AJ12070 Introduction to Sociolinguistics

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2019
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s) (plus 2 credits for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
prof. Mgr. Jan Chovanec, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Jana Chamonikolasová, Ph.D.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Tue 8:00–9:40 G24
Prerequisites (in Czech)
AJ09999 Qualifying Examination || AJ01002 Practical English II
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 50 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/50, only registered: 0/50, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/50
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
This overview deals with various approaches to the study of language that take into consideration the relationship between between language and culture, language and society, language and the individual language users. The course has two components: it addresses variation in language on the macro-level of such traditional topics as social/regional variation in the conception of traditional sociolinguistics, and the micro-level of specific interactions between users, which calls for the methods of discourse analysis and pragmatics. The course includes analysis of a range of spoken and written texts and data.
Learning outcomes
After passing the course, the student will be able to:
- understand the relationship between language and society
- perceive the role social factors in human communication
- detect the social dimension of language variation with view to the social, economic, ethnic and gender dimensions
- describe interpersonal interaction with view to solidarity and politeness
- understand the ways how speakers utilize their linguistic repertoires and what aims they achieve by means of code-mixing/code-switching
Syllabus
  • Language, dialects and varieties; Pidgins and creoles; Choice of a code; Variation; Language change; Language and culture; Solidarity and Politeness; Language and Gender; Language and Disadvantage; Language Planning; Pragmatics: Deixis and distance, Reference and inference, Presupposition and entailment, Cooperation and implicature, Speech acts and events, Politeness and interaction, Conversation and preference structure, Discourse and culture
Literature
    required literature
  • Bell, Allan (2014) The Guidebook to Sociolinguistics. Malden MA and Oxford: Wiley Blackwell.
    recommended literature
  • WARDHAUGH, Ronald. An introduction to sociolinguistics : Sociolinguistics (Variant.). 4th ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 2002, vi, 408 s. ISBN 0-631-22539-0. info
    not specified
  • DOWNES, William. Language and society. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998, ix, 503. ISBN 0521456630. info
  • HUDSON, Richard A. Sociolinguistics. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, xv, 279. ISBN 0521565146. info
  • HOLMES, Janet. An introduction to sociolinguistics. London: Longman, 1992, xi, 412. ISBN 0582060621. info
Teaching methods
Seminar work, class discussions, practical analysis of texts, submission of written assignments during the term.
Assessment methods
Written examination (evaluation includes attendance, active participation in seminars, submission of written assignments during the course). The test is based on readings and class instruction. It consists of terminology + concepts, theory and practical analysis.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
Information about innovation of course.
This course has been innovated under the project "Faculty of Arts as Centre of Excellence in Education: Complex Innovation of Study Programmes and Fields at FF MU with Regard to the Requirements of the Knowledge Economy“ – Reg. No. CZ.1.07/2.2.00/28.0228, which is cofinanced by the European Social Fond and the national budget of the Czech Republic.

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Teacher's information
http://elf.phil.muni.cz/elf/course/view.php?id=2299
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2000, Spring 2001, Autumn 2001, Autumn 2002, Autumn 2003, Spring 2004, Autumn 2004, Spring 2005, Autumn 2005, Autumn 2006, Autumn 2007, Autumn 2008, Autumn 2009, Autumn 2010, Autumn 2011, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2013, Autumn 2014, Spring 2015, Autumn 2015, Autumn 2016, Autumn 2018, Autumn 2020.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2019, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2019/AJ12070