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What do babies know about language when they're born? And how do our experiences as we get older affect both how we use language and what we think about other people's language behaviour? Why, for example, do people think some languages, or some dialects, are 'better' than others? And is there any truth behind such beliefs? In this course we consider a range of research from the field of linguistics that addresses these and other questions. The role of language experience will emerge as a recurrent theme: the experience that the infant has with a particular language; how our early experience with language affects how we speak and how we listen, and how our beliefs about language are created and maintained in connection to other experiences in our social lives.
When we hear somebody talk, even for the very first time, we make a split second judgement about them. That’s because a speaker’s language tells us something about them. We not only receive a linguistic message – the content of what is being said – but we also receive social information. Is the speaker male or female? How old are they? Are they working class or middle class? Are they from New Zealand or from somewhere else in the world? In this course, we explore how our language is able to convey social cues such as these. We will see that these social cues are created by our experiences – of language and of life. We will also see that our language is shaped by our experiences from the very beginning to the very end of our lives. Our overarching questions are: How does our language influence who we are and who we are seen to be? How do our life experiences shape our language? And how does our language shape our experiences?To answer these questions, the course is organised around five themes, taking us from the 'beginnings' to the 'ends' of language. The themes are:1. The 'beginnings' of language: how does language start?2. What does our language say about us and our past experiences?3. How does language affect how we experience the world?4. Do individual experiences result in individual language behaviours? The role of the forensic linguist.5. The 'ends' of language: how does language ‘die’?
On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:(1) demonstrate their understanding of how language (including sound patterns and grammatical systems) can vary, (2) demonstrate their understanding of the relationship between language and society, and how e.g. social attitudes can affect language use, (3) demonstrate their understanding of how different groups of people use language differently. They will also: (4) be able to conduct bibliographic searches of relevant work relating to language and society, and(5) be able to critically evaluate rival hypotheses. In particular, they will be able to think critically about the opinions very commonly expressed in the media about linguistic issues, and will be able to evaluate the evidence for those opinions.
ENLA102
Kevin Watson
There will be five short-answer quizzes, administered via Learn. You will able to attempt each quiz three times, and for each quiz the recorded score will be the highest one achieved in three attempts. The quizzes are worth 30% of the course grade.There will be one essay, due at the midpoint of the course, on the topics we will have discussed in class. This is worth 30% of the course grade.There will be a research report, which is similar to an essay except you will also analyse a piece of language data. The report will involve organising data into tables and graphs, describing the results, and connecting to the literature we have discussed in lectures. This will be due on January 5th, and is worth 40% of the course grade. There is no final exam for this course.
Meyerhoff, Miriam; Introducing sociolinguistics ; 2nd ed; Routledge, 2011 (All students are expected to buy a copy of this book or at least have regular access to a copy, as many of the readings which accompany each lecture will be taken from it).
This is a blended learning course. This means that lectures are available online (as videos, accessible via Learn) and tutorials are face-to-face. You do not have to come to campus to watch the lectures – you can do this in your own time. But you must come to the face-to-face tutorials. Tutorials run for 5 weeks (from 17 November to 21st December), for two hours per week. There are two slots available (see Timetable, below) – you can choose which slot you sign up for.
Domestic fee $670.00
International fee $2,850.00
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
For further information see Language, Social and Political Sciences .