Linguistics 448:  Sociolinguistics (Fall 2003)

 

Instructor:         John Lipski

Office:              Burrowes 211

Telephone:        865-4252

Office Hours:    MWF 8:30-9:30 and by appointment (I'm here every day)

E-mail:              jlipski@psu.edu

Home page:      http://www.personal.psu.edu/jml34/

 

Textbook:

            Wardhaugh, An introduction to sociolinguistics; 4^th edition (IS)

 

Books on library reserve:

            Milroy and Gordon, Sociolinguistics:  method and interpretation (SMI)

            Romaine, Language and society (LS)

 

Objectives:

 

This course will examine the bilateral relations between language and society.  Topics will include language variation within society, the variational nature of language change; codes, registers, styles, and speech acts; language and gender; language and ethnicity; language planning; `special’ or `new’ languages such as pidgins, creoles, and jargons.  This is a hands-on class; readings will be supplemented by discussion of case studies and individual examples.  Students will be required to observe and analyze sociolinguistic phenomena throughout the course, and will be given opportunities to discuss their observations.

 

Assignments:

 

·        A sociolinguistic analysis of a written text (e.g. literature, advertising, comic strip, etc.) illustrating attitudes toward language, language planning, or other aspects of language in society. 

·        A sociolinguistic analysis of a visual source (film, television) or audio music recording that demonstrates language variation, language attitudes, or language in society.

·        A critical review of a book dealing with some aspects of language in society, language planning, or sociolinguistic research. 

·        A notebook containing ongoing observations and notes about language variation and sociolinguistic analysis.  This notebook will be checked periodically for a demonstration of note-taking and updating.

·        A final project, consisting of an analysis of a particular sociolinguistic situation; this can be a speech community in this country or another country, an issue of language attitudes, dialect contact, language planning, or domains of language usage.  The analysis must be based on the study of written sources, and at least five sources must be cited in the bibliography. 

 

All assignments must be typed, and must be turned in on time.  Incompletes and extensions will only be given under extraordinary circumstances, usually involving personal illness, and must be authorized in advance.  Students should come to class prepared to discuss assigned readings.  The final grade will reflect the quality and quantity of participation in class discussions.

 

Grade breakdown:

 

Analysis of written text:                         20%

Analysis of visual text:                            20%

Book review:                                         20%

Final project:                                          25%

Notebook:                                              10%

Class participation:                                   5%

 

Grading scale:
95.0 – 100% A
90.0 – 94.9 % A-
87.7 – 89.9% B+
83.4 – 87.6% B
80.0 – 83.3% B-
75.0 – 79.9% C+
70.0 – 74.9% C
60.0 – 69.9% D
59.9% and below F

 

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

 

The Pennsylvania State University defines academic integrity as the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest and responsible manner. All students should act with personal integrity, respect other students’ dignity, rights and property, and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their efforts (Faculty Senate Policy 49-20). Dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated in this course. Dishonesty includes, but is not limited to: cheating, plagiarizing, fabricating information or citations, facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, having unauthorized possession of examinations, submitting work of another person or work previously used without informing the instructor, or tampering with the academic work of their students. Students who are found to be dishonest will receive academic sanctions and will be reported to the University’s Judicial Affairs office for possible further disciplinary sanction. See http://www.psu.edu/dept/oue/aappm/G-9.html

 

DISABILITY ACCESS STATEMENT

The Pennsylvania State University encourages qualified people with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities and is committed to the policy that all people shall have equal access to programs, facilities and admissions without regard to personal characteristics not related to ability, performance, or qualifications as determined by University policy or by state or federal authorities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation in this course or have questions about physical access, please tell the instructor as soon as possible.

 

 

Tentative schedule of assignments

 

Week #1 (September 3):  Introduction.  Readings:  IS, chaps. 1-2; LS, chap. 1.

 

Week #2 (September 8):  Languages, dialects, registers, codes.  Readings:  IS, chap. 4; LS, chap. 2.

 

Week #3 (September 15):  Language choice and code-switching.  Readings: SMI, chap. 8.

 

Week #4 (September 22):  Speech communities.  Readings:  IS, chap. 5; LS, chap. 3; SMI, chap. 5.  NOTEBOOK CHECK SEPTEMBER 22.  WRITTEN TEXT TO BE ANALYZED SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL SEPTEMBER 22.

 

Week #5 (September 29):  Pidgin and creole languages.  Readings: IS, chap. 3; LS, chap. 6; Lipski `Speaking “African” in Spanish and Portuguese’; `When does “Spanish” become “creole” and vice versa?’; `Chabacano/Spanish, and the Philippine linguistic identity’

 

Week #6 (October 6):  Language variation in speech communities.  Readings:  IS, chap. 6; LS, chap. 5.  NOTEBOOK CHECK OCTOBER 8.  ANALYSIS OF WRITTEN TEXT DUE OCTOBER 8.

 

Week #7 (October 13):  Language variation as language change.  In-class summaries of written text analyses.  Readings:  IS, chap. 8. 

 

Week #8 (October 20):  Language variation, cont.; models and case-studies. Readings:  IS, chap. 7.  NOTEBOOK CHECK OCTOBER 22.  VISUAL/AUDIO TEXT TO BE ANALYZED SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL OCTOBER 22.

 

Week #9 (October 27):  Language and gender; language and ethnicity.  Readings: IS, chaps. 10, 13. 

 

Week #10 (November 3):  Gender and ethnic correlations:  case studies. Readings:  LS, chap. 4; SMI, chap. 4.  NOTEBOOK CHECK NOVEMBER 5.  ANALYSIS OF VISUAL/AUDIO TEXT DUE NOVEMBER 5. 

 

Week #11 (November 10):  Language and power/language as power.  In-class summaries of visual/audio analyses.  Readings: IS, chap. 14; LS, chap. 7.  BOOK TITLE SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL:  NOVEMBER 10.

 

Week #12 (November 17):  Language policy and language planning.  Readings:  IS, chap. 15.  NOTEBOOK CHECK NOVEMBER 19.  FINAL PROJECT TOPIC SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL NOVEMBER 19.

 

Week #13 (November 24):  Research methods in sociolinguistics.  Readings:  SMI, chaps 3, 6, 7.  BOOK REVIEW DUE:  NOVEMBER 24.

 

Week #14 (December 1):  Data collection and analysis.  Readings:

 

Week #15 (December 8):  Presentation of projects to the class.