AJ0212 Sociolinguistics and English Language Teaching

Faculty of Education
Spring 2025

The course is not taught in Spring 2025

Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Olga Dontcheva-Navrátilová, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Olga Dontcheva-Navrátilová, Ph.D.
Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Contact Person: Jana Popelková
Supplier department: Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Prerequisites
Advanced level of English
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 37 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
This course develops the linguistic competence of the students as language users and future teachers of English. The main objective of the course is to help students understand the contextual factors leading to sociolinguistic variation in English and analyze the distinctive features of some English dialects and sociolects (e.g. Bristish ve. American English, Black English, Cockney, men's vs women's talk).
At the end of the course the students should be able to identify the features of individual dialects and sociolects and understand. Furthermore, they should be able to compare the existing dialectal and sociolectal variation in English and Czech. Finally, the students should be able to explain to what extent dialects and sociolects should be included in teaching English as a foreign language.
Throughout the semester students are encouraged to link theory in the classroom to practice at schools via practical tasks.
Learning outcomes
The students will be able to - understand the interdependence between the social and cultural context and language and discuss related issues, - identify the language means indexing different social and cultural variables, - understand sociolinguistic terminology and use it when discussing sociolinguistic phenomena, - show an awareness of the differences between communication in English and Czech, - understand the impact of the role of English as a lingua franca on teaching English at schools.
Syllabus
  • 1. Contextual factors leading to sociolinguistic variation
  • 2. Language choice and language change
  • 3. National languages and national standards
  • 4. Pidgins and creoles
  • 5. Bilingualism, multilingualism, lingua franca
  • 6. Regional dialects
  • 7. Social dialects
  • 8. Age and ethnicity
  • 9. Gender differences and politeness
  • 10. Teaching dialectal and sociolectal variation
  • 11. Teaching practice observation - sociolinguistic variation in textbooks and classroom activities.
Literature
    required literature
  • SPOLSKY, Bernard. Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998, xiii, 128. ISBN 0-19-437211-1. info
    recommended literature
  • WARDHAUGH, Ronald. An introduction to sociolinguistics. 4th ed. Malden: Blackwell, 2002, vi, 408 s. ISBN 0-631-22540-4. info
  • HOLMES, Janet. An introduction to sociolinguistics. 2nd ed. Edinburg: Pearson Education, 2001, xvi, 406. ISBN 0582328616. info
  • Language in society : an introduction to sociolinguistics. Edited by Suzanne Romaine. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000, xi, 268. ISBN 9780198731924. info
Teaching methods
Class discussions, reading assignments, projects and presentations.
Tasks for teaching practice.
Assessment methods
Test - passmark 70%, project assignment, presentation
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught every week.
General note: Předmět bude realizován, pokud se přihlásí alespoň 15 studentů.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: hodiny.
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