Bachelor
2022/2023
Language in Society: Current Challenges
Type:
Elective course (Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication)
Area of studies:
Linguistics
Delivered by:
School of Foreign Languages
Where:
School of Foreign Languages
When:
4 year, 3 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of all HSE University campuses
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
6
Contact hours:
22
Course Syllabus
Abstract
The present seminar examines how language functions in the society of 21st century. Why do people adopt different communicative strategies in different situations with different interlocutors? How does ethnic, national self- perception affect they way people speak? Why some languages are more prestigious than others? How do languages survive or die? What are relations between language and power? The aim of this research seminar is to provide answers to these and other questions pertinent to the complex relationship between language and society. More specifically, we will focus on various aspects of sociolinguistic research, including language contact, change and language shift. In addition, we will explore how gender, social class, and age, as well as various socio-cultural, economic, and political factors influence one’s linguistic behaviour and attitudes. By the end of this seminar students will have 1. obtained basic knowledge about the theory of sociolinguistics, 2. learnt about major research directions in sociolinguistics 3. obtained skills to analize visual reprasantations of language in the city. Prerequisites: English B2+.
Learning Objectives
- Students are able to compare different linguistic strategies
- Students are able to analyze factors contributing to language maintenance / shift
- Students are able to analyze how issues of power can have an impact on language policy and planning at different levels
- Students are able to compare the linguistic behaviour of men and women
- Students are able to analyze how one’s perception of identity / belonging can affect his/her speech
- Students are able to discern different language attitudes and how they are formed in light of (non)dominant language ideologies
- Students are able to analyze specificities of online communication
- Students are able to discern between code-switching and lexical borrowing
- Students are able to discuss culturally dependent politeness systems and strategies
- Students are able to discern between various research paradigms in the sphere of pragmatics
- Students can discuss various approaches to fieldwork
Expected Learning Outcomes
- Students are able to analyze factors contributing to language maintenance / shift
- Students are able to analyze how issues of power can have an impact on language policy and planning at different levels
- Students are able to analyze how one’s perception of identity / belonging can affect his/her speech
- Students are able to analyze specificities of online communication
- Students are able to compare different linguistic strategies
- Students are able to compare the linguistic behaviour of men and women
- Students are able to discern between code-switching and lexical borrowing
- Students are able to discern between various research paradigms in the sphere of pragmatics
- Students are able to discern different language attitudes and how they are formed in light of (non)dominant language ideologies
- Students are able to discuss culturally dependent politeness systems and strategies
- Students can discuss various approaches to fieldwork
Course Contents
- Language maintenance / shift
- Language policy: issues of power
- Language and gender
- Language in online communication (Social networks analysis)
- Anglicisms in the speech of Russian YouTube bloggers: code-switching or lexical borrowing?
- Cross-cultural pragmatics
- Linguistic fieldwork
- Introduction – Language choice in Multilingual globalized world
- Language and (ethnic/national) identity
- Language ideology and language attitudes
- Language and politeness: cultural aspects
Assessment Elements
- Mid-term examMid-term examines knowledge students have obtained over the first half of the module.
- PresentationStudents conduct a small-scale research on the topics discussed in class and present their research in group presentations
- Final examFinal exam tests students' knowledge of the material covered during the course
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- Baker, P. (2010). Sociolinguistics and Corpus Linguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=324962
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Holmes, J., & Wilson, N. (2017). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics (Vol. Fifth Edition). Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1467482
- Mesthrie, R. (2011). The Cambridge Handbook of Sociolinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=400558