230087 Doing Sociophonetics (S) (SoSe 2023)

Sociophonetics is a research field that combines approaches and methods from sociolinguistics and phonetics & phonology. Sociophonetic studies are, for example, interested in the influence of social factors like age, gender, or social class on the phonetics & phonology of speakers.
In this seminar, we will discuss some sociophonetic basics and a number of interesting investigations that can shed light on the relation between social factors and speech production and perception with a focus on the pronunciation of Englishes around the world and their speakers. Students will get to know important terminology, theoretical concepts and methodologies for the investigation of linguistic variation that focuses on pronunciation. Also, students will have to conduct their own sociophonetic analyses (e.g. with phonetics software like Praat) as part of a mini project.

Requirements for participation, required level

Having completed the linguistic parts of GM1 and GM2 (for students of the British & American Studies M.A.) as well as having completed any introduction to phonetics & phonology and sociolinguistics is highly recommended!

Bibliography

e.g.

Di Paolo, M. & M. Yaeger-Dror (2011). Sociophonetics. A Student's Guide. London: Routledge.
Kendall, T. & V. Fridland (2021). Sociophonetics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Thomas, E. R. (2010). Sociophonetics: An Introduction. Basingstoke: Palgrave.