H., and Dong, M.-N. (2009). A tale of two diphthongs in an indigenous minority
language. In Variation in Indigenous Minority Languages. Eds. by J. N. Stanford and D. R.
Preston. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 259-280.
Tagliamonte, S. (2006). Analysing sociolinguistic variation. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Trudgill, P. (2011). Sociolinguistic typology: Social determinants of linguistic complexity. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Stanford, J. and Preston, D. (eds.), (2009). Variation in indigenous minority languages.
Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Websites
Software for variation studies: VARBRUL (the variable rule program): the key methodological
tool of variationist sociolinguistics
(http://individual.utoronto.ca/tagliamonte/Goldvarb/GV_index.htm)
SIL Electronic Survey Reports: http://www.sil.org/silesr/masthead.html
Recommended journals:
Language variation and change
Journal of sociolinguistics
Language in society
American speech
Video clips:
American Tongues:
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You talk funny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vF9g37FCmk
Regional words
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXGuCaApR7U&feature=related
Computer talk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRnc6ZyEJeA&feature=related
Linguistic profiling
HUD ad on linguistic profiling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAZMIC_OwTw&feature=related
20/20 linguistic profiling:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KCL97s1lJg&feature=related
John Baugh’s linguistic profiling and African American English origin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPGx1icFdLQ&feature=related
Northern Cities Vowel shift
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UoJ1-ZGb1w
Development of broadcast standard US English
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W68VaOuY6ew&feature=related
US language attitudes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kW3K3OclnE&feature=related
Theses and dissertations:
Liao, Sze-wei. 2010. Identity, ideology, and language variation: A sociolinguistic study of Mandarin in
central Taiwan. Ph.D. dissertation, UC Davis.
http://pqdd.sinica.edu.tw/twdaoapp/servlet/advanced?query=3422722 ;
沈怡君.(2009). 「然後」ㄧ詞在現代漢語口語中之使用The Use of ranhou in Spoken Chinese.
靜宜大學英文系碩士論文。
徐仲民. (2010). 型態語法變異與語法化:「一個」在台灣口語中的變異分析研究
Morphosyntactic variation and
grammaticalization: A variationist Study of yíge in spoken Taiwan
Mandarin.靜宜大學英文系碩士論文。
郭沛玹. (2013). 動詞重疊「VV看」與「V看看」之社會變異. 國立中正大學語言學研究所碩士論文。
(http://ccur.lib.ccu.edu.tw/retrieve/15700/101CCU00462002-001.pdf)
其他語音構詞及中介語變異研究相關碩士論文﹕
http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/cgi-bin/gs32/gsweb.cgi/ccd=Nvv7Jo/result#result
Course requirements:
Participation and discussion: Students will take turns leading discussion on selected readings, drawing
examples from their observations of language use in their contexts (30%).
Research proposal with a literature review and presentation of an exemplar article (30%):
Students are expected to submit a research proposal with a literature review (3-5 pages),
summarizing current research on the topics of their own choice and justifying their research gaps.
Students will present an exemplar article from a current journal to serve as the point of departure
of their own research during the mid-term week.
Final research paper (40%): Submit a 15-20 page research paper. One revision to address the instructor’s
feedback and peer review is required. You are encouraged to submit your term papers to the fourth
meeting of the NWAV ASIA-PACIFIC conference series, NWAV-AP 4 (the 4th meeting of New Ways
of Analyzing Variation and Change in the Asia-Pacific Region) April 22-24, 2016, at CCU.
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Grade
Mark
A+
96-100
A
91-95
A-
86-90
Description
Outstanding: The level of research, thinking, and communication are
outstanding.
Very good: The level of research, thinking, and communication are superior.
Well done!
Good: The level of research, thinking, and communication are very good.
Satisfactory: The level of research, thinking, and communication are
satisfactory.
Acceptable but average at best: The level of research, thinking, and
B
76-80
communication are acceptable.
Acceptable but definitely below average: The level of research, thinking,
B71-75
and communication are barely acceptable.
C+ or below 70 or below Not acceptable: The work is not appropriate for this class.
B+
81-85
Schedule:
9/14 Introduction (Rau 2007, Rau 2011 ppt); Show and tell your favorite advertisement; Identify interesting
sociolinguistic questions
1. How to conduct sociolinguistic survey based on sociology of language and multilingualism
9/21 Sociolinguistic survey (Labov C&J 3, Rau 1995, Grimes 1995, Blair 1990)
9/28 Moon Festival and Teachers Day, NO CLASS
10/5 Sociology of language (Niedzielski & Preston C&J 25, Irvine & Gal C&J 26, Ochs C&J 29, Sallabank
WJ&K 33)
10/12 Multilingualism (Ferguson C&J 31, Gal C&J 32, Auer C&J 34, Dorian C&J 37)
2. How to research sociolinguistic variation, grammaticalization, and linguistic change
10/19 Sociolinguistic variation (Schleef & Meyerhoff M &S 1, Rau 2011, Shen 2009)
10/26 Style and variation (Eckert C&J 10, Zhang M&S 4, Labov M&S 19, Rau, Chang, Dong 2009)
11/2 Linguistic change and grammaticalization (Tagliamonte C&J 6, Sankoff & Blondeau M&S 21,
Trudgill M&S 22); Submit research proposal
1. How to research intercultural pragmatics and interlanguage variation for second language education
11/9 Interlanguage variation (Wolfram WJ&K 21, Rau, Chang & Tarone 2009, Rau, Chang, Chien & Lu
2011)
11/16 Sociophonetics and methodology (Di Paolo & Yaeger-Dror D &Y 2, Cieri D &Y 3, Maclagan &
Hay D &Y 4, Bounds, Palosaari & Kretzschmar D&Y 5)
11/23 Intercultural pragmatics (Rau & Chen 2010, Chen & Rau 2011, Yu 2011), World Englishes (Jenkins
2000, Pennycook WJ&K 34)
2. How to research language use in cross-cultural communication
11/30 Interactive sociolinguistics (Gumperz C&J 40, O’Barr & Atkins C&J 11, Tannen C&J 12)
12/7 Ethnography of communication (Hymes C&J 39, J. Coupland C&J 44, Jaworski C&J 45)
12/14 Intercultural communication (Kramsch 1993, Chapter 3, Scollon & Scollon 2001, Chapter 7); Style
(Bell C&J 18, Giles C&J 19) Stylization and identity (Rampton C&J 20, N. Coupland C&J 22, Pennycook
C&J 23)
3. Research and writing in sociolinguistics
12/21 Research paper progress report 1
12/28 Research paper progress report 2
1/4 Final presentations
1/11 Revised final paper due
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