Postgraduate Course: Introduction to Sociolinguistics (LASC11095)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 10 |
| Home subject area | Language Sciences |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
Please use Learn |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | Sociolinguistics can be defined as the study of language in use. Sociolinguistics research involves describing patterns of language in use and proposing theories to account for those observed patterns, often with recourse to social factors such as the identity of the speaker or the cultural relevance of the speaking context. Descriptive questions include: How do (different) people talk in different contexts, with different addressees, and for different purposes? When do people vary in how they use language, and when do they not vary? Theoretical questions ask why the answers to these questions look the way that they do, attempting to explore why the same sociolinguistic patterns can be seen across different communities and cultures. In short, this course covers research that asks: What motivates speakers to make different linguistic choices? And what communicative and social functions are served by those choices?
Feedback Events:
1: 20 minutes of one lecture dedicated to describing the expectations of the assignment
2: Two full hours of lecture dedicated to the general principles underlying the assessment; one full hour dedicated to discussing the specific assignment |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No |
Course Delivery Information
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| Delivery period: 2014/15 Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1)
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Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
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Web Timetable |
Web Timetable |
| Course Start Date |
15/09/2014 |
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
75 )
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| Additional Notes |
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| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| No Exam Information |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
Our chief objectives in the course are to:
- Develop systematic approaches to studying the differences in how we use language; and
- Develop a distinctively linguistic perspective in how we describe and explain what we observe.
The terminology and knowledge that you are simultaneously developing in the core courses on linguistic structure will be extremely useful to you, and as the semester progresses, you should find you can draw on insights from those courses more and more often in your discussion of sociolinguistics.
Similarly, the skills and approaches you are developing in the Introduction to Discourse Analysis are a perfect complement to the skills and approaches we focus on in this course. By the end of the semester, you will be able to synthesise what you have learnt about the qualitative analysis of language in use (discourse analysis) with the quantitative analysis of language in use(our focus in sociolinguistics).
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Assessment Information
One 1000 word essay (30%)
One 2500 word essay (70%)
Part One Assignment Deadline: Monday 21st October, 12 noon
Maximum Word Count: 1000 words
Part One Return Date: Tuesday 12th November
Part Two Assignment Deadline: Monday 9th December, 12 noon
Maximum Word Count: 2500 words
Part Two Return Date: Tuesday 14th January 2014 |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
"What is Sociolinguistics?" by Gerard Van Herk |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Lauren Hall-Lew
Tel: (0131 6)51 1836
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Toni Noble
Tel: (0131 6)51 3188
Email: |
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