1505760
Sociolinguistics
Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Arts
Spring 2009
Credits: 3
Course Instructor:
Sane M Yagi saneyagi@yahoo.com
Office Hours:
Sane Yagi
Sun/Tues/Thurs:
10.00-11.00;
Sun:
4.00-5.00
Course Description
This course explores different aspects of the relationship between language and
society, focusing on linguistic variation, language maintenance and shift, language
change, multilingualism, national language and language planning, the impact on
language of such social variables as age, sex, educational level, social class, region,
and ethnicity, as well as use-caused variation such as style, context, register,
politeness, and stereotypes .
Objectives
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To familiarize students with the basic concepts and methods of
Sociolinguistics, including the wider macro-social phenomena and micro-level
analysis of face-to-face interaction.
To examine the relations between language and society, following the
progression of Sociolinguistics from the ‘language reflects society’, to the
‘language constitutes society’ perspective.
To explore the types of linguistic variation within society, and the causes and
effects of linguistic change.
To critically examine the development of methods of investigation within
Sociolinguistics, from its initial conception to the present day.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
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Show understanding of the basic themes and methods in the field of
Sociolinguistics.
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Identify and analyze variables that can affect language use and language
attitudes in a social context.
Recognize how language variation can lead to language change.
Show understanding of the connections between micro-level language use and
wider social structures, demonstrating an awareness of language constituting a
form of social action.
Critically examine the orthodoxy of earlier studies and methodological tools in
Sociolinguistics.
Course Schedule
Week
Topic
Resources
1& 2
Introduction to sociolinguistics
Janet Holmes’
Sociolinguistics
Introduction
to
3&4
Language Variation: Dialects; Standard
vs American English; Language and
Gender; Language and Ethnicity;
Language and Politics
Burling’s Black English; Nida’s
Linguistics and
Ethnology in
Translation Problems; Smith’s Sex
Markers in Speech
5
Language and Age; Language and Social Eckert’s Jocks and Burnouts
Class
6
Language Attitudes
Whorf’s Language, Mind, and Reality
7
Diglossia
Ferguson’s Diglossia; Bergman’s
Variation in Colloquial Algerian as a
Challenge to Diglossia
8
Code-Switching
Bentahila’s The Syntax of ArabicFrenchCode-Switching
9
Language Change
Labov’s On the Mechanism of
Linguistic Change
10
Language Maintenance
Al-Khatib’s Language and Cultural
Maintenance Among the Gypsies of
Jordan
11
12
& Topics in Applied
Swearing; Joking
13
1. Some Major Sociolinguists: Charles
2. Labov’s Thinking about Charles
Ferguson; William Labov
Ferguson; Interview with William
Labov
Final Exam
16
Sociolinguistics: Lewis’ The Killing Jokes of the
American Eighties; Labov’s Rules for
Ritual Insults; Abd el-Jawad’s
Swearing in Arabic
Assessment
Test
30%
(on 28/10/2008)
Assignments and presentations
10%
Term Paper
20%
(on 16/12/2008))
Final Exam
40%
(on 30/12/2008)
Attendance
Attendance is essential for successful learning and can affect the achievement of
learning outcomes as well as the grade awarded. The University Attendance Policy,
which is set out in your student handbook, will be followed.
Textbooks
Trudgill, P. (2000) Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society.
London: Penguin.
Holmes, J. (2000) An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. London: Longman.
Bibliography
In addition to the references below, specific readings will be given each week.
Some general texts
Coulmas. F. (ed.). (2000) The Handbook of Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Blackwell.
Coupland, N and Jaworski, J. (eds.) (1997) Sociolinguistics: A Reader and
Coursebook. Basingstoke, Hants: Macmillan
Fasold, R. (1990) The Sociolinguistics of Language. Oxford: Blackwell
Fishman, J. 1998-1999. The new linguistic order. Foreign Policy 16-40.
Hudson, R.A. (1998) Sociolinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pride, J.B. and Holmes, J. (eds.) (1972) Sociolinguistics. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Romaine, S. (1994) Language in Society: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Spolsky, B. (1998) Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Trudgill, P. (2000) Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society.
London: Penguin.
Wardhaugh, R. (2002) An introduction to Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Blackwell.
More specific readings
Adams, H. D. and O. Elliot. Jr. 1997. Sources of variation in interlanguage. IRAL
35:87-98.
Bader, Y. and D. Mennis. 1998. A sociolinguistic analysis of brand names in Jordan.
Abhath Al-yarmouk (Lit & Ling) 16:31-47.
Brown, P. and Levinson, S.C. (1987) Politeness: some universals in language use.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Calvet, J-L (1998). Language Wars and Linguistic Politics. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Cameron, D. (2001) Working with Spoken Discourse. London: Sage.
Chambers, J.K and Trudgill, P (1998) Dialectology. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press
Cheshire, J. and Trudgill, P. (eds.) (1998) The Sociolinguistics Reader Volume 2:
Gender and Discourse. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Coates, J. (1998). Language and Gender: A Reader Oxford: Blackwell.
Coates, J. and Cameron, D. (eds.) (1990) Women in their Speech Communities: New
Perspectives on Language and Sex. New York: Longman.
Croft, W. (2000) Explaining Language Change. London: Longman.
Crystal, D. (2000. Language Death. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Eckert, P. (2000) Linguistic Variation as Social Practice. Oxford: Blackwell.
Edwards, J. (1994). Multilingualism. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Fishman, J. A. (2001) Reversing Language Shift. Philadelphia: Multilingual Matters.
Fishman, J. A. (ed.) (2000) Can threatened languages be saved? Toronto:
Multilingual Matters.
Heller, M. (ed.) (1988) Code-Switching: Anthropological and Sociolinguistic
perspectives. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Jaworski, A. and Coupland, N. (eds.) (1999) The Discourse Reader. London:
Routledge.
Labov, W. (1972) Sociolinguistic Patterns. Oxford: Blackwell.
Li Wei (ed.) (2000). The Bilingualism Reader: London: Routledge.
McMahon, A.M.S. (1999) Understanding Language Change. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Milroy, L. (1980) Language and Social Networks. Oxford: Blackwell.
Milroy, L. and Gordon, M. (2003) Sociolinguistics: Method and Interpretation.
Oxford: Blackwell.
Milroy, L. Muysken, P. (1995) One Speaker Two Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Muysken, P. (2000) Bilingual Speech. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Romaine, S. (1982) Sociolinguistic Variation in Speech Communities. London:
Arnold.
Romaine, S. (1995) Bilingualism. Oxford: Blackwell.
Sebba, M. (1997) Contact Languages. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Thomason, S.G. (2001) Language Contact: an Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press.
Trudgill, P. and Cheshire, J. (1998) The Sociolinguistics Reader Volume 1:
Multilingualism and Variation. London: Arnold.
Wardaugh, R. (1987) Languages in competition. Oxford: Blackwell.
Winford, D. (2003) An Introduction to Contact Linguistics. Oxford: Blackwell.
Journals
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Discourse and Society
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Journal of Sociolinguistics
Language and Communication
Language in Society
Language Variation and Change.
Multilingua
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International Journal of Multilingualism
International Journal of the Sociology of Language
Journal of Language and Social Psychology
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development