230167 Introduction to Sociolinguistics (S) (SoSe 2024)

This course is designed to introduce second or third semester students of English to the basic concepts and methods in sociolinguistics. In this class we will hence study language in relation to society, describe language use as a social phenomenon and look for correlations between language use and social structure. It is a prerequisite for all other lectures and seminars students may want to (or will have to) take in English linguistics. Students are offered a broad outline of the central areas of sociolinguistics such as ‘accents and dialects’, ‘language and gender’, ‘language contact’, ‘language attitudes’, ‘World Englishes’ and much more. As a great deal of what we know about language in relation to society has been discovered through empirical research, we will also have a look at some of the most famous sociolinguistic studies and discuss some methods for collecting and evaluating sociolinguistic data. At the end of the term, students will thus be able to read sociolinguistic research papers, as well as to conduct and evaluate sociolinguistic surveys of their own.

Teilnahmevoraussetzungen, notwendige Vorkenntnisse

Students should have successfully attended BM 3.1 'Introduction to English Linguistics'.

Literaturangaben

Meyerhoff, Miriam. 2019. Introducing Sociolinguistics. Third edition. London: Routledge.