Sociolinguistics of Englishes: Language Variation, Contact and Change

Course goals

After successful completion of the course students (1) can demonstrate adequate knowledge of and insight into the key concepts of sociolinguistics, (2) will be able to analyse language data from a sociolinguistic perspective, (3) will have acquired quantitative and qualitative research skills enabling them to connect fine-grained phonetic phenomena and large-scale social categorisation, and (4) will be able to report on these analyses in appropriate academic English.   

Content

This course focuses on language variation in English associated with factors such as geography, gender, social class and sexual identity among native and non-native speakers. Topics include language change, contact, ideology and attitudes in countries where English is a first or second language, such as the UK, the US, Ireland, and South Africa.

While the lectures will introduce students to core concepts in sociolinguistics, the tutorials will concentrate on qualitative and quantitative methodology, critical debate, and discussion of relevant varieties of English.
 

Additional information

Please note: the time slot shown here is not yet final and may still be modified until the 3rd Wednesday in September. 

This course begins The Social Life of English specialisation.

LAS and TCS students who follow this course as part of the core curriculum of their major, need to complete a compulsory preparation course/assignment. See for more information: https://tcs.sites.uu.nl/